Upmarket Cupcakes

I've realised I am becoming quite fussy when it comes to cupcakes. The more baking I do myself, the more I feel it's unacceptable for so-called bakeries to make a boring old vanilla cupcake, stick a few sweets on top and charge upwards of £1.75 for it. So what a delight to stumble upon Molly Bakes yesterday. I had a lunchtime bowling date for a friends birthday and on the way home decided to pop into UpMarket at the Truman Brewery to grab a bite to eat. One delicious Ethiopian injera wrap later it was time to head home. But just as I was thinking "hmmmnnn, what I really fancy is something sweet", the Molly Bakes stall appeared before me as if a vision. My growing scepticism about cupcakes may have encouraged me to walk on by were it not for the lavender cupcakes I spotted.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but I am a lavender fiend. I can't get enough of it. The smell is good - but the taste is just heavenly. So imagine my excitement when I spotted a stand of violet-coloured cupcakes with tiny lavender buds sprinkled on top. I just had to try them. As it was getting towards the end of the day, the lovely lady behind the stall (Molly herself I presume) offered a bargain deal - 4 cupcakes for £5 - so I really had no choice but to accept.

Half-an-hour later, at home, with a steaming cup of my Assam/Darjeeling/Lapsang blend in hand, it was the moment of truth. And, I'm pleased to say, a pretty good moment it was too. The texture of the cupcake itself was perfect - light without being insubstantial. But the biggest delight was the presence of tiny lavender buds throughout the cake which gave a subtle yet distinctive flavour. The vanilla buttercream was a lovely texture and those few extra sugared lavender buds topped the whole thing off beautifully. Coffee Boy had a banoffee one which he declared to be delicious: banana sponge with lovely little chewy toffee bits. I also chose a lime & coconut, and a rose & pistachio one, neither of which I've tried yet. But if the two we've sampled so far are anything to go by, we're in for another treat.

It really is a pleasure to find someone making genuinely good cupcakes and selling them at a reasonable price, rather than the scores of places that seem to be jumping on the cupcake bandwagon and offering - at best - pretty ordinary goods for far too much dosh. So if you find yourself wandering down Brick Lane one weekend and need a little sugary pick-me-up, you know where to go. Just save a lavender one for me!

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

I really hate wasting food; it just feels wrong on every level. But there are some things that no matter how infrequently I buy them, I seem to find myself tossing, mouldy, into the bin a week or two later. One such culprit is the black banana. Truth be told I'm not the world's biggest banana fan. Oh I like them and everything, but if I'm reaching for a piece of fruit it's generally fairly low down on my list of preferences. Coffee Boy purportedly loves them though, so from time to time I buy him a bunch. But clearly he doesn't love them quite enough as I often find them hanging sadly upon the banana stand (yes, yes, I know I have far too many kitchen gadgets) looking black and pretty yucky.

The other day, spying a few sad specimens, I decided to make something with the black bananas before they became good for nothing but the bottom of the bin. I remember from the bad old days of yo-yo dieting a surprisingly delicious Rosemary Conley recipe for a banana loaf - apart from the use of sweetener which I loathe and even then used to substitute for actual sugar. But if black bananas can work in a healthy recipe, I reasoned, there's no reason they can't work in an unhealthy one too. So this is what I came up with:

Banana Cupcakes (makes about 18)

Adapted from various recipes including Ellen Einstein's Banana Cake recipe

125g butter

200g sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 egg - large

200g plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2-3 very ripe bananas - black is OK

125g of sour cream

• Heat the oven to 170º fan/180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
• Beat the butter in a bowl until it's creamy - I use an electric whisk to save time
• Add the sugar and beat until pale and fluffy
• Add the vanilla and the egg and continue beating for around a minute or so
• In a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda
• Add half of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar and mix in
• Add the sour cream - don't worry if the mixture looks like it's separating, it will come out OK in the end
• Finally add the rest of the flour mixture and blend until everything is well mixed
• Spoon, or preferably pipe, the mixture into lined muffin tins so each case is no more than half full
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes - I turn my tray 180º after 15 minutes to compensate for hot-spots in my oven. They are ready when a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean
• Place on a rack and let them cool to room temperature

I usually leave my cupcakes for a day, or at least overnight, before frosting but if you're in a hurry just make sure you leave them until they are really cool.

Chocolate Buttercream

200g of good quality dark chocolate

225g of butter

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 tbsp of milk

325g of icing sugar

• Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt above a bowl of simmering water. Leave to cool
• Beat the butter (again I used my trusty electric whisk) until it is smooth
• Mix the cooled melted chocolate into the butter until well combined
• Add all of the other ingredients and beat until evenly mixed. Take care not to over mix
• Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes - don't be stingy you have enough for a generous frosting!

I decorated my cupcakes with mother-of-pearl stars which I made from very thinly rolled cream florist paste, dusted with edible mother-of-pearl powder, but you can use anything you like. Or nothing!

I was really pleased with these cupcakes. I was worried the chocolate would overpower the banana but I really liked the balance. And they've certainly gone down well with friends and family. So well, in fact, that I don't see myself throwing any black bananas in the bin anytime soon. Now, what better excuse to over-shop?

Excess in an Age of Austerity

My quest to sample afternoon teas beyond zone 1 yesterday took me out to West Hampstead and back to the 1950s. I had arranged to meet up with Miss O and remembered hearing about a place not far from her called Bake-a-Boo. To make sure I wouldn't be disappointed after my journey up the Jubilee Line I phoned the day before to see if I could book a table. I was told I could but if I wanted the Afternoon Tea, I would have to book in advance and pay a deposit. I was somewhat taken aback but we were keen to skip lunch and make an afternoon of it so I went ahead, reserved and paid the 50% deposit.

When I arrived at 3pm the cafe was very quiet, with just one other table taken. And there, right in front of me, was our table all laid out with our pretty coated-iron tea stand laden with all sorts of goodies. It was a surprise to see it there waiting for us, but a pleasant one. All we had to do was choose our tea. Bake-a-Boo sell quite a selection of Martyn's Teas - it's good to see another tea room supporting this local business - and they had a large selection of tea on their menu which they had split into those available in bags and the loose leaf variety. As I always choose loose leaf if available, and like a black tea with milk when I'm eating cake, I had the choice of English Breakfast, Assam & Earl Grey. Between us, over the course of the afternoon, we tried all three, and were impressed by them all - although, in truth, I wouldn't have minded a couple more to choose from.

The attention to detail in the cafe is fantastic. There's a lovely 1950s vibe with pastel spotted bunting and chintzy, old-fashioned crockery - all pleasingly mismatched. One thing that I loved was the large china jug of water on the table - even though I find tea incredibly refreshing, when I'm drinking a lot of it I do like to have some water too. There were plenty of nice things to look at, such as interesting cards, packs of tea, party invitations, and, of course, lots of cakes - many of which were on our table.

But we began proceedings with sandwiches. Each of us had 6 finger-sandwiches, with either cream cheese, cucumber or egg mayonnaise filling. Unfortunately, the downside of preparing the afternoon tea in advance is that these kind of finger sandwiches inevitably go a little dry. Coupled with that, the fillings were somewhat on the meagre side. To give you an idea, I would usually use about twice as much filling at home. Perhaps I like a particularly full sandwich, but Miss O was in agreement. Still, the sandwiches are just the foundations upon which the glorious edifice of the afternoon tea is built: they may be important, but if the layers above are good then nobody really minds too much.

That certainly proved to be the case with this tea. To say there was plenty would be quite an understatement. We each had: two scones (no fruit but still nice); a teapot shaped butter biscuit (very cute); three chocolate-dipped strawberries (the nicest I've ever had, thanks to the chocolate having a ganache quality rather than the usual hardness); a selection of old-fashioned sweeties (fudge and flying saucers); a slice of banana cake with an absolutely fantastic passionfruit buttercream topping; and lastly a full size cupcake (vanilla sponge with a thick fondant icing). To go with our scones, the table came equipped with a large bowl of strawberry jam and another large bowl of whipped cream. I hate it when you're given those rather measly little ramekins so it was great to have enough topping to match the scones - the only disappointment being that the cream was whipped rather that clotted. For me, whipped cream just can't match up, but I dare say my arteries will appreciate the break just this once.

The highlights for me were entirely unexpected: that banana cake and those strawberries were really good. They sounded straightforward but both had a delicious twist. The other really lovely thing was the atmosphere of the place. It was clearly run with love and an attention to detail that you can appreciate as soon as you walk in. And it's obviously loved by quite a few locals too. Come 3.30pm the place was absolutely chock-a-block with mums and their offspring on the way home from school. Apparently, they are planning to start offering courses in the mornings (they are currently closed until 2pm) which will hopefully see even more business coming their way. The afternoon tea may not have been absolutely perfect, and at £15 it wasn't a total bargain like others I've had, but it was certainly very enjoyable. Let's put it this way, I could very easily be tempted into a return visit. Next time I'd probably just go for tea and cake - you know, the healthy option... But a business like this, that puts so much care and attention into their premises - and makes some pretty mean cakes to boot - deserves our custom, and I for one intend to do my duty.

A Greener Start to the Day

This morning as I walked, still bleary-eyed, into the kitchen, I was hit by a horrible realisation: we had run out of milk. Although this didn't pose a major problem for breakfast - fruit, yoghurt and granola is my preferred option at the moment - it did mean I couldn't start the day with my usual cup of tea. In the old days I used to like a latte first thing in the morning, but over the past few months I find I just can't wait for that first cup of lovely, refreshing tea. A fairly strong black tea with milk is now, definitely, my preferred way to start the day.

But this morning, with no milk in the house, a rethink was needed. Obviously there was no shortage of other options, as anyone who has seen my somewhat chaotic tea-cupboard will tell you. But what to choose? A white tea? An oolong? A pu-erh? Or a green tea? In the end I decided to go for a Genmaicha, for no reason other than the fact I just fancied it. For those of you that don't already know, Genmaicha is a Japanese green tea that is blended with roasted brown rice. It was traditionally seen as a cheap tea - and certainly considered to be of a lower grade than some other Japanese teas such as the revered Matcha - as it has always been drunk by Japan's poor; the rice serving to bulk out the tea leaves and keep the cost down.

Today though, Genmaicha is widely drunk in Japan by people of all classes. And it's also a real favourite in my house. I absolutely love the combination of the grassy green tea and the nutty roasted rice. I find something very comforting in the flavour, although it has been known to divide opinion wildly. For instance, Coffee Boy is not at all keen, or at least he wasn't on the one occasion he tried it, but other friends I've made it for have absolutely loved it and vowed to buy their own tin forthwith.

Anyway, this morning, Genmaicha was my breakfast brew; and do you know, I really enjoyed it. It was just the right combination of refreshing and gutsy with a lovely rounded flavour and I didn't miss my usual breakfast blend at all. Although my consumption of non-black tea has been steadily increasing (from about 5% of my tea intake a year ago, to about 40% more recently), I haven't really changed my breakfast routine. But after this morning's experience that could change. At the very least, I no longer need to worry about running out of milk - although latte obsessed Coffee Boy may feel differently...

High Tea for Two

Living in the centre of London, it sometimes feels like a little bit of an effort to travel anywhere for afternoon tea. There are so many nice cafes right on my doorstep, even heading out to zone 2 can seem unnecessary. But there are tea shops with quite a different feel when you move away from the hustle and bustle in the middle of town: less swish and corporate and more family-run in atmosphere, which means it's always worth seeking them out. This week I had the perfect excuse to make, admittedly only a small, journey to meet fellow blogger Caroline of Caroline, No. Once I discovered that she lived in north London I remembered a tea room I had heard about not far away and suggested we meet there to give it a go.

High Tea of Highgate is located on the pretty, and rather posh, Highgate High Street (are you getting the High theme yet?). As I as spotted it, whilst trudging up the hill, my heart warmed. A pretty pink frontage with an art-deco styled, hand-painted sign, this was clearly a place with the personal touch I love. On entering that warm feeling continued: a counter laden with lovely looking cakes; a pretty pink and white colour scheme that had that old-fashioned high tea feel; shelves and cabinets filled with tea paraphernalia, jewellery and really beautiful crockery; and tea-related art on the walls. Having no idea how popular the tea room was I had booked ahead; and with only six or seven tables in the place I was glad I had - true, they weren't too busy when we arrived at 3pm but by 4pm it was packed.

The menus, like the room, were pink and homely with a handmade feel and they contained a pleasing selection of teas. Caroline is a self-confessed coffee addict but she decided to try a Darjeeling as she fancied something light and bright. I was thrilled to see one of my favourite blends, a Russian Caravan on the menu. I just love the slight smokiness of this tea but I find that it's not that widely available. As for cakes, we were spoilt for choice. I was very tempted by the lavender sponge - I just can't get enough of either the smell or taste of lavender - but instead decided to give the the wheat-free chocolate orange a go. Caroline went for one of her favourites, the lemon drizzle cake.

Our tea arrived in really lovely Zero Japan teapots. I had seen them online before but actually using one has made me appreciate their quality. I'm normally in favour of quite an old-fashioned teapot and like nothing better than finding a well-loved, second-hand bargain at a flea market. But these Zero Japan teapots having very modern styling with a porcelain body and an attached stainless steel lid and infuser basket. Yet despite that there is something about the shape of them which does feel old-fashioned, and traditionally "tea time'. And the tea inside the pot was of a good quality too, supplied by local shop Martyn's of Muswell Hill. I was a bit slow in staying Caroline's milk-pouring hand so her Darjeeling ended up a bit pale and milky but she did her best to drink it before moving onto a Ceylon (who's robustness was, I suspect, more up her street being a confirmed coffee-drinker). My Russian Caravan was so good I had a second pot.

The overall experience of the tea room was quite lovely. The staff were helpful, knowledgeable and friendly, and made us feel very welcome despite the fact we ended up hogging our table for almost three hours(!). The ambience of the place was spot on: never too noisy despite being full, and with plenty of interesting things to look at when your companion nips to the loo (tea does take its toll...). The only let down for me were the cakes. With a large oven in the relatively small kitchen area behind the counter, and the smell of freshly baked goods wafting throughout the cafe, the cakes are clearly all homemade. The selection was, as I've said, impressive but, much as it pains me to say it, the two that we tried just weren't the best.

My wheat-free chocolate orange cake was literally oozing with what seemed like a syrupy substance. I'm no fan of dry cakes but this was a bit much even for me. The chocolate on the top was more of a drizzle and as such didn't make much impact on the orange flavour. After a while I realised that Caroline's cake hadn't gone down that well either as she had left most of it. I tried a bit and was surprised that there didn't really seem to be much in the way of that crusty, sugary topping that I would expect to find on a lemon drizzle cake. We also both detected a tang that, despite disagreeing about what it was (metallic/fishy), wasn't appealing to either of us.

It really was a terrible shame that we didn't enjoy our cakes that much as everything else about the tea room was spot-on. Perhaps we just chose poorly: the chocolate cake or scones, or even the tempting lavender cake may have been more to our taste. The place certainly seemed to be full of regulars who were happily tucking into their wares. And despite the cake-related disappointment I can see why they were busy, even on a rainy Friday afternoon. The atmosphere, the tea, the staff and the objects and cards on sale make me determined to return. If they could only get those cakes right it would be a near-perfect tea experience.

The Perfect Mince Pie

I've always enjoyed cooking and especially baking. But in recent years the relentless treadmill of work means there's been little time to do much more than throw together dinner at the end of the day. My decision to become a freelancer, and specifically my decision to take more time off to try and achieve some kind of work/life balance, has changed all of that. Now I'm constantly looking for excuses to cook. Visiting a friend for tea? Quick make some cupcakes. Sister coming over for the day? Get that breadmaker fired up. Upcoming dinner party? Trial some recipes. Well, you can imagine that hosting Christmas gave me the perfect excuse to spend some time in the kitchen.

In mid-December I realised with some surprise that I had never actually made mince pies. Deciding it couldn't be too much of a challenge I got to it. I made it even easier on myself by buying some good quality, ready-made mincemeat and just concentrated on getting the pastry right. You may think this is cheating, but with lots of other things to cook (including my Christmas cupcakes); shopping to do; and the general stress that that time of year brings, I was prepared to cut myself some slack.

The first recipe I tried was from the BBC Good Food magazine. It was actually designed for baking with children so I reasoned that it couldn't be too difficult. It was most definitely a "getting your hands dirty" kind of recipe. You make a very buttery pastry and instead of rolling and cutting you simply ball it up and press it into the bun tin. Despite having greased the tins I found them very difficult to get out and as a consequence they ended up looking really messy. The mince pies were a big success with everyone that tried them but they weren't quite what I was looking for. The pastry was verging on shortbread which although really tasty just wasn't the beautiful, traditional kind of mince pie I was looking for.

So just before Christmas I had another go. The Guardian featured various chefs talking about their ultimate Christmas recipes and Nigel Slater had one for his favourite mince pies. I was heartened to see that he recommended using shop bought mincemeat - hurrah, I wasn't excessively lazy! But frankly, they were a bit of a disaster. The dough was incredibly dry and difficult to work with, and the resulting pie was just not crunchy or sweet enough for my liking. The family polished all of them off and said they liked them but I was incredibly disappointed. My attempt to be the perfect Christmas hostess hadn't gone to plan at all. But I was determined not to be beaten.

Sadly, by the time I returned from my Berlin trip last week, my family had gone home and the Christmas decorations had come down. But I still had two large jars of mincemeat in the cupboard I and was determined to make a really good mince pie. This time I turned to the blogosphere. I have recently started following a number of really good cooking blogs and one of them had a recipe for mince pies. The writer made her own mincemeat but I just took the pastry recipe and used one of my jars.

And finally, here in early January, I had found it: my perfect mince pie. It was the pastry I had been dreaming of ever since I was a child and my friend's mum made some delicious, slightly orangey mince pies - and these were them! They are really delicious and the brilliant news is that I have another jar of mincemeat to use up so I'll just have to make some more. They are absolutely perfect with a cup of black tea - I particularly like them with my Assam-Ceylon blend - so much so that I'm actually wishing I'd bought more of the mincemeat whilst it was still in the shops. Because now that I've found this recipe, as far as I'm concerned, a mince pie is for life, not just for Christmas.

Vietnamese Tea in Berlin

Despite what some people may assume, there is a lot of good food to be had in Berlin. Sadly, if you're a vegetarian, traditional German cuisine doesn't have a lot to offer. True there is Flammkuchen – a kind of pizza without the tomato sauce – and Käsespätzle can be nice on a cold day, but if you're looking for variety you need to seek out the increasing number of good restaurants serving ethnic food. Although Berlin can't really compete with London on that score, I always make an effort to visit the type of restaurants that are a bit of a schlep for me to reach in the Big Smoke.

A couple of my favourites are two Vietnamese places, Si An & Chi Sing, run by the same people. So when I read about a new dessert spot they had opened, Si An Tra, I was determined to visit. But by the time I returned to Berlin on this trip I had completely forgotten all about it until I saw it mentioned in a blog I follow. I was suddenly reminded just how much I wanted to visit this place. What would Vietnamese cakes be like? How would the tea be served? What would the décor be like? There was only one way to find out.

As I made my way through Prenzlauer Berg last Sunday I became increasingly worried. It was after three o'clock and all of the cafes I passed were already full of Berliners and tourists enjoying the ritual of weekend Kaffee und Kuchen. I started to worry that I might be out of luck but on arriving I was hit with a familiar double whammy of emotions: firstly joy that there was only one of the four tables taken and therefore I could get in; then sadness that at this peak time the cafe didn't seem to be doing too well.

The cafe is small but really lovely. Like the restaurants, real care and attention has been paid to the décor. Paper lanterns hang from the ceiling and the tables seem to be supported by branches stripped of their bark. The waitress marked herself out as different to the usual Berlin waiting staff by being incredibly smiley and helpful in describing the teas and cakes on offer.

Although I had been excited about visiting, I have to admit that my hopes about the quality of the cakes were pretty low. In my experience, Asian desserts are not usually anything to write home about – certainly to my western palate anyway. But Si An Tra showed me that that doesn't have to be the case. The cakes were simply fantastic. Coffee Boy and I shared a Ban Chuoi Dua which was a dense coconut sponge topped with a coconut sauce and nuts, and a Ban Chuoi Dau Phung which he described as “hmmmnnn, banana Reeses Peanut Butter Cup!”. That was grossly unfair as, in my opinion, the aforementioned confectionary is not necessarily to be held up as the essence of good taste. This cake was lovely: it had a kind of banana bread base and a delicious peanut and chocolate topping. But as if that wasn't enough, the tea was gorgeous too. I had a Jasmine tea which came served in a fairly large bowl and was full of goodies: ginger; lime; lemongrass; longan; lotus seeds and honey. Coffee Boy eschewed his usual latte and chose a Sencha green tea which had just a hint of ginger and lemongrass.

The whole experience was really very lovely: delightful surroundings with a selection of teapots, teas, crockery and bags to look at; a really nice waitress; and fantastic goods to savour. I can highly recommend it. When we left there was no one else left in the place, which this time left me feeling nothing but sad. It would be a crying shame if they didn't make a success of this great tea room. I hope that next time I return they are doing a healthy trade, but still with one table free for me. That would be just perfect.