Cupcake Heaven!

I spent a lovely, long and relaxing weekend at my parents' house last weekend.  On Sunday I had a mammoth cupcake baking session.  We were celebrating Fathers' Day late, so I made honey drizzled cupcakes for Dad, and as Mum isn't over-fond of honey - and because I wanted to pratice my icing after Fi's strangely-iced birthday cake - I made lemon and walnut cupcakes for Mum.  Obviously I intended to sample both, just to make sure that they turned out alright you understand.

The book was a gift from Jules which I'd not used before, and you can tell by this photo that its going to be a favourite - sticky pages are always the sign of a good recipe book!

I discovered a universal truth which I knew, but never realised how much difference it made, quite by accident: softened butter makes cake-making incredibly easy.  Mum and Dad's house boasts a lovely AGA which keeps the house toasty warm, and I left the butter in the pantry rather than the fridge...hence incredibly soft, almost liquid, butter. 

The honey drizzled cupcakes were a pleasure to make.  I established myself in front of the kitchen window looking out at Mum and Dad's lovely garden.

The butter and caster sugar were creamed...

...and the beaten eggs were stirred in.  The eggs were from a neighbour's chickens - look at that lovely bright yellow colour.

Then the dry goods were added...

...and folded in with a metal spoon.  Finally, some chopped walnuts were stirred in.  I like big chunks of nuts in my cakes, so I didn't chop them finely at all.

As it was Fathers' Day, Dad was allowed to lick out the bowl.

Then the cupcake cases were filled and popped in the AGA for 20 minutes or so. 

They sat on the top of the AGA for a few minutes first to warm.  Eric, Mum and Dad's 20 year-old (!) cat, supervised from her basket.

When the cupcakes were cool, they were pricked all over with a fork, and a mixture of melted honey and orange juice was poured over them. 

It soaked in in a manner which foretold delicious squidgynesses to come...

...then finally the cupcakes were topped with a mixture of chopped walnuts and cinnamon.

They looked delicious!

While the honey drizzle cupcakes were baking I whipped up - and it really was whipping up, it was so quick and easy - a batch of lemon and walnut cupcakes. 

The methodology for these was a bit different from the honey drizzle cupcakes.  First, the walnuts had to be ground.  I ground them roughly in a pestle and mortar so that the cupcakes would be more textured than they would have been if the walnuts were ground as finely as flour (like bought ground almonds).

The walnuts, flour, sugar and spice were put in a bowl, the eggs were added, and everything was stirred together.

The mixture went into the cupcake cases, and the cupcake cases went into the AGA.

When they were cooled, I iced them with icing made from softened butter, icing sugar and lemon juice...

..but I was in so much of a rush to taste my cupcakes that I didn't take any photos of the icing process!

I unveiled my cupcakes at afternoon tea-time.  They looked amazing.

They tasted amazng too.

So amazing, that we had them for morning coffee the next day!

Thanks for a lovely weekend, Mum and Dad!