Bake it in a Cake: Oreos

Inspired by my love for Bake It in a Cake, last night I created some cupcakes with Oreos inside! 

I love Oreos. When I was a kid, I thought they were yummy, but kind of boring as it was standard 'kid food'. However, since moving to the UK and not having Oreos so readily available, I find myself craving them once in a while! 

These cupcakes were so fun to make. They're just a normal vanilla cupcake batter, but of course with an Oreo hidden inside! They're topped with buttercream frosting and crushed Oreos. 

Here are the recipes I used:

Cupcake batter (from iVillage)

125g / 4 1/2 oz softened butter

125g / 4 1/2 oz caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g / 4 1/2 oz self-raising flour

2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5. Either butter the tin or place the paper cases in the holes. In a mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. You can use an electric whisk or a wooden spoon.

Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, whisking to incorporate, then beat in the vanilla.

Sift in half of the flour and fold into the mixture. Add the milk and the rest of the flour and fold until well combined.

Spoon into the tin and bake for 12 minutes or until risen and golden on top. Allow to cool for ten minutes on a rack before removing from the tin.

Frosting (modified from Waitrose.com)

85g softened butter

200g icing sugar

a couple drops of vanilla flavouring

splash of milk, until right consistency

Cream butter and sugar together, adding the milk as needed. 

Assembly

1. Mix up the cupcake batter.
2. Place the cupcake papers in the cupcake tin.
3. Fill the papers about a third of the way full with batter.
4. Place an oreo on top of the batter in each paper, squishing it down into it a bit.
5. Cover with another spoonful of batter (don't fill the papers more than 3/4 full, or they will overflow!).
6. Bake the cupcakes as usual.
7. Wait for the cupcakes to cool completely. They may fall a little bit, but don't worry about that. 
8. Mix up your buttercream icing.
9. Use a piping bag (or fill up a plastic sandwich bag and cut a hole in one corner - that's what I do!) to pipe luscious swirls of icing onto each cupcake.
10. Crush up a few of the leftover Oreos, and sprinkle them onto the top of the cupcakes. 

Makes 12 medium size cupcakes. 

Enjoy! 

Food Blogs I Like

I'm thinking of resurrecting this blog (and the joyfulfood twitter), but to get things started, here are a few of my favourite food blogs:

Bake It in a Cake: http://bakeitinacake.com/

Oh my gosh, this blog fills me with such joy! It's a wonderful mixture of delicious-sounding food, and the hilarious and creative ideas of what can indeed be baked inside of a cake!

Joy the Baker: http://www.joythebaker.com/

At first I was drawn to this blog because the author has the same name as me, and of course (?) that is a cause for interest. Her food ideas are fun, the photographs are beautiful, and she has a endearingly quirky writing style.

17 and Baking: http://17andbaking.com/

I only recently discovered this one, but I'm impressed with it so far. I think what I like the most is not even the food and recipes themselves, but the beautiful and thoughtful writing that goes with it.

Enjoy! Hopefully I'll be here with more simple, fun, and 'joyful' food ideas soon :)

Joy