Monday 15 May 2017

Mini Victoria Sponge Cake Cupcakes!


A colleague leaving my team this week asked for 'vanilla' cupcakes... to which I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I have been asked to make many different confectionery treats over the years but never just 'vanilla' (which I'm sure is lots of people's taste but just does not thrill me!) I eventually talked him into 'a Victoria sponge type thing' and so the Mini Vic Sponge Cakes were created!



Soft vanilla sponge, plain whipped buttercream and a dollop of raspberry jam, sprinkled with icing sugar, very simple but I have to say, they went down a treat in the office!


So, not exactly a recipe - (I've already shared my buttercream recipe here), more of a cupcake styling!


You will need;

Vanilla sponge cupcakes
Plain buttercream
Extra cupcake cases
Raspberry Jam
Piping bags
Icing sugar
Seive


Here's what I did;



First of all bake the number of vanilla sponge cupcakes you need, it's hard to get cupcakes to come out with a perfect smooth top everytime, half of mine had peaked tops - these got the traditional icing on top treatment (no one seemed to mind!) but I usually find at least half my batch turn out smooth (I always do batches in multiple of 12s, so this batch of 24 gave me 12 nice smooth topped buns)


Next unwrap your cupcakes from their wrappers as carefully as possible


Then carefully cut your cupcake in half horizontally, try to keep top and bottom even sizes


Place the bottom of each cupcake into a new clean case as you cut it, and set it's matching top beside it (to make sure it's the right fit!) I found it easiest to set the cases and tops inside my cupcake carrier.


Fill a piping bag with your buttercream and another with your jam, I used about half a jar of jam for 24 cupcakes. This is the jam I usually use.
You'll see I use a bag clip on the end of my piping bags, I find this really helps keep the mess down and I would DEFINITELY recommend this for the jam!




Now pipe a generous ring of buttercream on each of the cupcake bases, try not to go over the edge or they'll stick to the cases.




Next fill the centre of each ring with the raspberry jam.



Now pop the top of each cupcake back on, do not squish them down!


I chose to do a row of 4 cupcakes at a time to save on space and mess, but you can do them all at once! 



Once all your tops are on, give them a quick sprinkle of icing sugar using your sieve (you'll see I did this step in another surface to keep my carrier clean for taking them to work!)


And voila! Or bob's yer uncle! Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes. As I said, I ended up with 12 of these and 12 'normal' cupcakes - with raspberry jam in the middle and plain buttercream on top, and I don't need to be a research consultant to tell you (although I still am FYI) that the Mini Vic's disappeared quicker than the 'normal's'!


I'm baking for a bake/ plant sale in my mum's work this weekend and I think i'll give these another go!



What do you think?


Happy Baking,Lx

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