Christmas Cupcakes Treats! 6 Days

It's Christmastime! And now that I've finally broken up from school I have decided that everyday until Christmas day I will upload a blog post to celebrate Christmas and also to make up for my lack of dedication this year. I thought a great way to kick this off would be to bake some cupcakes! This recipe desires no electric equipment or rare ingredients so it's one that basically everyone can enjoy. Hoping that this lifts my spirit for Christmas, and yours, lets bake!



(recipe not mine)

For the cupcakes - 

* 75g unsalted butter, softened

* 100g caster sugar

* 125ml black treacle

* 1 large egg

* 1 large egg yolk

* 175g plain flour 
* 1tbsp cocoa powder 
* 1 1/4tsp ground ginger 
* 1tsp ground cinnamon 
* 3/4tsp ground nutmeg
* 1/4tsp salt 
* 1tsp baking power
* 125ml hot milk

For buttercream and decoration- 

* 240g butter, softened

* 400g icing sugar, sifted
* 2tsp vanilla extract
* 3tbsp milk

* Edible confetti/sprinkles/snowflakes/etc of your choice

First, preheat your oven to 170˚C/350˚F/Gas Mark 4 and prepare the baking tins by lining them with the 12 cupcake cases.
Then get a large bowl and cream the butter and the sugar. Then mix the wet ingredients together: the egg, egg yolk, and the black treacle. This may take some time, and if using a wooden spoon like I did instead of a hand or electrical whisk, make sure there are no lumps of butter in the mixture. 
Once the wet ingredients are combined, in a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. 


Afterwards, warm the milk on the hob and dissolve the baking powder in it. Be careful not to boil the milk. 
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients gradually. If your milk has a foamy top to it, pour it in to your mixture.
Mix all of the ingredients well for a thick, creamy dark brown substance. 
Afterwards, evenly disperse your cupcake mixture into the cupcake cases. To do this, I used an ice-cream scoop and tablespoon. Don't apply too much mixture into one- you can always add more but you can't take away! 
Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes, or until when you poke them with a skewer, it comes out dry. 
When they're baked, allow them to fully cool.

Personally, I don't thick a cupcake is complete wither the buttercream. Cream the butter in a bowl and very gradually add the icing sugar. If you aren't using an electrical whisk, persevere! I always find making buttercream very frustrating but it's worth it. When the buttercream is thick, creamy and smooth, add the milk if necessary and the vanilla extract.

When your cupcakes are completely cooled, just add the buttercream! Many people are led to believe that you must pipe your buttercream, but they look just as good and taste as delicious doing it the traditional way. Either pipe the buttercream or spread it on the cupcake, preferably using a palette knife or alternatively a teaspoon. Apply as much icing as you would like. Optionally, you can then decorate with confetti, sprinkles, chocolate and edible glitter! Enjoy!

Hope you liked this post and give these cupcakes a go! I'm going to go and enjoy a delicious festive Christmas cupcake and read a book...

Inspired by https://www.zoella.co.uk/2015/12/gingerbread-cupcakes.html

Hannah

 ♥

How to...Get Out of that Reading Slump

Recently I have been in a few reading slumps, and they aren't the nicest things because at times all I want to do is read however this makes it merely impossible. I have decided that I would write a hopefully short blog post about how you could get out of them. Reading slumps are an annoyance especially if you read often and to be honest this year so far I have been in quite a few. A few books on my shelf are the books that I have tried to read and failed and this can get very frustrating as for me I get annoyed at myself when I can't concentrate. And before I go on I would like to apologies for the lack of posts from me, I'm hoping that I will start posting a lot more near Christmas. So here are a few tips...


1) Wait. There is nothing worse than forcing yourself to read a book. No matter how hard you try you won't be able to concentrate and possibly miss important parts of the book so just wait and ride it out until the slump is over. 

2) Start reading a favourite. Pick a book from your bookshelf you know you will love, or maybe an easy read. Personally I always go towards the Anna and the French Kiss series by Stephanie Perkins which I can get into so easily as I have read all three a few times. Although The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my all time favourite books, I feel like it's a book which is quite a difficult read and to appreciate Audrey Niffenegger's amazing work you really need to concentrate and during a reading slump its the last thing you can or want to do.

3) Make your space comfortable. Wherever you read make sure that you are comfortable, personally I always read in my bed with a cup of tea on my side table and more often than not I will light my vanilla lime Yankee candle just to make me feel more relaxed while reading. As well as lighting candles and having a good cup of tea in hand in may be useful if try and eliminate background noises which can really distract you. 

4) Are audiobooks the answer? Instead of a physical book in hand why not go for the option of audiobooks. These are becoming more and more popular as its so easy to access now.  Another option is the Kindle, however I can't really promote this as I haven't got one myself but Hannah does and she said she enjoys reading of it. 

5) Try a new genre. This is something I need to start doing as I always stick to the same genre. 

6) Set yourself goals. Set yourself a daily goal of reading a chapter from a book and maybe this will push you to read more as you get more and more into a book. 

7) Find a reading buddy. Ask a fellow book addict to start reading a book with you (at the same time) , not necessarily in the same room though. This may prompt you to read further if they are ahead of you and who wants to hear spoilers? You could also discuss what you thought about it after and maybe even write a short blog post with both your views on it. 

8) Re-arrange your bookshelf. You may even find books you didn't know you had! 

9) Visit a bookstore. If you fellow book lovers love a good bookstore like Hannah and I do then this is a great idea. You may even find a book that's been on your wishlist. 

10) Do something other than reading. Of course the whole point of this blog post is to try and start reading but maybe you just need to focus on something else for a while and you will know when you want to start reading again. 

Well there is my tips on how to get out of a reading slump, hope it helps some of you. 
Happy reading :)

Charlotte 

♥