Strawberry Milkshake Cuppy-Cakes

I think I’m over my string of baking disasters that I was moaning about at the start of the week. I felt pretty good making these pretty little things anyway so, hey! The world is a better place.

These almost look magical, right? They’re actually not as dainty as they look, that is a whole mountain of frosting slathered on top. A whole mountain. Really soft, but yielding strawberry frosting. Not just any old strawberry frosting though, but strawberry MILKSHAKE frosting. You know that kinda malty taste? Yeeaaaah.

The recipe is from one of my all time favourite recipe books, Home Sweet Home from The Hummingbird Bakery. They have the best ever cupcake recipes and these strawberry milkshake cupcakes are a go-to. I made them for a baking competition at a previous place of work and they went down very well (they won), so I definitely  recommend making them at once. Go, go, go!

RECIPE FROM THE HUMMINGBIRD BAKERY

FOR THE SPONGE

• 70g unsalted butter, softened
• 210g plain flour
• 250g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 210ml whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 40g strawberry milkshake powder

FOR THE FROSTING

• 500g icing sugar, sifted
• 160g unsalted butter, softened
• 50ml whole milk
• 100g strawberry milkshake powder

1. Preheat the oven to 170C and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.
2. To make the sponge, mix butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixer until sandy.
3. In another bowl, mix together milk, eggs, and milkshake powder.
4. With the mixer on slow, gradually pour in half of the liquid into the dry mixture. Raise the speed to medium and beat until smooth and thick. Scrape down the sides, turn the speed back down and pour in the other half of the wet mix. Continue to mix until completely smooth.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins until they’re two-thirds full.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave to cool slightly in the tin before removing and cooling completely.
7. For the frosting, beat together the sifted icing sugar and butter. In another bowl, mix the milk with the milkshake powder and gently pour into the sugar and butter mix. Beat until light and fluffy.
8. When the cakes have cooled, spoon generous amounts of the frosting onto each one. Smooth over with a palette knife and swirl round. I topped mine with pink sprinkles and straws.