Hummingbird Bakery Boston Cream Cupcakes

Hello friends,

This year my role at work has changed, and rather than working from an office I am based from home – this is fantastic and I love it, but one thing I miss is seeing my friends day to day. This week I popped back into the office and it was the perfect excuse to whip up some cakes and dish them out to my buddies. One of my friends has a favourite bake that I have taken in many times, and that is the Hummingbird Bakery’s Boston Cream Cupcakes. They are vanilla cupcakes, with a custard filling and smothered in a chocolate frosting. Absolutely gluttonous but a perfect treat to be enjoyed with a cup of tea – we devoured a fair few of these!

This recipe can be found in the Hummingbird Bakery ‘Cake Days’ book, which you can find on Amazon here.

Ingredients:

This makes 12 cupcakes.

For the cupcakes:

80g softened butter

280g caster sugar

240g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

240ml milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the custard:

250ml milk

2 egg yolks

50g caster sugar

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp cornflour

For the frosting:

400g icing sugar

100g cocoa powder

160g softened butter

80ml milk

Grated chocolate to decorate

Method:  

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

In a bowl beat together the dry ingredients until combined. In a second bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and then combine with the dry mixture. Beat until the batter is smooth with no lumps, making sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Spoon the batter into the cases filling them by two thirds and then bake for around 20 minutes until well risen. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Whilst the cakes are cooling the custard can be made. In a saucepan bring the milk to a boil. As this is boiling, in a second bowl beat together the rest of the ingredients. When the milk is boiling remove from the heat and pour a few spoons into the egg mixtures to loosen, and then pour this mixture back into the milk. Return to the heat and bring to a boil making sure you beat the mixture constantly to avoid lumps (no one likes lumpy custard after all!). After a minute take off of the heat, place the custard in a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave this to cool for around half an hour.

To make the frosting, mix together the sugar, butter and cocoa powder slowly at first to avoid the dreaded icing sugar cloud in your kitchen. When this is mixed well add in the milk gradually and beat until well soft and fluffy.

To assemble the cakes, make a hole in the centre of the cakes by cutting a scoop out of the cake tops. Fill the hole with custard and place the sponge lid back on. Smother the top of the cake with chocolate frosting and then grate some chocolate over the top.

Enjoy with friends and a cup of tea!