Orange and Poppy Seed Cupcakes

Hi! Are you ready to bake? Good, because now I'm going to tell you about a favourite cake of mine; orange and poppy seed cupcakes. They are easy to make, and I made them for my schoolteacher, who loves cake!!! Here is how you make 12...

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C, or 170°C if you have a fan oven.  Then, line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases. They can be patterned if you like!

2. Using a hand-held electric whisk, mix 175 grams softened unsalted butter and 175 grams caster sugar, or beat with a wooden spoon, until pale and creamy.Gradually whisk in 3 medium eggs until just combined. Using a metal spoon,fold in 175 grams sifted self-raising flour, grated zest and juice of 1 large orange, 2 tablespoons poppy seeds and 1 teaspoon baking powder until combined. Make sure you don't overmix it!

3. Divide the mixture equally between your paper cases and bake them for 20 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden and risen. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. For the icing, put 125 grams unsalted butter into a bowl and whisk until fluffy. Gradually add 250 grams sifted icing sugar and 1 tablespoon orange flower water (if you can't get this, use the same amount of orange juice - I did in these cupcakes ➜) and whisk until light and fluffy.

5. Insert a star nozzle into a piping bag (if you don't have any piping bags, look at the bottom to see how to make one!), then fill the bag with your icing. Pipe a swirl onto the top of each cake, then if you like, you can decorate the cakes with orange jelly slices and orange edible glitter. As you can see, I didn't use the jelly slices - i sprinkled some poppy seeds and edible glitter on top instead!

My teacher loved these - I think he ate most of them at parents evening and took a few home! One of the good things about cupcakes is that you could change the flavours too: instead of orange, you could have the same amount of lemon juice and zest (for this, you will have to use lemon juice for the icing), or you could try lime zest and juice and sprinkle coconut flakes on top!


How to make a piping bag
First, cut out a rectangle of greaseproof paper that is 25.5cm x 20.5cm (10 x 8 inches). For smaller bags, cut a smaller rectangle. Fold it in half diagonally, so it becomes a triangle, then cut along the crease. You now have two triangles - for two piping bags.
Put a triangle on a flat surface with the largest angle facing towards you. Curl the top left-hand point round to line up with the bottom point. Hold it in place with your thumb and index finger.
Bring the right hand point over and round the back, meeting at the bottom point. Pull together slightly to tighten the point.
Fold over the points of the paper nearest to you to secure the bag. To use, snip the point of the bag into a pattern or drop in a metal piping nozzle. Your piping will look even better!

My teacher loved these - I think he ate most of them at parents evening and took a few home! One of the good things about cupcakes is that you could change the flavours too: instead of orange, you could have the same amount of lemon juice and zest (for this, you will have to use lemon juice for the icing), or you could try lime zest and juice and sprinkle coconut flakes on top!