Tag: Hummingbird Bakery

Cola Cupcakes to ring in the New Year

I came across the intriguing concept of soda flavoured cakes whilst admiring the cupcakes at the Hummingbird bakery. It sounded so bizarre and wrong that I just had to give them a go.

The finished product is a complete revelation, quite a taste sensation – not too sweet (surprisingly!) and unmistakably cola flavoured. I’ve come across people using the well-known fizzy drink in their recipes, but I opted for a more intense cola syrup as used for a drinks mixer or in a soda stream. Serve decorated with lemon slices and a straw,or vegetarian fizzy cola bottles from Goody Good Stuff

Happy New Year! Wishing you all an utterly fabulous 2013 🙂

Cola cupcakes (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan) warning: contains gluten

makes 12 cupcakes

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  • 200g self raising flour
  • 100g caster sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 100ml sunflower oil or melted dairy free spread
  • 140ml oat milk
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tbsp cola syrup

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 4
– Place liners in a cupcake tray
– Mix together the oat milk, lemon juice, bicarbonate and cola syrup. Set aside.
– Sift together the flour and salt
– Stir in the sugar
– Pour the milk mix into the dry ingredients and gently mix until fully combined and no raw flour lumps remain
– 2/3rds fill the cupcake cases
– Bake for 15-20 minutes until
cooked through and a knife comes out clean
– Cool on a wire rack

Cola Buttercream (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan)

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enough to ice the 12 cupcakes

  • 1/4 cup vegetable fat (such as Trex)
  • 3/4 cup dairy-free spread (such as Pure)
  • 3 cups icing sugar, sifted
  • 2 tbsps cola syrup

– Whisk together the spread and vegetable fat.

– Add the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time with a splash of the cold syrup, until fully combined and nice and fluffy.

– Spread onto the cupcakes.

Hummingbird Bakery-alike Cupcakes

There’s a Hummingbird Bakery near where I work, so I’ve been lucky enough to visit and admire… the cupcakes look so pretty and tempting, sitting in their neat rows in glass cases.

It was Big S’s Birthday this week and my inspiration for her school cupcakes was Hummingbird. I would have liked to attempt a ‘black bottom’ cupcake but was all out of dairy-free cream cheese. That one will have to wait until next time. I didn’t quite get the correct ‘icing swirl’ but the kids liked them, and Big S had a fabulous Birthday, even though it was a school day!

These cupcakes are a basic chocolate sponge, iced with velvety white buttercream and finally topped with a homemade Jazzie chocolate.

Chocolate Cupcakes (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

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Makes 12

  • 1 cup oat milk
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup dairy-free spread, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1/2 cup drinking chocolate powder
  • 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

– Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 5
– Fill a cupcake tray with cupcake cases
– Mix together the oat milk, lemon, melted spread and vanilla.
– Stir in the sugar
– Sift in the flour, drinking chocolate, bicarbonate, baking powder and salt.
– Gently mix to form a smooth, very wet silky mix.
– 2/3rds fill the cupcake cases
– Bake for 18-20 minutes until a knife comes out clean
– Cool on a wire rack

Velvety White Buttercream (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan)

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enough to pipe onto 12-14 cupcakes

  • 1/4 cup vegetable fat (such as Trex)
  • 3/4 cup dairy-free spread (such as Pure)
  • 3 cups icing sugar, sifted
  • 1/4 cup oat milk

– Whisk together the spread and vegetable fat.

– Add the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time with a splash of the oat milk, until fully combined and nice and fluffy.

– Spread onto the cupcakes.

– Decorate with chocolate powder and/or a homemade jazzie