Daydream Cupcakes

Impington Farmer's Market

2007-08-06T11:18:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone that has come to see us at our first three Farmers' Markets! It's such a lovely atmosphere and we always have a great time - meeting with everyone that's visiting us and seeing how they are able to release the cupcakes from their papers!

We're always working on ways to improve the cupcakes. In July, you may have seen a change to the lemon meringue cupcakes which we think worked really well. Instead of putting a whole meringue on top, we rolled the frosting in crushed meringue! It worked so well the lemon meringue cupcake is my new favourite!

We hope to be regularly installed at the Impington Farmers' Market at the ones coming up are as follows:

August 18th
September 15th
October 20th

If you need to place an order for cupcakes in the mean time, please email us at info@daydreamcupcakes.com.

See you soon!

Thank you!

2007-05-19T15:39:00.000Z

A big thank you to everyone that came and visited us today, to those that tasted and those that purchased at Impington Farmers' Market! We felt that we did really well and are looking forward to seeing everyone next month - 16th of June, 2007.

If you have any queries regarding catering for special events or other reasons, please email Emma or myself (Bonnie) at the address to the right or call me at the number on the business card.

Deliveries can be made anywhere in Cambridge and will be made outside of normal office hours. Please contact me for pricing and flavours available. I will do my best to accomodate any reasonable request.

If you have any constructive criticism or suggestions for anything at all please comment to this post or email at the address above.

Thanks again and enjoy your cupcakes!

See you there!

2007-05-15T19:19:00.000Z

It's confirmed. This Saturday, 19th of May, we are truly going to be at the Impington Farmers' Market! On offer will be some really delicious and cute cupcakes of the following flavours:

Very Vanilla (pictured above), Vanilla & Raspberry, Chocolate & Hazelnut, Banoffee and Lemon Meringue.

All cupcakes will be 6 for £3 or 12 for £5. Quite reasonable, no?

If you're around please do come and see us! We'll be there from 9:30am - 12:30pm or until sold out (fingers crossed).

Delivery information

2007-05-02T18:17:00.000Z

Daydream Cupcakes can deliver to you if you are in Cambridge City. Please allow 2 days notice for all orders and delivery will be free of charge.

Hopefully soon Daydream Cupcakes will be trialling a courier service to deliver to people outside of Cambridge. More information on this to follow.

Carrot Cake & The First Market

2007-04-10T22:33:00.000Z

Our first farmers' market is looming! Our first will be on the 21st of April, 2007 at the Impington Farmers' Market! We're really looking forward to it but it will be slightly daunting. If you're in the area, hunt us down! The market is only open for 3 hours from 9:30am to 12:30pm so don't lay in!

These cupcakes haven't quite made the cut. They are my carrot cupcakes and are decidedly yummy - however they are a little too fiddly and have a creamcheese frosting which may be a little too risky... It's a pity because they are beautiful, no?

Banoffee

2007-03-04T20:22:00.000Z

Idea behind:

To put a pie into a cupcake. Banana bread with caramel injection and a caramel flavoured frosting. The banana bread is really more like a cake and I wanted to use this recipe.

The cake:

The cake is perfect. I don't think I could wish for a better banana bread since I have been baking it since I was about oh, hrmmmm 8. It comes from my Sesame Street books and in particular is Big Bird's banana bread. Very simple and always a winner.

The Caramel:

The original caramel that I made was from the back of the Sweetened condensed Milk tin. You would've thought that it would be perfect but found that it had too much sugar for its own good. I went for a standard Australian caramel recipe which calls for 2 tablespoons of golden syrup and no extra sugar. It worked fine and it didn't harden too much as the previous one did.

The icing:

I used a simple buttercream and added a good quarter of a cup of the caramel to the mix to flavour it.

Overall I found the cupcake cloyingly sweet and too overbearing. I think next time to bring the 'cream' element to the cupcake I'll use vanilla buttercream frosting. I will need a decoration to differentiate and am considering dried banana chips, possibly just a round placed on top.

Overall very successful and I think I will incorporate these cupcakes into the menu.

A trip to Shelford Farmers' Market

2007-02-25T13:03:00.000Z

Matcha and Chocolate

2007-02-18T17:07:00.000Z

Idea behind:

Matcha powder is still relatively novel. Not only does it bring a new flavour to the general public but it also creates this beautiful green hue. Blogs around the sphere have paired matcha with dark chocolate and I wanted to try the combination.

The cake:

I originally made matcha cupcakes and posted it on DD. I wanted to use the same recipe as it was very good the first time round. I did change the recipe slightly - using 1 teaspoon of matcha instead of one tablespoon - as it was very strong. I think I will use 2 teaspoons next time.

Next time I will sift the matcha into the flour rather than whisking into the milk as it formed difficult lumps that were reluctant to mix in. As per my standard recipe I will also add the flour and milk in turn rather than each all at once. This should assist the mixing.

I pushed half a square of chocolate into each cupcake before baking. When they came out of the oven the chocolate was runny and hot and really very tasty. Once they had cooled, the chocolate became harder creating a crunch to them. I liked them both the same and would like to test a dark chocolate ganche in place of the hot chocolate to see if it would create the same effect. Overall the matcha and chocolate are definitely a perfect match, not overpowering eachother, but perfectly complimenting each. The subtle apple tones of the matcha cutting through the bitterness of the chocolate.

Finally - as I was having trouble with the cakes going out of shape when they were placed so close together, I stood them apart slightly on the baking tray and they maintained their shape much better.

The icing

Standard buttercream icing worked very well, whipped for a long time to create an airy effect. Again, the matcha should be mixed in with the icing rather than with the milk.

I personally liked the quick swirl on top, rather than covering the top - I think it adds to the quirkiness of the cupcake.

I will also sprinkle some powder over half of each cake to give it the finishing touch.

NOTES:

- sift the flour and matcha together rather than matcha and milk. Same with icing.
- Slightly more powder next time.
- Try a chocolate ganache in addition to the chocolate squares.
- Sprinkle of a touch of powder over the top of each cake.
- Give out loads of freebies for everyone to try to get everyone hooked. Otherwise people will remain skeptical.

Cappuccino

2007-02-04T16:41:00.000Z

Idea behind:

What more can I say? Coffee is one of my favourite things... so why would I not want to create the perfect cupcake from my favourite coffee in the whole wide world... It needs some work though.

The cake:

To replicate the coffee grinds at the bottom of a cup of coffee, I decided to line the papers with a sprinkling of fresh grounds. I made a lot with just grounds, grounds and demerara, just demarara and then with nothing at all. It certainly made a big difference in the overall taste however I need to put them on top of the batter rather than on the bottom, as it made it look like the cake had burnt on the bottom. The grounds and demerara was the best combination as the sugar gave a slight crunch.

For the cake itself, I used the standard recipe but instead of 125ml of milk, I used 75ml of coffee and 50ml of milk. General feelings were that the cake wasn't strong enough again. I think I need to reduce the coffee to a stronger syrup. 75ml to 50ml certainly works very well.

We used Monmouths coffee. I don't think this will be necessary as it was kind of lost - although this may be due to the fact that the coffee wasn't strong enough.

The icing:

First of all, I got a slight curdle in the icing because the coffee was too warm! Cool it down next time!! I did a combination of vanilla buttercream and coffee buttercream but you couldn't tell the difference between the two. Therefore needs to be darker. General concensus was that it was way too sweet! So I think I will try the Donna Hay Italian meringue icing next time. Plus I think the icing looks horrible! So next time I'm going to use the piping bag. Sprinkled with the chocolate is beneficial. Maybe there's also a possibility to get a stencil to make a pattern on top.

All in all - I feel safe to say that the coffee cupcakes won't be a best seller. Mind you, it wasn't *like* a cappuccino... it was more like a milky filtered. Coffee cakes are generally hit and miss anyway.

Notes:

- Produce a coffee syrup.
- Test a new icing.
- Fix the cupcake papers!!!

Lemon Meringue

2007-01-28T17:29:00.000Z

Idea behind:

A lemon meringue pie in a cupcake and much more interesting than just a lemon cupcake. Instead of a traditional frosting/icing, a meringue 'hat' acts as the decoration.

The cake:

I thought for this recipe I would try to make the batter minus the egg whites. The idea was to shadow the pie crust of a lemon meringue with a denser cake. I think this was a mistake. Next lot I will definitely use the egg whites as it will allow me to inject more of the lemon curd into the centre and give the over cake a lighter feel. I used the lemon zest and the left over lemon juice from the curd in the cake batter. I added it after the eggs but before the flour and milk.

Lemon Curd:

My traditional lemon meringue pie curd called for the use of corn flour to make it thicker. I had made a normal lemon curd before and felt that it was the right consistency so decided to go for that rather than the traditional recipe. I did however leave out the lemon zest as this would block the needle. I felt that the curd was spot on and doesn't need any adjustments. Just need more of it - which the lighter cake will allow.

Meringue:

Used 2 whites with 1/2 cup of icing sugar, a dash of vanilla, and a teaspoon of cornflour. Very first impression was that they definitely needed to be cooked longer and slower - probably at about 150 degrees for 30-45 minutes. They were too eggy to the taste and I feel that a slight crunch may be benefitial. Inject longer and slower and I need to ensure that there is a large dollop of curd onto to allow the meringue to stick to the cake.

Main points:

- egg whites into the batter mixture
- more curd should be injected
- make the meringues first - slower and longer.

Things to remember to do:

2007-01-23T21:30:00.000Z

- Incorporate business
- Decide on company name: AnderScott Holdings Limited
- Decide on directorships and company secretary: Emma & Bonnie - Bonnie acting as secretary also.
- Decide on main address: Emma
- Memorandum of Association
- Separate letter about aticles of association citing Tables A
- Form 10 - details form
- Form 12 - signed in the prescence of notary public, JP, commisioner of oaths, or solicitor

- Source blank business cards: Blank card in cream or recycled (flecked) card to be guillotined.
- Source correct cupcake paper (call them!):
Abican - 1oz size - £33.30 for 5000 pots

Minimum order £75 but also supply the bags - £12.95 for 250

- Stamp
- ~~Logo~~
- Info (use 10% discount voucher)
AnderScott Holdings Limited at the base. Website address, mobile number and slogan.

- Aprons
- Original logo file has been sent to mum who will embroider onto aprons

- Banner for the stall - sourcing this from banner or sign writers

- Market: Emma is arranging this

- Register kitchen with local Council Authority
- Decide which kitchen to use - Emma's.

- Arrange Insurance with Market Traders Union.
- Perhaps done closer to the time of opening.
- £111.00 for 2 people trading

- Tax
- PAYE scheme: £0 - £2,150 - 10%
£2,151 - £33,300 - 22%
>£33,301 - 40%
- Corporation tax on profits: 19% on all earnings of £0 - £300,000
- VAT not payable as falls under food exemption.

- Website
- using a stripped down version of blogger initially to keep costs low
- need to register domain name in march.
- 3 x email addresses: bonnie@daydreamcupcakes.com, emma@daydreamcupcakes.com & info@daydreamcupcakes.com + possible orders@daydreamcupcakes.com

Chocolate & Hazelnut

2007-01-21T09:17:00.000Z

Idea behind:

Think nutella, think rocher, Ferrero had the right idea getting in to the chocolate/hazelnut market. This one has a potential of being a best seller.

The Cake:

My first idea was to have a thick, fudgey, flourless base. Using ground hazelnuts as a stabilise. After researching recipes and researching Miss C's website and found this meringue base which I decided to test. When it first came out of the oven, I was a bit worried because they were very airy and tasted of egg whites. They were easy to inject with the warmed up nutella.

The cakes began to sink well below the cupcake tip even though I filled them 3/4 full. They also didn't hold their shape in the flimsy cupcake holders. The new cupcake papers should sort that out.

On further thought, I think the cake batter could work a bit better with an additional tablespoon of flour and 75 grams of the ground hazelnut. This amount of batter will make 69 mini cupcakes, although the could have been filled a little bit more.

Filling:

Nutella works excellently as the filler. A few seconds in the microwave renders it injector friendly.

Frosting:

This was a little bit of a pain in the ass! I started out wanting to make an icing that was in this season's Donna Hay magazine that was a form of Italian meringue. It was originally with coffee and of course I decided I wanted to have it with chocolate. So that was the first mistake. The egg whites ended up completely flat. I used the syrup it created - with 125 grams of the chocolate etc... and made a plain buttercream icing using the same recipe as the vanilla frosting. The roasted hazelnut pieces covering 1/3 - 1/2 of the frosting was an excellent balance to the creaminess and airiness of the frosting, nutella and meringue cake. They really 'ground' the cupcake.

Overall impressions from external tasters were all very positive. Dan claimed that these were closer to spot on than the other 2 previous recipes. Definitely a winner recipe and with a few tiny alterations to the cake and the frosting and sturdy cupcake papers, these cupcakes will fly off the shelf.

Main points:

- Fill the cupcake papers 3/4 full if not more...
- Add additional flour and ground hazelnut to the recipe.
- Melted chocolate into a buttercream frosting will work fine.
- Correct cupcake papers will be very important.

Very Vanilla

2007-01-14T17:55:00.000Z

Idea behind:

A classic. Vanilla was a flavour I couldn't miss. Especially after being able to source extremely cheap vanilla pods. Twenty pods for €20.00. Which turns out to be 65p a piece. Amazing.

The cake:

First of all, I need to fill the papers a little higher. Three-quarters full at least. Need to obtain a metal spoon. Folding the egg whites in with a plastic spat is proving slightly more difficult; not to mention is flattening the mixture.

The vanilla hit needs to be much more pronounced. Vanilla extract and vanilla sugar will be the answer. Can use the left over vanilla pod skins as this is a wasted resource. Another possible answer could be to make vanilla milk. Infuse the milk with the pods; dry the pods and stick them into the sugar. Surely that would get out as much flavour as possible!

The icing:

Very happy with the larger swirl. Think that this is the way of the future. Again, a much needed vanilla hit is missing which can be achieved with extract. The "icecream" effect was achieved.

The cherry:

"Something" was indeed missing. The pecans weren't doing it for me. But what could be more obvious than a cherry on top? Need to have natural coloured cherries next time. I think a stem might get in the way though...

Main points:

Prepare vanilla milk in advance.
Stock vanilla sugar.
Maybe make own vanilla extract (needs further investigation).
Source cherries

Almond & Blueberry

2007-01-08T09:44:00.000Z

Idea behind:

Almond and blueberry have long been partners in the flavour stakes but it is not an immediate choice, not like almond and cherry.

An almond cake and a blueberry jam are the main components. Icing to be either almond or blueberry flavoured - but yet to be determined.

Blueberry Element:

I felt the jam had a very homemade feel about it. Very plain and ordinary. In future I plan to develop the flavour for a much longer period of time. Also the added addition of the almond into the jam will marry the ingredients together.

I liked the jam flavoured icing. Not only did this colour the cupcake prettily, it added an extra kick of blueberry.

Dan wasn't as positive about the colouring and felt that the only kick should come from the jam alone. I feel that this needs to be looked at further when the almond element is sorted out.

Almond Element:

The toasted flaked almonds on the top need to be browner. Dan suggested laying a single toasted flaked almond on top. I feel this won't add enough crunch - but perhaps a whole blanched almond will.

Ground almond was added to the batter at a 2:1 ratio favouring the flour. It didn't make a difference to the flavour one iota. The texture was slightly heavier but hardly noticable.

Would also like to try adding extract to the jam and developing that further.

The strong almond flavour that can be found in marzipan and other almond flavoured goods cannot be achieved by using the store bought edible almonds available from supermarkets. This will include all variations including flaked, ground and whole.

The store bought almonds are of the 'sweet variety' whilst the flavour is extracted from the 'bitter' variety which may be poisonous and contains chemicals found in cyanide.

To have a more prevalent almond flavour, I intend to use either almond extract (readily available) or almond spice which I would need to source.

Initially, I only wanted to use flavours that I had extracted myself, to optimise flavour and reduce costs. This is the first obsticle I've come across and it so happens to be in the first recipe that I'm developing. I hope it doesn't happen in every case!

This recipe will not be able to go much further until the almond flavour is much much stronger.

Main Points:

Source almond extract or almond spice to flavour jam, cake and icing.
Toasted whole blached almonds for the top.
Determine whether icing should be blueberry or not.
Do not use ground almond in the cake.

BIG POINT! Read Harold before embarking on recipe development.