Every little girl loves a cup cake. I'm not sure our little blossom has actually eaten very many beyond the frosting, but the decorations are always irresistible! I made these some time ago, hence the raspberry decoration; I made our own elder flower cordial this year, but the commercial stuff is available in good supermarkets. Thanks to the lovely, and very clever Jo Grams for taking the shots of the finished cup cakes!
Lemon Elder flower Cupcakes
125g butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
zest of a lemon
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup elder flower cordial
Preheat the oven to 175deg. C. and lay out approximately small paper cupcake cases.
Cream the softened butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Fold a third of the sifted flour and baking powder into the butter mixture, followed by a third of the elder flower cordial. Continue to fold in the remaining thirds until a soft batter is formed.
Half fill the cup cake cases.
Bake them for approximately 12 to 15 minutes until they are well risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool.
Elder Flower Frosting
200g softened butter
1 cup icing sugar
3 tablespoons elder flower cordial
the juice of a lemon
Beat all the ingredients using an electric beater until it is pale and fluffy.
Use a piping bag to pipe rosettes onto each cup cake. Decorate as required.
If our Little Miss is having buddies around I leave the frosting un-decorated and put out little dishes of Hundreds and Thousands, chocolate pieces, sweets, marshmallows and fruit so they can decorate their own. Happy faces!
Elderflower Cordial is a great, inexpensive seasonal treat. For those of you in New Zealand, its not too late to get out there and gather up enough flowers for a brew of this lovely floral drink. We gathered ours from up at the farm. Though they do grow along the roads everywhere, its best to find a tree that's away from the pollution and dust. It takes a couple of days to soak, so allow yourself three days if your planning this as a gift.
Elderflower Cordial
Boil and cool 2 litres of water in a large bowl. Add the rind of a lemon.
Next stir in the juice of four oranges and 1 lemon, 1.5kg of sugar and 3 tablespoons of tartaric acid.
Stir this mixture all around until the sugar is dissolved.
Next add approximately 24 large elderflower heads.
Push them down into the water, cover the bowl with plastic food wrap, and leave in a cool place for 48 hours to steep.
Strain the mixture through a fine cloth.
I strained mine twice: first through a kitchen cloth to remove the flowers, then through a tea towel to remove any finer pieces.
Place into sterilised bottles and seal. I collected up a whole lot of used juice bottles. Remove the labels by pouring boiling water inside; the heat melts the glue and makes removing the label much easier.
Store in the fridge until required. If left at room temperature it may start to ferment! For longer storage, place in half filled plastic soft drink bottles and freeze. We often mix ours with soda water, but it is also nice added to sparkling wine.
Happy Holidays!
