The Lazy Susan team have gone cupcake crazy the last few weeks or so. We’ve had our own mini-version of bake-off in the office, and somebody has brought in their entry each Friday.
We also did a little digging into the history of the cupcake and it is shrouded in even more ambiguity than the history of garden furniture.
One thing they do both have in common is there doesn’t seem to be one single inventor of the cupcake as we know it, more an evolution.
According to cupcake heavyweights the Hummingbird Bakery:
"The history of the cupcake isn’t entirely clear as most recipes were developed in home kitchens and passed down through families and friends, with adaptations often made out of ease or convenience.”
They go on to say about the history:
“While cake itself in some form or another has been around since ancient times, cupcakes first came about in America. It is thought that the first ever reference to ‘a cake to be baked in small cups’, rather than as a layer cake, was in Amelia Simmons’ ‘American Cookery’ in 1796. The first reference to the word ‘cupcake’ is said to be from a 19th century American author named Eliza Leslie in her cookbook ‘Receipts’. It’s possible that ‘cupcakes’ were also a reference to measuring techniques, with several cakes distinguishable by name by their measurements to make them easy to remember by volume, such as pound cakes.”
All we know here at Lazy Susan is we love them and the more frosting the better!
Lazy Susan’s Favourite Cupcake Recipes
These are some of our favourite tried and tested cupcake recipes, and we thought it would be nice to share them with our Lazy Living readers.
1. Hummingbird Bakery’s Velvet Cupcake
Of course, we had to start with the Hummingbird Bakery’s red velvet cupcakes. For us, they are probably the quintessential cupcake, and their recipe is perfection.
Fortunately, for us, founder Tarek Malouf has shared his step-by-step guide to making the famous bake for Sainsbury's Magazine and you can get the recipe here.
2. Chocolate Cupcakes by Natasha’s Kitchen
We’ve tried a number of chocolate cupcakes and the one that gets the Lazy Susan vote is Natasha Kravchuk’s Easy Chocolate Cupcake Recipe.
Super simple to make and her 6-minute Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is an absolute taste sensation.
Natasha also has this handy video tutorial (below) that shows you how to make them:
3. Alison Andrews Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
A few of the team at Lazy Susan are vegan, so of course, we can’t leave them out, and it was Alison’s recipe that was most loved by all. It even tricked a few of the naysayers!
Alison’s Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes are super light and fluffy vegan vanilla cupcakes that are topped with a wonderful creamy strawberry vanilla frosting.
4. Mary Berry’s Vanilla Cupcakes
Sometimes you can’t beat a simple classic and who better to knock it out of the park than the queen of baking herself and her Vanilla Cupcakes!
This is a tried and tested, work-every-time cupcake recipe that uses self-raising flour and baking powder to produce an extra-fluffy vanilla sponge.
And as for Mary’s sweet buttercream frosting… Mind. Blown!
5. The Delish’s Owl Cupcakes
Of course, we can’t leave the kids out…
And whilst they’re decorated for the little ones, as we know in this office, the taste is sure to please the big kids too!
The recipe uses Oreos for the eyes on these Little Owl Cupcakes, so you know they’re going to taste as good as they look.
6. Sally’s Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Here at Lazy Susan, we love Sally’s blog. She’s a professional food photographer, cookbook author, and baker, and her kitchen-tested recipes and step-by-step tutorials are super easy to follow.
These tasty and moist Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes are a great example. They have just the right amount of carrot cake-like spicing, which balances perfectly with tangy cream cheese frosting.
Perfect for autumn but delicious at any time of year!
7. Martha Collison’s Pink Lemonade Cupcakes for Waitrose
If you're looking for the perfect summer cupcake recipe, then these Pink Lemonade Cupcakes by Martha Collison for Waitrose are one of our picks of the bunch.
Not only do they look the part but the lemonade-soaked lemon sponge, topped with light raspberry buttercream and fresh raspberries packs a great summery taste.
The stand-out for the Lazy Susan team has to be the icing though. Some buttercreams can be a little sickly but this one is just perfect.
You can also follow Martha making them in the video below for Waitrose TV:
8. Good Housekeeping’s Ice Cream Cupcakes
This is another perfect summer recipe that delivers on looks and taste but is slightly different from the rest of this list.
These Ice Cream Cupcakes don’t have any cake in them and instead, use a crushed layered biscuit base that you freeze instead of bake.
OK maybe it stretches the definition of a cupcake but they’re about the same size and who cares when they taste this good!
We made them with crushed Oreo biscuits but the recipe suggests a few alternatives such as waffle cones and pretzels so we might try some of those with our next batch!
9. Sprinkle Bakes Vanilla-Rosewater Cupcakes
Rose is a flavour that’s maybe not to everyone's tastes but these Vanilla-Rosewater Cupcakes from Sprinkle Bakes are guaranteed to win over a few new fans.
Not only do they look super cute and pretty, but they also feature a delicious vanilla cake that’s topped with delicately scented rose water icing and glittering candied rose petals.
The rose petals are a little tricky to make but definitely worth the effort and they would be perfect for a summer party or wedding!
10. Teak & Thyme’s Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes
Whilst iconic, the Ferrero Rocher is maybe seen as a little bit naff these days. Maybe it was the old TV adverts? Anyway, we think that’s unfair as they taste wonderful
Teak & Thyme’s Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes feature a light and moist chocolate cupcake base that’s filled with Nutella, topped with creamy chocolate buttercream, crushed hazelnuts, and of course, the crowning glory, a Ferrero Rocher chocolate.
This is definitely the recipe for any choc nut lovers out there in Lazy Living land!
If you bake any of these cupcake recipes, then please pop them on your Lazy Susan Garden Furniture and take a few snaps for our Do Some Good charity campaign.
You can tag us @LazySusanFurniture on Instagram or Facebook or email them to us at [email protected].