Today’s post isn’t particularly Christmassy, but, seeing as we’re in the last month of the year now, it’s time to finish off my 2024 bullet journal so that I can start a new one for 2025. In today’s post, I’ll be chatting about the final two spreads in my journal: my 2024 Review spreads! You might remember that I did this kind of thing in my journal last year, but I went in a slightly different direction this year.

Attending the Eras Tour was the biggest highlight of my year, so I used it as the theme for these spreads. I actually did a whole monthly setup with an Eras Tour theme back in June, which was one of my favourite setups I’ve ever done, so I used that as inspiration for these spreads!

Table of Contents

• Equipment
• 2024 Memories
• 2024: Spotify Wrapped

Equipment

To make these spreads, I used the following equipment:

• Uni Pin Fine Line pen: 0.5, sepia.
• Coloured pencils.
• Pencil.
• Eraser.

I wanted to keep these spreads soft and colourful, so I opted to use a brown fineliner, instead of my usual black one. Otherwise, the equipment list for this one is pretty basic!

2024 Memories

This year has been a strange one for me, so I didn’t really fancy doing a super in-depth review spread this time around. Instead, I thought it would be nice to make a more visual spread, full of memories from the year gone by.

I decided to use the same friendship bracelet doodle decoration as my June setup, with little round, heart & star-shaped ‘beads’, in all of the colours associated with Taylor Swift’s album eras. As with my monthly setup, I used the following shades of coloured pencils to correspond with each era:

• Taylor Swift – pale green
• Fearless – gold/deep yellow
• Speak Now – lilac
• Red – red (astounding, I know)
• 1989 – pale blue
• Reputation – dark grey
• Lover – pale pink
• Folklore – grey
• Evermore – beige
• Midnights – dark blue
• The Tortured Poets Department – black

I had the idea to fill this spread with one massive friendship bracelet, fitted with multiple ‘charms’ that represent significant memories for me this year. I’m not the best at drawing/doodling, so I was a bit nervous about drawing the charms, but I just went in with a pencil and eraser first, before inking over the lines, to take the pressure off.

I won’t go into detail on every charm, because I’d like to keep some memories just for me, but here’s what a few of my charms symbolise:

• Pink disco ball: This was the charm I chose to represent the Eras Tour! I wore a sparkly pink dress (that I made myself!), Taylor swift has a song called mirrorball and I danced a lot, so it felt fitting.
• #1 red & green tennis ball: My favourite tennis player, Jannik Sinner, reached #1 in the world this year, so this charm is to commemorate that and how much fun I had watching all the matches over the past season! Sinner is Italian, so I used red and green for the colours of the ball (though, now that I think about it, I feel blue might have been a better fit here, because the Italian players wear blue in the Billie Jean King/Davis Cups (which, coincidentally, Italy also won!).
• Pig in blanket: Ever since last Christmas, I’ve been in a major Pig in Blanket era, which is kind of random, but obviously had to be commemorated.
• Ball of yarn: I’ve been really getting back into my knitting this year, particularly with my Project Knitwear series, so I wanted to draw a charm to reflect that. However, I also wanted to commemorate the Paris Olympics that took place this summer (and forgot to give it a charm of its own), so I opted to use the colours of the Olympic rings for this yarn ball charm. I think this worked out pretty perfectly, because my biggest yarn-y project this year was my Grace Blanket, which I made while watching the Olympics.
• Golden bee: I couldn’t summarise my 2024 without a reference to Bridgerton, after the release of Season 3 and my Bridgerton Watch Party series here on the blog. The bee is a classic symbol of the show and I chose to make it gold to reflect the green & gold colour scheme of the promo material for Season 3.
• Aurora borealis: I would forgive you for not knowing what this one was, because my artistic skills leave much to be desired, but I actually managed to see the aurora borealis on two (!) separate occasions this month, right on my doorstep, which was very magical.
• Ink pot & quill: With my Taylor Swift theme, I couldn’t leave out the latest album/era: The Tortured Poets Department. It’s not my most favourite era, but I still love it (and I just got an Anthology vinyl, which is SO exciting!).

In the centre of the page, I also sketched out the numbers in ‘2024’. The aim was to make these also look like charms, so the whole thing is one, big, ‘2024’ charm bracelet. My skills at 3D-ifying things are evidently still a work in progress, but I still like the effect here.

After I’d sketched everything out, inked all the lines, coloured in all of the charms and added in the smaller beads, the spread was basically finished. However, there was a little space in both the bottom left and the top right, so I couldn’t help myself from adding in one of my favourite Taylor Swift lyrics (which is always very fitting for these types of spreads): “Hold on to the memories they will hold on to you” from New Year’s Day (which Taylor Swift JUST sang as one of the surprise songs at the last ever Eras Tour show in Vancouver so… it’s kind of meant to be!).

2024: Spotify Wrapped

Let’s be real: Spotify Wrapped this year was… kind of a let down. However, I wait all year to have my listening habits broken down into fun statistics, so I still wanted to pay homage to it here. I love to look back over my Spotify Wrapped from years gone by and see how my likes/dislikes have changed (though, let’s be real, Taylor Swift is always my #1 artist). I figured where better to store this info than in my bullet journal, so I made a spread for it here.

Again, I’m keeping with that same friendship bracelet, Eras Tour theme, using my brown fineliner to keep everything soft and light. I wrote the heading for this spread on little alphabet ‘beads’ (i.e. circles that I drew with the fineliner). I then drew little corner frames for each section and filled the rest of the space with coloured pencil doodles (with varying degrees of success: my TTPD space ship looks more like a Picasso eye and my guitar has a slight lyre vibe to it…).

My music listening this year has definitely taken a bit of a hit— honestly, most of the songs in my Wrapped playlist are the ones I listen to to fall asleep! I very much enjoyed seeing my April phase though (Royalcore String Quarter Classical Pop): you can tell how excited I was for Bridgerton Season 3 coming out in May! My biggest listening day being the day before my Eras Tour show was also very fitting. I’ll have to work on my Swiftie credentials though— I’ve dropped from being in the top 1% of Taylor Swift listeners a couple of years ago to the top 3%! Sigh.

Anyway, those are my Eras Tour-themed, 2024 Review pages in my bullet journal. Now, it’s time to start on my new, 2025 bullet journal! Watch this space!

Gemma

xxx

Table of Contents

• The Question…? Cupcake: Explained
• Roasting the Hazelnuts
• Making the Chocolate & Hazelnut Cupcakes
• Making the Hazelnut Praline
• Preparing the Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
• Making the Chocolate & Hazelnut Whipped Cream Icing
• Decorating the Cupcakes
• Recipe

The Question…? Cupcake: Explained

The Question…? Cupcake is comprised of 4 main elements:

• Chocolate & hazelnut cake
• Amaretto, chocolate & hazelnut whipped cream icing
• Hazelnut praline
• Gold Ferrero Rocher ‘meteor’

There’s not a huge amount of food-related inspiration to draw on in this particular song, so I had to use a little bit of artistic license when creating this cupcake. I’ve mainly drawn on two specific lines from the lyrics:

‘It was one drink after another‘

and

‘Does it feel like everything’s just like second-best after that meteor strike?‘.

I was brainstorming ways to decorate the cupcake to reflect the concept of a meteor strike and I kept coming back to Ferrero Rocher chocolates. If you’ve never seen these before, they’re these (expensive- WHY SO EXPENSIVE?!) chocolate & hazelnut truffles, that come individually wrapped in gold foil. Once unwrapped, they have a pretty distinctive, knobbly (for lack of a better word) appearance, which comes from the chopped hazelnuts that the truffles are covered in, before their final dunking in chocolate. They’ve always reminded me a little of space rocks, so I figured they’d make a great ‘meteor’ for this cupcake.

I decided to run with the flavours of the Ferrero Rocher (i.e. chocolate and hazelnut) and use that combination as the basis for these cupcakes. I also added some alcohol, even though I’m usually not a huge fan of alcohol in bakes (but it actually really works here- amaretto is one of the few spirits I actually like, so it all works out!), to reflect the reference to alcohol in the song.

Essentially then, the cupcakes are standard chocolate cupcakes, studded with tiny pieces of freshly roasted hazelnuts. The whipped cream icing is combined with warmed chocolate hazelnut spread and Amaretto liqueur (a combination I first came across in this Yule Log recipe, by Edd Kimber, of Great British Bake Off fame, and which I have been obssessed with ever since). The Ferrero Rocher chocolates are painted gold using edible lustre dust (because, of course), then shards of homemade hazelnut praline are also adorned with gold and arranged to look like the fiery path of the meteor as it falls.

Roasting the Hazelnuts

To get the maximum amount of flavour out of the hazelnuts, which we’ll be using in both the cupcakes and the praline, you need to roast (or toast) them. There are a few different ways you can do this:

• On the hob:

This is the fastest method, but the nuts won’t be quite as evenly roasted all the way through- so the flavour won’t be quite as deep. Place the nuts into a dry pan over medium-high heat and shake every now and then until golden and smelling super nutty. Tip them out onto a clean plate and allow them to cool completely before chopping/grinding as needed.

• In the oven:

This takes a little longer, but produces perfectly, evenly roasted nuts with an intensely nutty flavour. Spread the nuts onto a baking tray, in an even layer and place into a 180°C oven (conventional oven). Allow to roast for 6-8 minutes, until evenly golden. Again, allow to cool completely before chopping/grinding as needed.

• In an airfryer:

This one’s a bit rogue, but airfryers are actually amazing at roasting nuts- you get the same effect as roasting them in the oven, but it’s faster, because you don’t need to wait for the airfryer to come to temperature beforehand. Simply tip the nuts into the airfryer, then fry (airfry? bake? I don’t know…) for 6-8 minutes at 180°C, until evenly golden and smelling delicious. As with the other two methods, allow the nuts to cool completely before chopping/grinding as needed.

In total, for this recipe, you’ll need 100g of roasted hazelnuts (50g for the cupcakes, 50g for the praline). I like to roast all the hazelnuts at the start of the process, so they have plenty of time to cool before I need them.

Making the Chocolate & Hazelnut Cupcakes

To make the cupcakes, start by finely grinding half of the roasted hazelnuts in a food processor. Aim for a texture similar to that of the ground almonds that you would buy in the supermarket (like in the above photo), but be careful not to overdo it- if you grind the hazelnuts for too long, they will release their oils and you’ll end up with hazelnut butter- fun and delicious, but not what we want here. Don’t worry if you have a few slightly bigger pieces of hazelnut- it will just add a bit more texture!

I used my favourite All-In-One Method to make the chocolate cake batter. This method is great because it’s so quick and easy- perfect for if you’re in a hurry, are feeling low on energy or just want to focus on the other elements of your cake. You can read more about this method in this post– which includes a detailed step-by-step walkthrough of how to make the perfect cake batter using this technique.

Essentially, all you need to do is put all of the cake batter ingredients (bar the ground hazelnuts) into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix everything together on medium-low speed until the dry ingredients are incorporated, then turn the speed up to full power and whisk until you have a smooth, fluffy batter.

Once the cake batter is ready, you can fold in the hazelnuts.

Adding the hazelnuts with the initial ingredients can interfere with how the batter whips up, so it’s best to wait until the end and fold them in by hand.

Once the batter is ready, it’s time to fill the cupcake cases. Divide the batter equally between the 12 cases (I like to use a regular-sized ice cream scoop to ensure all of the cupcakes are the same size), then bake the cupcakes at 170°C (conventional oven) for 25-30 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when touched gently.

As soon as the cupcakes come out of the oven, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. Removing them from the tray immediately after they come out of the oven will prevent the bottoms of the cases from becoming oily- just be careful not to burn your fingers!

Making the Hazelnut Praline

To make the praline, start by roughly chopping the remaining half of the roasted hazelnuts.

Spread the chopped hazelnuts onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, and set aside somewhere near the stove, ready for later.

Place the sugar into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Without stirring, allow the sugar to melt over the heat and begin to turn a deep caramel colour.

Once the sugar has completely melted and the caramel is a deep golden colour, take it off the heat. The caramel will be super hot at this stage, so be very careful!

Immediately pour the hot caramel over the nuts, aiming to cover as many of the nuts as possible.

Allow the praline to sit at room temperature until completely cool. It will harden as it cools, so, once cold, you’ll be able to snap it into little shards, ready to decorate the cupcakes with. Don’t be tempted to put the praline into the fridge to speed up the process- sugar gets super sticky if you leave it into a cold, humid environment like the fridge! If you want to make the praline ahead of time, place the cooled shards into an airtight container and leave at room temperature until you’re ready to use them.

Preparing the Ferrero Rocher Chocolates

While the cupcakes are cooling and the praline is setting, you can prepare the Ferrero Rocher chocolates, by painting them with gold lustre dust. This is optional, but it adds a bit of pizzazz to the cupcakes and helps to give the chocolates more of a ‘meteor’ look.

Unwrap the chocolates and set them on a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper.

In a small bowl or cup, mix some gold lustre dust with a splash of vanilla extract, until you have a similar consistency to a watercolour paint. Don’t bother using a really good quality vanilla extract here- we’re not using it for taste at this point, so a cheap one will work just as well.

Using a clean, food-safe paintbrush, paint each chocolate all over with the gold ‘paint’. Leave them to set at room temperature while you prepare the icing.

If, like me, you’re feeling a bit extra and have some lustre dust ‘paint’ leftover, you can also add little streaks of gold to the praline shards, to tie everything together. Just paint directly onto the cooled shards and set them aside with the chocolates to set before assembling the cakes.

Making the Chocolate & Hazelnut Whipped Cream Icing

This whipped cream icing is SO easy to make, but incredibly delicious. As I mentioned, this is an adapted version of the icing used in Edd Kimber’s Chocolate Hazelnut Bûche De Noël recipe, which I actually made last year and LOVED, so it seemed like the perfect icing to use here. It does include a little bit of alcohol (specifically, amaretto), but, if you would prefer to make these alcohol-free, just leave it out! The icing will still taste delicious without it.

To make the icing, place the cream, sugar and vanilla bean paste into a large bowl and whisk to soft peaks.

Add the amaretto (if using) and continue whisking until the cream reaches medium peaks.

Gently warm the chocolate hazelnut spread to loosen it- this will help you incorporate it into the cream. I do this in the microwave, on the lowest temperature setting, in 15 second increments, until the spread is nice and fluid, but not hot. If the spread is too hot, it will melt the cream- not the vibe!

Fold the warmed hazelnut spread into the cream.

Once everything is completely incorporated and you have a smooth, pale brown icing, transfer it to a piping bag, fitted with a large, open star tip, ready to pipe onto the cupcakes.

Decorating the Cupcakes

To assemble the cupcakes, start by piping on the whipped cream icing. I went for this double-height swirl, which looks impressive but is super easy to create.

Just start in the middle of the cupcake, applying gentle pressure, then work your way out to the edge and continue all around the edge of the cake. Without releasing the pressure, continue up on top of the layer of icing you just piped, in a spiral. Work around the outer edge, then come inwards, finishing up in the centre by gently releasing your pressure on the bag.

To finish off the cakes, add a gold Ferrero Rocher ‘meteor’ to the top of each cupcake, placing it slightly off centre to leave room for the praline.

Nestle a couple of praline shards in next to each chocolate to mimic the fiery meteor trail and you’re done! ‘Question…?’ Cupcakes, ready to be enjoyed.

The cupcakes are best served immediately, because of the cream icing and the sugary praline. However, they will keep in the fridge for a couple of days if needed. If you plan to store them in the fridge, I would recommend leaving the praline off and adding the shards just before you serve the cakes, so that the sugar doesn’t become sticky.

Recipe

Print

‘Question…?’ Cupcakes

Inspired by Taylor Swift's song 'Question…?', these chocolate & hazelnut cupcakes are topped with a boozy chocolate whipped cream icing and decorated with a gold Ferrero Rocher and homemade hazelnut praline 'meteor'.

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Amaretto, Chocolate, Ferrero Rocher, Hazelnut, Praline, Whipped cream

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Equipment

• 1 piping bag
• 1 large open star piping tip

Ingredients

For the chocolate & hazelnut cupcakes:

• 50 g blanched hazelnuts, roasted, cooled and finely ground (see Note 1).
• 150 g Stork (see Note 2).
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 100 g self-raising flour
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp brewed coffee, cooled (see Note 3).
• 1 splash vanilla extract

For the hazelnut praline:

• 50 g blanched hazelnuts, roasted and roughly chopped (see Note 1).
• 150 g caster sugar.

For the chocolate & hazelnut whipped cream icing:

• 200 g chocolate hazelnut spread
• 600 ml double cream
• 50 g light brown soft sugar
• 1/8 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1-2 tbsp amaretto liqueur, to taste (optional).

To decorate:

• 12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates, unwrapped.
• Gold lustre dust
• Vanilla extract (see Note 4).

Instructions

Make the chocolate & hazelnut cupcakes:

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (conventional oven). Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with brown cupcake cases and set aside.
• Place all of the ingredients, bar the ground hazelnuts, into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-low speed until the dry ingredients are mostly incorporated, then turn the speed up to full power and whisk until you have a smooth, light and fluffy batter- about 1 minute.
• Fold the ground hazelnuts into the batter by hand, then divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake cases.
• Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched gently. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Make the hazelnut praline:

• Spread the chopped hazelnuts into a single, even layer on a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper.
• Place the sugar into a saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Leave over the heat, without stirring, until the sugar has completely melted and has turned a deep caramel colour.
• Remove the caramel from the heat and immediately pour over the chopped hazelnuts. Set aside at room temperature until hardened and completely cool.
• Break the praline into small shards and set aside at room temperature until ready to decorate the cakes.

Prepare the Ferrero Rocher chocolates:

• Unwrap 12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates and place them on a baking tray, line with greaseproof paper.
• Mix a small amount of gold lustre dust with enough vanilla extract to give a watercolour-like consistency. Use a clean, food-safe paintbrush to brush the gold 'paint' all over the surface of each chocolate, then set aside on the tray to set.
• If desired, paint a small amount of gold onto the praline shards as well, and allow them to set alongside the chocolates.

Make the chocolate & hazelnut whipped cream icing:

• Place the cream, brown sugar and vanilla bean paste into a large bowl and whisk to soft peaks. Add the amaretto (if using) and whisk again, until the mixture reaches medium peaks.
• Gently warm the chocolate hazelnut spread (I do this in the microwave, on the lowest temperature setting, in 15 second bursts) until fluid, but not hot. Fold the warmed spread into the whipped cream mixture.
• Once you have a smooth, evenly chocolate-y cream, transfer the icing to a piping bag, fitted with a large, open star tip, ready for piping onto the cupcakes.

Assemble the cupcakes:

• Pipe a double-height swirl of icing onto each cupcake. Top each cake with a gold Ferrero Rocher 'meteor', placed slightly off centre, along with a couple of shards of praline, to mimic a fiery meteor trail.
• Serve the cakes immediately. If necessary, the cakes will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, but I would recommend leaving the praline off and adding it just before serving, as the sugar will become sticky in the fridge.

Notes

1. You can either roast the hazelnuts in an oven or an air fryer (both at 180°C, for 6-8 minutes). If you’re short on time, you can also toast the nuts in a dry pan on the hob, over medium-high heat (although this won’t yield the same depth of flavour as the roasting methods). Roast all the nuts needed for the recipe before you start baking, then allow them to cool before grinding/chopping as needed. To grind the nuts, transfer the cooled nuts to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Be careful not to overdo it though, or the nuts will release their oils and you’ll end up with hazelnut butter!
2. As always, I like to use Stork in place of butter when I make cakes, because I think it gives them a fluffier, moister crumb. If you would prefer to use butter, you can use an equal amount of softened, unsalted butter in place of the Stork.
3. You can either use coffee straight from a coffee machine, or you can make it using instant coffee granules: place 1/8 tsp instant coffee granules into a small bowl, then add 1 tbsp of boiling water and stir to dissolve. 
4. This doesn’t need to be a good quality vanilla extract- it is just mixed with the lustre dust to create a ‘paint’ that can be brushed onto the chocolates/praline shards.

Table of Contents

• The Pattern
• The Yarn
• The Knitting Process
• New Techniques
• Final Thoughts

The Pattern

Okay, full disclosure. I didn’t use an official pattern for these socks. My mum is constantly making socks, so she has them (including ones that specifically fit me!) down to a fine art. I just follow her instructions and feel at peace, knowing I won’t spend ages making a pair of socks that don’t fit me. Speaking of- I have this weird problem with knitted socks where they just… never stay up? My mum (my HERO) has worked out a couple of methods for helping with this over the years and, for short socks like these in particular, the folded hem technique has been life-changing. It takes a little extra work, but it looks so neat and works so well! I’m obsessed with it.

Essentially then, I used the following (very vague) pattern for these socks:

• Cast-on 64 sts (using a provisional cast on).
• Knit 28 rows for the hem.
• Pick up the cast-on stitches on a separate needle, then fold the hem and knit the live stitches together all the way around to create the folded hem.
• Knit 12 rows before the heel.
• Knit the heel (I followed EarthtonesGirl’s Shadow Wrap Short Row Heel method this time and LOVED it- I’ll definitely be using this method again!).
• Knit 71 rows for the foot (to give a 7 1/2″ foot before the toe).
• Knit the toe (I followed my mum’s instructions for a rounded toe- essentially you knit 4 plain rows, work 1 decrease row, knit 3 rows, work 1 decrease row, knit 2 rows, work 1 decrease row, knit 1 row, then work decrease rows every row until you have 12 stitches remaining on each needle. For the decrease rows: K1, SSK, knit to the last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1 on the first needle, then repeat for the second needle).
• Kitchener the remaining toe stitches together & darn in all the ends.

And that’s it! Obviously, this pattern is very specific to my foot size and shape, and is pretty vague- I’m writing it here more for my own reference than for anyone else to follow exactly!

The Yarn

For Christmas last year, my mum surprised me with this amazing yarn from TinyHumanKnits. The yarn is inspired by the jumper worn by Taylor Swift in some of the cover art photos for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) so, obviously, it’s right up my alley!

The yarn came with a mini skein in a complimentary sandy shade, which I used for the heel and the toe. I also used it for the inside of the folded hem, just for a bit of extra fanciness. To do that, I worked the first 14 rows of the hem with the mini skein, then switched to the main yarn and worked the remaining 14 rows, before finishing off the folded hem and continuing on in the main yarn.

Full disclosure: I totally meant to knit these socks on 2.25mm needles (as in, up until I had finished the first sock and just happened to check my needle size, I really thought I had been working on 2.25mm needles…), because I find that knitting them on smaller needles helps them to stay up a little more. Alas, I had accidentally picked up a 2.5mm needle, so these socks are slightly bigger on me than I intended, but still perfectly wearable!

The Knitting Process

I actually found these socks really enjoyable to knit! I’ve never made socks using self-striping yarn before, so it was a fun experience (and it definitely made them more interesting to knit). There was no crazy colourwork with this pattern, like there was with my last pair of socks, so they were really straightforward to work up- perfect for making while watching something on TV (a choice selection of some of the things I watched while making these: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (I very much enjoyed all the classical references, but wasn’t so into the extended car chase scenes), Groundhog Day (I’ve never seen this before, and there are definitely parts that are a bit… morally dated now, but Andie MacDowell is amazing) and Date Night (I think Steve Carrell is a global treasure)).

The folded hem definitely took a little bit longer than a regular ribbed hem, but I love the effect it gives. It just looks so neat! Honestly, the only slightly annoying bit is picking up the stitches from the provisional cast on, and even that isn’t too bad.

As I mentioned, I LOVE this new heel method- you might remember from my last post that I had some issues with the heels of my last socks, but this method completely eradicated those problems. It looks a bit weird here, but when the sock is on it looks so neat and seamless, with NO holes which is a definite improvement from my last attempt. I’m pretty sure I’m a shadow wrap heel convert.

The rounded toe was also a win for me- it was super simple to make, but I think it looks really nice as well. I still haven’t quite mastered the art of kitchener-ing, and still have to look up the instructions for it every time I need to do it, but I’m hoping that, with a little bit more practice, it will get easier!

One thing I did struggle with slightly was matching the stripes of the socks- mainly because I did not think ahead and just started knitting (a foolish approach, evidently). Apparently (and honestly, it makes a lot of sense!), it’s easiest if you wind through to the start of a new colour, so you can do the same with the second sock and automatically end up with an identical pair. I did not do this, which was a rookie error and led me to delay making the second sock, because the idea of trying to match the pattern by eye was filling me with dread. Also, there are very fine stripes of black in the yarn and I, of course, ended up with a single stripe of black at the base of each heel (and on my second sock, pictured above, it doesn’t even GO ALL THE WAY AROUND 🙁 …). Overall, that little black stripe on the heel isn’t really the vibe and, if I had thought about it more, I probably would have wound through that bit before starting knitting again after the heel. On the bright side, that little bit sits under my foot anyway, so I never really have to see it.

New Techniques

I tried a few new sock-related techniques with this project and I feel like they really paid off! Here are the techniques I tried out/practised with this project (as always, previously encountered techniques are marked with an *):

• Provisional cast-on*
• Folded hem
• Shadow Wrap Short Row Heel
• Rounded toe
• Kitchener stitch*

Final Thoughts

I really love these socks! Sure, there’s a few things I would do slightly differently (using the right-sized needle, for one), but I feel like I’ve already improved from my last pair of socks, so I’m really happy with my progress. I think this pattern will definitely become a go-to for me- making ankle socks feels much less daunting than making regular ones and they’re so useful for wearing with trainers in the summertime.

I also really like this yarn- it’s such a perfect match for the jumper, which I have loved ever since the art for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was released. 1989 isn’t my favourite Taylor album, but this yarn really encapsulates the beachy vibes of the cover, which I do like, so it’s perfect for me. The yarn itself is really soft and smooth- I really enjoyed knitting with it!

Overall, I’m super happy with this project! It may only be my fourth post in this Project Knitwear series, but I think I’m really getting into the swing of knitting my own clothes/accessories. Hopefully, with more practice, I’ll get more confident (and less dependent on my mum to tell me how to fix my mistakes and knit toes and successfully work kitchener stitch…)!

If you're interested... 

You can find the project page on Ravelry for my 1989 (Taylor's Version) Socks here.

Gemma

xxx

Let’s get into the setup, shall we?

Table of Contents

• Inspiration
• Equipment
• Cover + Quote Page
• Monthly Calendar
• Eras Tour Memories
• Weekly Spreads
  • Week 1
  • Week 2
  • Week 3
  • Week 4
• June Review
• Final Thoughts

Inspiration

For this setup, I was really inspired by The Eras Tour poster (which has recently been updated to include Swift’s new album: The Tortured Poets Department) and the friendship bracelets that are famously swapped between fans at the event.

Each of Swift’s albums (or ‘eras’) tends to be associated with a specific colour, as demonstrated by the poster. Following the poster, the album colours are as follows:

• Taylor Swift – pale green
• Fearless – gold/deep yellow
• Speak Now – lilac
• Red – red (astounding, I know)
• 1989 – pale blue
• Reputation – dark grey
• Lover – pale pink
• Folklore – grey
• Evermore – beige
• Midnights – dark blue
• The Tortured Poets Department – black

For each album, I tried to find both a coloured pencil and coloured paper in the right shade. I was pretty successful with the pencils- less so with the coloured paper. I purchased this pack of origami paper to use so that I would have lots of options, but I still ran into some problems, particularly with the grey shades! I feel my Reputation grey is more of a Folklore grey, and my Folklore grey is more of an Evermore beige, but, alas, what can you do?

Equipment

• Sakura Pigma Micron pens (01, 05, 08, 10 and Graphic 1) (I purchased mine in this set).
• Sakura Gelly Roll 10, Bright White.
• Coloured pencils.
• Coloured origami paper (I used colours from this pack).
• Scissors.
• Ruler.
• Pencil.
• Eraser.

Cover + Quote Page

For my Cover Page, I wanted to recreate the graphic from the poster in a minimal (read: achievable) style. I opted to cut out the colour blocks for each album from origami paper and glue them into my journal, a bit like a hyper-organised collage. To finish off the right-hand page, I wrote ‘June’ below my collage in the iconic font from the poster. To recreate the font (which, if you’re interested, is Pistilli Roman), I sketched it out in pencil first, then drew around the outline of each letter with my 05 Sakura pen, before filled them in with the Graphic 1 pen.

For the Quote Page, I wanted to use the opening line from the introduction to the Eras Tour, which is a lyric from Swift’s song Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince. ‘It’s been a long time coming’ just feels very fitting for me! I decided to create a ‘friendship bracelet’ of era-coloured beads, interspersed with alphabet letter beads, on which I wrote the quote. To make this, I sketched a wavy line in pencil, then used my 01 Sakura pen to draw the circles for each alphabet bead. I added an assortment of round, heart and star-shaped beads, using my coloured pencils. Finally, I used my 10 Sakura pen to write in the quote, one letter per bead. I used this friendship bracelet effect throughout the setup, for both quotes and headings (though I didn’t keep the star-shaped beads in my bracelet doodles moving forward, because I just wasn’t… loving them?)!

Monthly Calendar

I think my Monthly Calendar spread might just be my favourite spread in the whole setup- I feel like it came together so perfectly! I went for my typical 6×6 grid for the calendar and used the same poster font to write the ‘June’ heading along the top. I used my coloured pencils to make bars of colour at the top of grid box, on top of which I wrote the dates. Finally, I decorated the space along the bottom and right-hand side with one long friendship bracelet (friendship necklace?), with another Taylor Swift lyric (from Long Live, which I LOVE and has, much to my dismay, recently been cut from the tour set list 🙁 …). This lyric one of my other options for the main quote page, so it felt right to give it this cool spot!

Eras Tour Memories

If you’ve been here before, you might have been expecting my Blog Planning/Daily Sunshine spreads around this point, but I’ve gone for something a little different this time around. I have been struggling to keep up with those spreads over the past few months, so I figured that a month off might allow me to reset, so that I can (hopefully!) get back into using them next month!

Instead of those pages, then, I decided to make a spread to fill with all of my memories from my Eras Tour experience. I’ve left the spread pretty empty, so I have lots of space to stick in photos, note down memories and just make myself a fun scrapbook-style spread to remind myself of the night. All I did was write ‘Eras Tour’ in the bottom right, in that same poster font, and add a small friendship bracelet doodle along the top left, with the date of the show written on the beads.

Weekly Spreads

Week 1

Because June begins with a weekend, I opted to just merge the first 2 days of the month in with the next week and make one big, 9-day spread. This ‘weekly’ spread, therefore, runs from 1st-9th June, so I needed 10 boxes, one for each day, plus one for my task list. I used my coloured pencils to add coloured bars to the top of each box, onto which I wrote the day of the week and the date, using my 08 Sakura pen. I used another friendship bracelet doodle for the heading, so I wrote ‘June first to ninth’ on the alphabet beads.

I’ve made no secret about my love for using tabs to separate out my Weekly Spreads, but something about it this month just felt like… urgh… a lot of work? However, not doing it felt wrong. I contemplated so many ideas and options, but none seemed to fit a) the vibe and b) my energy levels. Eventually, I had this wacky idea to make these diagonal, waterfall tabs in the lower corner and… I kind of love it? I decorated each tab with a strip of coloured paper, to help them stand out, then replicated the same design on the opposite, tab-less corner for, you know, consistency (I’m lying- it was absolutely so that I could incorporate more colours and, by extension, more Eras. This is an Eras Tour set up, after all!).

Week 2

I kept all of the design elements the same throughout my weekly spreads, but changed up the layout for each one. This layout is fairly similar to the previous one, but, because I only needed space for 7 days, I was able to make my task box a little larger.

Week 3

For the third weekly spread, I opted for my favourite, vertical box layout, with the heading along the bottom.

Week 4

For the final weekly, I really went to town with the friendship bracelet decoration.

June Review

Finally, we come to my June Review spread! As always, I’ve used the right-hand page to house the ‘June Review’ heading and a favourite polaroid photo from the month. I haven’t bothered with a frame for the polaroid, or really much decoration at all, because I wanted to keep this side of the spread pretty simple. I did however, add a little friendship bracelet decoration along the top left of the page, with the (quite fitting, I think) title of one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs: The Best Day.

On the left-hand page, I typically include spaces to note down the ATP & WTA Top 10, my favourite songs from the month and my favourite memory from the month. I’ve opted to leave off the memory section for this month, because I’m pretty sure I know what it will be (and it already has a double-page spread dedicated to it!). To create this page, I created the same minimalist, block colour version of the Eras Tour poster that I did on my cover page, but just a little larger here. I used the 6 boxes along the top and bottom to house my favourite songs from the month, then used the 2 boxes down each side for the tennis top 10s. To finish it off, I decorated the centre, black panel with little musical and sparkle doodles, just to really drive the whole concert theme home. To keep this spread nice and light, I opted to use my white Sakura Gelly Roll for all of the subheadings/doodles, instead of my usual black pen.

Final Thoughts

I’m really happy with how this spread turned out- I love how colourful it is, without being too ‘in-your-face’ and I love how much it really feels like an Eras Tour-themed spread! I also love that it was pretty quick and easy to setup, which was just what I needed this month. I really think I’m going to enjoy using it over the next month and I’m hoping that it will help to get me in the mood ahead of the concert (and help me relive all the fun memories afterwards!).

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Eras Tour-inspired bullet journal setup! I’d love to hear what you think about it in the comments below!

Gemma

xxx

Table of Contents

• The Midnight Rain Cupcake: Explained
• Making the Mud Cupcakes
  • Mud Cakes and Moisture 101
  • Tips for Making the Two Batters Simultaneously
  • Adding Both Batters to the Cupcake Cases
  • Baking the Cupcakes
• Caramelised White Chocolate
• Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream
  • Melted Chocolate and Buttercream 101
• Making the Peppermint Buttercream Base
• Dividing the Buttercream
• Decorating the Cupcakes
• Recipe

The Midnight Rain Cupcake: Explained

The Midnight Rain Cupcake is comprised of 5 main elements:

• Chocolate mud cake
• White chocolate and caramel mud cake
• Dark chocolate and peppermint buttercream
• Caramelised white chocolate and peppermint buttercream
• Gold sprinkles

As I mentioned, developing this cupcake took me a super long time. Midnight Rain has such a specific aesthetic that I really wanted to capture in my cupcake, but just couldn’t figure out how. I tried SO many ideas, from chocolate suns/moons to two-tone icing- I even gave edible raindrops a whirl, but nothing was giving me the right vibe. After many, many attempts and redesigns and trial batches, I finally landed on a cupcake that not only tastes great, but also captures that iconic, Midnight Rain look/feel, from the decoration right down to the cakes themselves.

One of the most famous lyrics from the song is the first line of the chorus: ‘He was sunshine, I was midnight rain‘. I desperately wanted this cupcake to reflect that line and have a real sense of duality and contrast about it. The song also contains a reference to ‘peppermint candy’, so I also wanted to incorporate that flavour into the bake. My favourite peppermint-y, holiday treat is Peppermint Bark, which, by nature, includes a sharp contrast between the milk/dark (that one’s up to personal preference!) and white chocolate, so I thought it would serve as a perfect inspiration for these cupcakes.

I decided to do a half-and-half cupcake, with one half made from a regular chocolate mud cake batter, and the other half from a white chocolate mud cake batter. I had my heart SET on using mud cakes for this recipe, because it just felt so fitting, I mean, mud is literally caused by rain, right? Mud cakes were something I’d heard about, but never actually made myself. They’re essentially dense, moist chocolate cakes that are often used for celebration cakes, because they are sturdy enough to withhold the added weight of additional tiers and moist enough to make in advance. After a bit of research, it seems that mud cakes originated in Mississippi, where they were topped with marshmallows (to resemble the rocky banks of the Mississippi River), then made their way over to the other side of the pond, where the Australians did away with the marshmallows and really ran with the idea of a super moist, dense and chocolatey cake. The history is a little patchy, but I’m all for a delicious chocolate cake recipe. However, developing the recipes for the mud cake batter took me SO LONG! It was definitely the trickiest part of these cupcakes for me, but after many attempts, I think I’ve finally cracked it (thank GOODNESS).

For the icing, I used both dark chocolate and white chocolate buttercream, which I flavoured with peppermint, to really bring the whole peppermint bark theme together. The only problem with this was the colours. As I mentioned, Midnight Rain, has a super defined aesthetic- if you look it up on Pinterest, you’ll be flooded with half-yellow/gold, half-navy blue artwork. As suspicious as I am of the idea of making my food navy, I felt it kind of had to be done for this cupcake. I opted to colour the dark chocolate buttercream navy, in an attempt to limit the amount of food colouring I needed. Admittedly, in some lights, the icing looks more black than navy, and I had to use a lot more food colouring than I would have liked, but I did my best! For the ‘sunshine’ side, I wanted my white chocolate buttercream to be just a little bit more golden. It occurred to me that I could just use caramelised white chocolate, which would give my buttercream a naturally deeper tint (and cut down on the food colouring). It’s not anything crazy, but it is noticeable (and, honestly, even more tasty than regular white chocolate buttercream!).

I went back and forth on how to decorate the cupcakes- initially, I planned to do a two-tone swirl, but I wasn’t loving how the two buttercreams were melding together as I piped. In the end, I decided to use two decorative piping tips to create a pretty dollop of the white chocolate buttercream (to resemble the sun) and a ribbon of the navy buttercream, going back and forth in a crescent shape around that sun (to resemble the moon). I finished it off with some golden star sprinkles on the crescent shape, to really drive home the whole celestial, midnight vibe. Honestly, I’m SO happy with how it turned out! This style of icing, with the use of different colour buttercreams, each piped with a different decorative piping tip, is really on trend at the moment, so it was fun to try it out myself.

Once I’d decided on using caramelised white chocolate in the buttercream, I began to consider introducing that same caramel-y taste and colour into the white chocolate cake batter as well. With a little bit of research and some fiddling around with my hard-earned mud cake recipe, I managed to develop an equally moist, almost sticky toffee pudding-esque recipe for a white chocolate and caramel mud cake. It’s kind of my magnum opus.

Phwoof. That was a lot of waffling. Essentially, these are just peppermint bark-inspired mud cupcakes, with some added caramel flavour, for good measure. Both the cake and the icing is two-toned to emphasise the whole sunshine/midnight contrast from the song. As always, if you don’t particularly care about making your cupcake super Swift-y, you can decorate these cupcakes in whatever way you would like, which will make them a lot easier to make (and a lot less navy).

Making the Mud Cupcakes

As I mentioned before, I was desperate to use mud cakes for this recipe and it was absolutely only because I thought it was an iconic idea. However, every single mud cake I tried to make ended up drier than a typical sponge cake, which seemed completely contradictory to me. After many (many) attempts, I finally developed a super moist, super chocolatey mud cake recipe. A few more attempts later and I had a super moist white chocolate and caramel mud cake recipe as well, so I was ready to go.

Mud Cakes and Moisture 101

Here’s what I did to keep these cakes SUPER moist and delicious:

• Used half-butter, half-oil:

While butter gives cakes great flavour, oil keeps them much moister. By using both, you get the best of both worlds!

• Used half-caster sugar, half-brown sugar:

Brown sugar is another ingredient that helps to make cakes moist, so I’ve included it (in some form) in both of the recipes. However, you need to use a some caster sugar in order to give your cakes some structure- I found that 50/50 was the best ratio!

• Added sour cream

A lot of cake batters will include a thicker dairy product like yoghurt, buttermilk or sour cream to help provide extra moisture to the finished cake. I found that neither buttermilk nor yoghurt did enough for these cakes- you really need the extra moisture provided by the higher fat content of the sour cream to make these cupcakes super moist and delicious.

• Baked the cupcakes at a lower temperature

These cupcakes are baked at 160°C, which is quite low, especially for cupcakes! The reason for this is that a lower, slower bake is more conducive to a moist and tender finished product. You also want to ensure that you do not over-bake these cakes, or they will dry out- bake the cupcakes just until they feel firm to the touch and spring back ever so slightly.

Tips for Making the Two Batters Simultaneously

For these cupcakes, the two mud cake batters are added to the cupcake liners simultaneously and baked together for that half-and-half look. Because of this, it’s important to make the batters at the same time, because cake batters have a tendency to get tough if they are left sitting too long before baking. This can seem a little overwhelming, but, if you follow the steps below, you’ll be absolutely fine!

• Melt the chocolate/butter mixtures together one after the other, then allow to cool.

Both batters start off by melting the chocolate and butter together, in two separate bowls (one for the white chocolate + butter mixture, one for the dark chocolate + butter mixture). I do this in the microwave, one at a time, in 1-minute bursts (on the lowest setting), stirring in between until melted and cohesive. You could also do this over a bain-marie, if you prefer. Because the mixtures need to cool a little before the next step anyway, you can do one after the other without a problem- just remember to use a different spoon/spatula for each batter, to avoid cross-contamination! Once both mixtures are melted and smooth, set the bowls aside to cool.

• While the mixtures are cooling, measure out your wet ingredients.

Because both batters contain the same wet ingredients (bar one- more on that later), you can measure them all together. Whisk together the oil, milk, eggs, sour cream and vanilla, until completely combined, then set aside. When it’s time to add them to the batters, you just need to add half of your wet ingredient mixture to one bowl, half to the other. I like to mix my wet ingredients together in a jug, to make that step even easier.

• Add the sugars to each bowl.

To the dark chocolate mixture, add caster sugar and light brown soft sugar. To the white chocolate mixture, add caster sugar and dark brown soft sugar (the dark brown sugar is what gives the white chocolate mud cake its caramel-y flavour!). Because white chocolate has a higher proportion of sugar in it already, we add less sugar to that mixture at this stage than we do to the dark chocolate mixture, so everything balances out!

• Add the wet ingredients.

Now it’s time to add half of the wet ingredients to the white chocolate mixture, and half to the dark. I find it easiest to pour a little in to each bowl to start with and mix it well to loosen the mixture, then add the rest. If you’re worried about dividing it equally, weigh your wet ingredient mixture first, then divide the value by 2 and add that amount to each bowl.

• Add the coffee to the dark chocolate mixture.

The coffee (instant granules dissolved in water) is the only wet ingredient that needs to be added separately, because it is only needed in the dark chocolate batter. The coffee helps to bring out the flavour of the dark chocolate, but will overpower the flavour of the white chocolate, so you only want to add it to the dark chocolate batter. Add the coffee to the dark chocolate bowl and mix well to incorporate.

• Sift in the dry ingredients.

To the white chocolate batter, just sift in the self-raising flour and the salt. To the dark chocolate batter, sift in the self-raising flour, salt AND cocoa powder (for even more chocolate flavour).

Mix until just incorporated, then both batters are ready to go into the cases and be baked!

Adding Both Batters to the Cupcake Cases

For these two-tone cupcakes, you want to keep each batter to one side of each case. The easiest way to do this is to add both batters simultaneously, so they push up against each other and form a natural barrier. The batter isn’t super liquid, but it’s also not crazy thick, so an easy way to do this is to transfer each batter to a jug and ‘pour’ the batters into the cases. I say ‘pour’, because the batter is thicker than a typical pouring batter would be (it needs to be, to prevent the batters from merging too much!), but it will still come out of a spout- if that makes sense? If you prefer, you could also just take a spoonful of each batter and tip them into the cases at the same time- it’s just a little more finicky!

Fill each case about 3/4 of the way full- these mud cakes don’t rise quite as much as normal cupcakes, so you can afford to fill them a little higher than you normally would!

As always, I like to match my cupcake cases to my theme, so I used these navy blue cases from The Cake Decorating Co. for these Midnight Rain Cupcakes!

Baking the Cupcakes

As I mentioned, mud cakes are best baked low and slow. For that reason, you want to bake these cupcakes at 160°C (conventional oven) for 25-30 minutes, until just done. Don’t over-bake the cakes, or you might lose some moisture! Wait until the cupcakes just about spring back, then remove them from the oven.

As always, I like to remove my cupcakes from the tin as soon as they come out of the oven, to prevent the bottoms from becoming greasy. Do watch your fingers though, because both the cupcakes and the tray will be very hot!

Caramelised White Chocolate

Before you can make the buttercream, you’ll need to caramelise some white chocolate. This is super easy to do, but it can take a little while, so you’ll need to be a bit patient- I swear, it will be worth it! Caramelised white chocolate has a much deeper, more complex flavour than regular white chocolate- the caramelisation process helps to temper some of the sickly sweetness of the white chocolate, so you can just enjoy the flavour.

I caramelised my white chocolate in the microwave, but there are plenty of tutorials online for doing it in the oven as well, if you prefer. In this post, I’ll be walking you through the microwave method.

To start with, you need to melt the chocolate. Break or chop it up into pieces, then place the chocolate into a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on the lowest setting in 1-minute bursts, stirring in between each burst, until completely melted.

Now, to caramelise the chocolate. Essentially, all you need to do is microwave the melted chocolate on high, in 15 second bursts at a time, stirring in between each burst. I never melt chocolate on high because it can burn so easily, but, because the bursts are so short for this, you don’t need to worry about the high heat. In fact, doing this on a lower heat will just make it even more tedious, so be brave and stick to high!

This process takes… a while. I must admit, I was getting pretty bored by the end, but, having tasted the finished product, I would absolutely do it again! At first, the chocolate won’t seem like it’s doing anything, but eventually it will start to thicken up. Don’t worry- this is supposed to happen! Any clumps/thicker parts will melt back into the chocolate as you stir in between each burst, so just keep stirring and heating, stirring and heating.

Eventually, you’ll start to notice the colour of the chocolate changing. It will go from the original pale, creamy colour to a light caramel shade. Keep going until the chocolate is a nice, deep caramel shade (or until you absolutely cannot be bothered with it anymore). Honestly, I could have taken my chocolate even further and achieved a deeper shade, but I was getting super tired at this point, so I just went with what I had… Once you’re happy with the level of caramelisation, set the chocolate aside to cool for a while before you make the buttercream.

One note here: this stuff gets HOT. I mean, you’d think it would be obvious given the fact that it’s literally called caramelised white chocolate, but I was still shocked by just how hot it was when I got a little bit on my finger. Keep your fingers well away until the chocolate has had a while (at least 20-30 minutes) to cool down!

Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream

For the icing, I made one big batch of peppermint buttercream. I then transferred about 1/3 of the buttercream to a separate bowl, before adding melted dark chocolate and navy food colouring to the larger amount and caramelised white chocolate to the smaller amount.

Melted Chocolate and Buttercream 101

Making buttercream with melted chocolate is super easy, but there are a couple of things you need to remember:

• Use a higher proportion of butter than your typical buttercream recipe.

Because chocolate sets solid at room temperature, you’ll end up with a super dense and hard, fudge-like consistency if you add it to a standard buttercream recipe. To account for this, you need to use a higher proportion of butter than usual, which will help to even out the consistency. In fact, the chocolate you use will also have an effect on this: dark chocolate contains cocoa solids, while white chocolate does not (and instead contains a higher proportion of cocoa butter). This means that dark chocolate will firm up the buttercream even more than white chocolate. The quantities I have listed below reflect all of this- I add less dark chocolate than white chocolate to the buttercream base, so you’ll end up with super silky, super tasty chocolate buttercream!

• Make sure the melted chocolate has cooled down before you add it to the buttercream base.

This is particularly important for the caramelised white chocolate, because it starts out so hot and therefore needs longer to cool down. If the chocolate is still warm, it will melt the butter in your buttercream, which might lead to the icing becoming soupy, or even separating. If this happens, it’s not the end of the world- just put the whole thing into the fridge, giving it a stir every 5 minutes or so, until it comes back to a cohesive, pipeable consistency.

Making the Peppermint Buttercream Base

As I mentioned, this buttercream base contains a much higher proportion of butter than my usual American buttercream recipe, to account for the addition of melted chocolate later. Don’t worry, then, if you taste this and feel overwhelmed by butteriness- it’s supposed to be that way!

American-style buttercream is one of the easiest icings to make- start by whipping the softened butter with an electric mixer until it is soft and pale. I use a hand mixer, but you could use a stand mixer, if you prefer. Then, mix in the sifted icing sugar, followed by the milk, and beat again until light and fluffy. That’s it!

To get the peppermint flavour into this icing, I used peppermint extract. Add a few drops to the buttercream, then give it a taste to see if the flavour is to your liking. Peppermint extract is very strong, so you only need a very small amount. Start slow- you can always add more, but you can’t take it out if it starts tasting a bit too toothpaste-y!

Dividing the Buttercream

Once you have your peppermint buttercream base, it’s time to divide it up, ready for the melted chocolate. Because of the way we will be decorating the cakes, you need more dark chocolate buttercream than white chocolate. Take about 1/3 of the buttercream base and transfer it to another bowl- this will be for your white chocolate buttercream. Add the cooled, caramelised white chocolate to the bowl and mix well until completely combined. To the other bowl, add melted and cooled dark chocolate (I do this in the microwave, in 1-minute bursts, on low), and mix well to combine.

The next step is optional, but I wanted to colour my dark chocolate buttercream so that it was more reminiscent of the Midnight Rain aesthetic I was going for. I used the Colour Mill oil-based food colouring in the shade Navy, but, honestly, the finished buttercream ended up looking more black, probably because of the cocoa powder. No matter, it was still very much giving night sky vibes, so I was happy! One thing to note though: I did have to use quite a bit of food colouring to achieve this shade. If you’re not comfortable using so much colouring, you can either omit it completely, or add a small amount of cocoa powder (you could even use black cocoa, if you have it), dissolved in hot water, to your buttercream first. This will make the buttercream darker naturally, so you will need less colouring.

Decorating the Cupcakes

With both buttercreams made, it was time to pipe it onto the cupcakes. I placed the white chocolate buttercream into a piping bag, fitted with a large open star tip, and put the navy buttercream into a piping bag, fitted with a large petal tip.

I started by piping a dollop of white chocolate buttercream to one side of the cake. Keep it round, so that it ends up kind of resembling the sun- the decorative piping tip will make the dollop look a little more fancy. For aesthetic reasons, I opted to pipe the white chocolate buttercream on the side with the white chocolate cake, but I think the cupcakes would be even tastier if I had switched the orientation of the buttercream around- that way, the more bitter cake would have the sweeter icing and vice versa. It’s up to you, though!

Then, I switched over to the navy buttercream with the petal piping tip. Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the surface of the cake, with the thicker end of the petal shape nearest to the cake and the thinner end pointing up in the air.

Keep the bag in this position the whole time you are piping, so that you achieve upright ribbons. The aim is to pipe one continuous ribbon, back and forth, and form a crescent shape around that sun ‘dollop’ we just created. Start at one end, applying gentle pressure, then work back and forth, increasing the width of the ruffles as you approach the middle of the crescent. Once you’ve reached the centre, gradually decrease the width of the ruffles, working your way around the sun to finish off the moon shape.

And there you have it! A sun and moon, in buttercream form.

To finish off the cakes, I opted to scatter some gold star sprinkles over the navy moon buttercream, just to really heighten the whole midnight vibe. I got these sprinkles from Waitrose, but you can use whatever you have/can find!

And that’s it! My Midnight Rain, peppermint bark-inspired cupcakes. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about this process- let me know if you give this recipe a try!

Gemma

Recipe

Print

‘Midnight Rain’ Cupcakes

Inspired by Taylor Swift's song 'Midnight Rain', these half-and-half cupcakes are made with two mud cake batters: dark chocolate and white chocolate & caramel, then topped with two types of peppermint buttercream: dark chocolate and caramelised white chocolate, so they're perfect for everyone, whether you're sunshine or midnight rain.

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Caramelised white chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Midnight Rain, Mud cake, Peppermint, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift Cupcakes, White Chocolate

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Equipment

• 12 navy blue cupcake cases (see Note 1).
• 2 piping bags
• 1 large open star piping tip
• 1 large petal tip

Ingredients

For the mud cake batters:

• 75 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped.
• 75 g white chocolate, roughly chopped.
• 90 g unsalted butter, split into 2x45g portions.
• 50 g caster sugar, split into 1x30g and 1x20g portions.
• 30 g light brown soft sugar
• 20 g dark brown soft sugar
• 90 g sunflower oil (or other flavourless oil).
• 75 ml milk
• 3 eggs
• 100 ml sour cream
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water.
• 190 g self-raising flour, split into 1x90g and 1x100g portions.
• 10 g cocoa powder
• fine sea salt

For the peppermint buttercreams:

• 70 g white chocolate, roughly chopped.
• 30 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped.
• 290 g unsalted butter, softened.
• 320 g icing sugar, sifted.
• 3 tbsp milk
• peppermint extract
• navy food colouring (see Note 2).

To decorate:

• golden star sprinkles (see Note 3).

Instructions

Make and bake both mud cake batters:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C (conventional oven). Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with navy cupcake cases and set aside.
• Place the dark chocolate and one of the 45g portions of butter into a medium-sized microwaveable bowl. Melt in the microwave on the lowest setting, in 1-minute bursts, stirring between each burst, until smooth. Repeat this process with the white chocolate and the remaining 45g of butter, in a separate bowl. Set both bowls aside to cool slightly.
• Once cooled, add the 30g portion of caster sugar and all of the light brown soft sugar to the dark chocolate mixture. Stir well to combine. Add the remaining 20g portion of caster sugar and all of the dark brown soft sugar to the white chocolate mixture. Stir well to combine.
• In a large jug, whisk together the oil, milk, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract. Add half of this mixture to each bowl and mix well to combine (see Note 4).
• Add the coffee, dissolved in the hot water, to the dark chocolate mixture and mix to combine.
• Sift the 90g portion of self-raising flour into the dark chocolate mixture, along with the cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. Then, sift the remaining 100g of self-raising flour and another pinch of salt into the white chocolate mixture. Stir both mixtures separately, until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.
• Transfer each batter to a separate jug, then pour both batters simultaneously into each cupcake case, to give the half-and-half effect. Fill each case about 3/4 of the way full, then bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until they just about spring back when touched.
• Once baked, remove the cupcakes from the tin immediately, to prevent the cases from becoming greasy. Place onto a wire rack and set aside to cool completely before decorating.

Make the peppermint buttercreams:

• Start by caramelising the white chocolate. Place the chocolate into a microwaveable bowl, then melt in the microwave on low heat, in 1-minute bursts, stirring between each burst, until smooth.
• Once melted, start caramelising the chocolate. Place the chocolate back into the microwave on high heat, in 15-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the chocolate has turned a deep, golden colour. This will take a little while, so be patient.
• Once you are happy with the level of caramelisation, set the chocolate aside to cool. It will be very hot! While it is cooling, melt the dark chocolate in a separate bowl and set aside to cool as well.
• Once both chocolates have cooled to room temperature, make the peppermint buttercream. Place the softened butter into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and soft. Mix in the icing sugar, followed by the milk, then beat again until light and fluffy.
• Add a few drops of peppermint extract to the buttercream and mix well to combine. Taste and add more extract, if desired.
• Add 1/3 of the buttercream to the cooled, caramelised white chocolate and mix until completely combined. Add the remaining buttercream to the melted dark chocolate and mix until completely combined. Add navy food colouring to the dark chocolate buttercream until your desired shade is achieved (see Note 2).

Decorate the cupcakes:

• Transfer the white chocolate buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large, open star tip. Transfer the dark chocolate buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large petal tip.
• Pipe a large, circular dollop of white chocolate buttercream, to one side on the surface of a cooled cupcake. Switch to the dark chocolate buttercream and, holding the bag so that the thicker end of the petal tip sits against the surface of the cupcake, pipe a ribbon back and forth, forming a crescent shape around the white chocolate dollop. Repeat this process for the remaining cupcakes.
• To finish, scatter a few golden sprinkles onto the navy buttercream crescents.
• Store the cupcakes in an airtight container, at room temperature. Stored like this, they will keep for 3-4 days.

Notes

1. Navy cupcake cases: I used these.
2. Food colouring: I used the Colour Mill Oil-Based Food Colouring in the shade Navy. However, I had a couple of problems with this: my icing ended up more black than navy (probably because of the dark chocolate) and I had to use quite a lot of food colouring. Feel free to use a different shade of blue colouring, add some dissolved cocoa powder to the icing base to make it even darker (so you need less colouring) or omit the colouring altogether. 
3. Golden star sprinkles: I used these sprinkles from Waitrose.
4. Dividing wet ingredients: If you are worried about dividing the wet ingredients evenly, weigh the mixture, then divide that value by 2. Simply add this amount to each bowl for a perfect division. I find it easiest to mix a small amount of the wet ingredients into each bowl first, to loosen the mixtures, then add in the rest. 

Table of Contents

• The You’re On Your Own, Kid Cupcake: Explained
• Sugar Daisies
• Blackberry Compote
• Gingerbread Cupcakes
• Filling the Cupcakes
• Cream Cheese Icing
• Assembling the Cupcakes
• Recipe

The You’re On Your Own, Kid Cupcake: Explained

The You’re On Your Own, Kid Cupcake has 4 main elements:

• Gingerbread cake
• Blackberry compote
• Cream cheese icing
• Sugar daisies

It took me a little while to work out what kind of flavours I wanted to use for this cupcake. In the end, I decided to focus on one of the song’s major recurring themes: seasons changing, specifically, summer turning to autumn and, eventually, winter. We can see this theme in the very first line: ‘Summer went away’, but it is picked up again (albeit more subtly), in the first line of the chorus, where Swift sings ‘From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes’. I wanted this cupcake to encapsulate that late summer/early autumn feeling, when the nights are getting longer and the weather is cooling down. Luckily, here in the UK, we’ve just been living through that period of the year, so I had plenty of inspiration all round me.

Eventually, I decided on a blackberry and gingerbread cupcake. Gingerbread is such a quintessentially autumn/winter thing for me- I associate it so strongly with Halloween, with Bonfire Night and with Christmas. Blackberry season falls in late summer/early autumn, so it felt like a perfect addition to these cakes (also, we have an abundance of blackberries stashed in our freezer from my parent’s blackberry-picking endeavours this year, so it all worked out!). To get the blackberry flavour into the cakes, I made a homemade compote, which I used to both fill and decorate the cupcakes.

I opted to ice these cupcakes with cream cheese icing because I thought that it would compliment both the gingerbread and blackberry flavours best. To add even more blackberry flavour (and an extra bit of decoration), I swirled some more compote into the icing. Coincidentally (and rather grotesquely- sorry!), this also ended up as a bit of an accidental nod to another line in the song: ‘I looked around in a blood-soaked gown’, so there’s that, too.

For decoration, there were two lines from the song that I really wanted to draw on for inspiration: ‘So long, Daisy May’ (random, I know, but I just like it) and ‘So make the friendship bracelets’. The latter line has become a really significant part of Swift’s recent Eras Tour, with fans making their own friendship bracelets to trade with each other, so I felt I absolutely had to include some sort of reference to it with this cupcake. I decided to make edible daisies from sugar florist paste, then arrange them around the iced cupcake in a circle, like a sort-of daisy chain friendship bracelet. I really love how it turned out!

Essentially, then, these are gingerbread cupcakes, filled with homemade blackberry compote, topped with cream cheese icing and more compote, then decorated with an edible daisy ‘friendship bracelet’. I think they look so pretty and I can confirm that they taste DELICIOUS.

Let’s get into some specifics, shall we?

Sugar Daisies

You need to start by making the edible daisy decorations, because they need a while to dry out and harden up. For each You’re On Your Own, Kid Cupcake, you’ll need about 12 daisies. That, of course, is if you plan to decorate your cupcakes like me, with a friendship bracelet of daisies all around the edge of the cupcake. You can absolutely decorate your cupcakes however you please with as many, or as few, daisies as you would like.

To make the daisies, you will need the following ingredients:

• White sugar florist paste (I used this brand).

Ideally, you want to use sugar florist paste to make the flowers. It’s very similar to sugar paste, modelling paste and even fondant, but it has a few unique attributes that make it perfect for this: firstly, unlike fondant and sugar paste it dries completely hard, so your flowers will keep their shape perfectly once they have hardened. Secondly, it dries much more quickly than modelling paste, which will save you some time. Thirdly (and finally), it is quite a stretchy, flexible paste, so it is perfect for making delicate petals.

None of this is to say you can’t use the other options to make these daisies- just be aware that they might not work quite so well as the florist paste. It is a bit of a specialist item, but it is readily available online. I purchased mine from The Cake Decorating Company, which is my current go-to for specialist baking supplies.

• Marzipan

This ingredient isn’t strictly necessary- you could absolutely substitute it with more of the florist paste, or even some fondant, tinted with yellow food colouring, to make the centres of the daisies. I just happened to not have any yellow food colouring to hand, but I did have some marzipan, so I went with it.

Ironically, I actually used white marzipan for this. The brand I buy (Waitrose own) is actually a creamy yellow colour, as opposed to a perfect white, which is kind of weird, but we’ll roll with it. Essentially, you just need some sort of yellow modelling paste that you can roll into teeny-tiny little balls to place in the centre of each daisy.

• Icing sugar

Just a little, to dust your work surface/rolling pin, so that the florist paste does not stick.

• Dried split peas

A rogue inclusion, I know, but don’t worry- you won’t actually be eating these. I just found that they were the perfect size/shape to dry the flowers over, which gives the daisies a more 3D shape. As a bonus, the flat side of the split peas means they don’t roll around, which makes things much easier.

Please do take into account who will be eating your cupcakes though- obviously no one is going to suspect that their cupcake has come into contact with a split pea, so just be careful of allergies/sensitivities. If you don’t want to use split peas, you can either look for something a similar size and shape, or you can dry the flowers directly over the marzipan centres (the flowers will be a little flatter, but that is obviously preferable to accidentally poisoning your friends).

Alongside these ingredients, you will also need some specialist equipment:

• Daisy plunge cutter

I used the 19mm cutter from this pack, but you can use any daisy-shaped cutter. Plunge cutters make it much easier to keep all of the petals in tact with delicate things like this, so I prefer them here.

• A tapered/ball modelling tool

This is entirely optional, but I like to indent the daisies a little before drying them over the split peas, to help them get that 3D shape. I actually used the tapered ‘plunger’ element of one of these plunge cutters, but any small modelling tool will do really. If you don’t have one, try the end of a chopstick, or just skip this step entirely and leave the daisies to set over the split peas- they’ll be slightly less 3D, but will still have some dimension.

You will also need a rolling pin, as well as a large baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper.

Before you start, spread some of the dried split peas onto your baking tray- you’ll need 1 per flower. Position them so the flat sides are sitting against the tray and the rounded side is facing up. This is a little bit time-consuming, but it’s best to get this step out of the way now.

Once you have all of your ingredients/equipment assembled, you can start making the daisies. Knead the florist paste between your hands until it is smooth and pliable. Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar, then roll out the paste very thinly- plunge cutters aren’t really sharp at all, so if your paste is too thick, you won’t get a clean cut on your daisies. Once your paste is rolled out, you can cut the daisies- you’ll need about 12 per cupcake (so 144 in total!).

Once you have cut all of the daisies, place them, one at a time, into the palm of your hand, with the right side facing up. Use the modelling tool (if using) to press into the centre of the daisy, making an indent. Flip the daisy upside down and lay it over one of the split peas on the baking sheet, so that it will dry in the shape you have created. Repeat this for all of the daisies, then leave them to dry out overnight, or until hard (otherwise they won’t keep their shape). Once hard, the daisies will keep for a super long time, as long as they are stored in an airtight container and don’t get wet (if you intend to store the daisies for a long time, I recommend storing them without the marzipan centres, as marzipan contains more moisture than sugar florist paste. The marzipan will be fine for a couple of days, but any longer than that and you might encounter some sweating).

To add the yellow centres to the daisy, just take a tiny pinch of your marzipan (or other yellow modelling paste). Roll it into a ball between your dominant index finger and the palm of your non-dominant hand, then gently press it into the centre of the daisy. Repeat as needed.

Blackberry Compote

Next up, you want to make the blackberry compote, so that it can cool down in time for you to assemble the cakes. You can also make the compote ahead of time- stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep for about a week. This compote only requires three ingredients:

• Frozen blackberries

I like to use frozen blackberries, just because it’s easier to find them year-round, but you can use fresh if you prefer (just be aware that the compote will probably take a little less time than stated- don’t burn it!).

• Caster sugar

You could use granulated sugar, if that’s what you have on hand- just make sure you give it enough time to dissolve fully. I wouldn’t recommend using brown sugar, because it will affect the flavour of the finished compote.

• Lemon juice

You just need a little squeeze of fresh juice, but it makes all the difference- it brings out the flavour of the blackberries, but also livens up the compote with a fresh and zingy tang.

To make the compote, place the frozen berries and the caster sugar into a small saucepan over medium heat.

Stir every now and then until the mixture starts to bubble. At this point, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 35-40 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it does not catch (if you see any indications of this, turn the heat down a little more). The blackberries should break down by themselves during this time, but you can give them a little mash with a fork/the back of a spatula to help the process along.

Once the fruit has all broken down and the compote is thick and jammy (see reference photo below), take the pan off the heat.

Pass the compote through a heatproof sieve, set over an equally heatproof bowl, and use the back of a spoon to press it through. This will remove the seeds, leaving you with a smooth compote. If your compote is a bit too thin at this stage, you can return it to the saucepan and allow it to simmer gently to reduce it a little more.

The last step is to add a squeeze of lemon juice to the strained compote and mix it in well. Allow the compote to cool before transferring it to an airtight container and placing into the fridge until it’s time to assemble the cupcakes. Stored like this, it should last for about a week.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

These gingerbread cupcakes have all the flavour of a lightly spiced gingerbread, with the texture of a typical cupcake. That is to say- these cupcakes aren’t dark and sticky in the same way that a traditional gingerbread cake is, but are still warm and spicy, just a little more subtly. I like to think of them as gingerbread biscuits in cake form!

These cupcakes are super easy to make- they use my All-In-One Method for cake batter, so they come together super quickly- the hardest part is measuring the treacle!

For the cupcake batter, you will need:

• Stork

As always with my cake batters, I like to use Stork (a brand of baking margarine), because I think it makes for a lighter, fluffier cake. If you don’t want to use Stork, or can’t find it, you can substitute an equal amount of softened unsalted butter.

• Caster sugar

It’s best to use caster sugar (as opposed to granulated sugar) when using the All-In-One Method, because it incorporates into the batter more quickly.

• Self-raising flour

It’s important to use self-raising flour to help the cupcakes rise. If you only have plain flour, you’ll need to add baking powder.

• Bicarbonate of soda

This recipe uses treacle, which is acidic, so it also contains bicarbonate of soda, which is alkaline, to balance out the flavours.

• Spices

The spices are what make these cupcakes so quintessentially gingerbread-y. I use a combination of cinnamon, ginger and cloves for a warm and spicy gingerbread flavour.

• Eggs

As with all of my recipes, I use large eggs.

• Milk

Ideally, you should use whole milk for all baking. I very rarely have whole milk in the house, so I almost always used skimmed milk and I’ve never had any problems, so just use whatever you have.

• Treacle

You don’t need much, but a little bit of treacle helps to lend that iconic gingerbread flavour to these cupcakes. If you don’t have treacle, you could substitute an equal amount of molasses- the flavour may be slightly more intense, but it will still taste delicious.

Once you have all of your ingredients, you can get on with making the cupcakes. Start by lining a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper cases (I used these burgundy cases from Purple Cupcakes– the same ones I used for my Maroon cupcakes, because I thought that they matched the colour of the blackberry compote nicely), and preheat the oven 170°C.

After that, it’s simply a case of putting all of the cake batter ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on a low speed, whisk the batter until it starts to come together, then gradually increase the speed to maximum and beat until the batter is light and fluffy- it will only take about a minute of whisking in total. For a more in-depth walkthrough of this technique, check out my Wimbledon Cake recipe, where I go through the whole thing in much more detail.

Once your batter is ready, divide it between the 12 cupcake cases. I like to use a regular-sized ice cream scoop to do this, but you can use two spoons if you prefer.

Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until they spring back after being touched gently. I like to remove the cupcakes from the tray as soon as they come out of the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool, so that the cases do not become greasy, but do be careful if you do this because they will be very hot. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before filling/decorating.

Filling the Cupcakes

When I made these cupcakes, I swirled a little bit of blackberry compote into the batter before baking the cakes. In all honesty: it looked great, but you could barely taste it! When you’ve gone to all the trouble of making the compote, and when the blackberry plays such a big role in the ‘story’ of these cupcakes, that just wouldn’t do!

Because of this, I have written the recipe to include a different method of incorporating the blackberry compote into the cupcakes, which will really help it to live up to its fullest blackberry potential: I recommend filling the cupcakes with some fresh compote after they have baked- think like a Victoria Sponge, filled with jam, only these are Gingerbread cupcakes, filled with compote. Sounds good, right?

Filling cupcakes is super easy to do. Essentially, you just need to remove some of the cake, fill the leftover hole with compote, then add part of the removed cake back on top to seal in the filling. There are a couple of ways you can do this:

• Use an apple corer

Line the apple corer up with the centre, then apply slight pressure, while twisting slowly. The serrated edge will cut through the cupcake. Go down about half way into the cupcake, then remove the corer (along with the cut cylinder of cake). Add some compote to the cavity (you can use a jug, a spoon or even a piping bag to do this). Finally, use a small, serrated knife to trim the bottom off the cylinder of cake you removed, then push the top back into the cupcake, to seal in the filling.

• Use a knife

If you don’t have an apple corer, you can use a small, serrated knife to create the cavity. Hold the knife as close to vertical as possible, and carve out a small circle in the centre of the cupcake. Use the knife to wiggle the cake out of the circle, then fill and seal up as above.

Once all of your cupcakes are filled with compote, you can decorate them.

Cream Cheese Icing

I’ve posted a few recipes that use cream cheese icing here on the blog, so I won’t go into too much detail here. If you would like to read a full walkthrough of how to make perfectly pipeable cream cheese icing, you can find that here. Essentially though, there are two main rules you have to follow if you want a thick and smooth icing, instead of a sloppy mess:

• Use full-fat cream cheese

Trust me, low-fat just won’t work for this- you’ll end up with a super thin icing that just can’t be remedied by adding more icing sugar.

• Don’t overmix the cream cheese

Unlike butter, cream cheese doesn’t really respond well to being whipped up a lot. Try to minimise your mixing once the cream cheese has been added- this will help you to achieve a lovely, thick icing.

Not following one/both of these guidelines will inevitably leave you with soupy cream cheese icing that doesn’t hold up when piped and is kind of… unpleasant to eat? Save yourself the bother and follow my two Cream Cheese Commandments for perfect cream cheese icing, every time.

Assembling the Cupcakes

Finally, we have reached the assembly stage- in the homestretch now!

Start by putting your cream cheese icing into a piping bag, fitted with a large round tip. This time, I tried out attaching a food clip to the top of the filled bag, to prevent the icing from coming out the top and I thought it worked really well- I’ll definitely be using this trick again!

Pipe a big swirl of icing onto each cupcake- I like to start in the middle, applying an even pressure as I slowly move out and draw a circle around the circumference of the cake, then work my way up in a spiral. If you have an ever bigger piping nozzle than me, you could just keep the piping bag in the centre of the cake and lift it up gently as you apply pressure, to achieve one big dome of icing. Either way, the icing is going to be largely obscured by compote, so it doesn’t have to be too perfect.

Next up, you want to add some blackberry compote. I used a teaspoon to drizzle some right on top of the icing but, again, you could use a piping bag for more control, if you prefer.

Using a cocktail stick, or a small, sharp knife, swirl the compote into the icing a little. Don’t overdo this, or you’ll just end up with pink icing, but marbling it slightly will make the cupcakes look super pretty. Embrace the intentionally messy look!

Finally, just press the hardened sugar daisies onto the icing. I did a ring of them all around the base of the icing, to mimic the look of a friendship bracelet, but you can add the flowers wherever you want.

Et voilà! You’ve got yourself 12 blackberry and gingerbread cupcakes, inspired by ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid‘, by Taylor Swift. I hope you’ve enjoyed this 5th instalment of my Taylor Swift Cupcakes Series! Let me know what you think of the latest cupcake in the comments down below!

Gemma

xxx

Recipe

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‘You’re On Your Own, Kid’ Cupcakes

Inspired by Taylor Swift's 'You're On Your Own, Kid', these gingerbread cupcakes are filled with homemade blackberry compote, topped with a blackberry/cream cheese swirled icing and decorated with an edible daisy chain friendship bracelet- perfect for when summer goes away, but the yearning (for cake) stays.

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Blackberry, Compote, Cream cheese, Cream cheese icing, Gingerbread, Sugarpaste daisy, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift Cupcakes

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Drying time 12 hours hours

Servings 12 cupcakes

Equipment

• 1 19mm daisy plunger cutter (see Note 1).
• 1 tapered/ball modelling tool (see Note 2).

Ingredients

For the sugar daisies:

• 60-70 g sugar florist paste (see Note 3).
• 10-15 g marzipan (see Note 4).
• Icing sugar, for dusting.
• Dried split peas (see Note 5).

For the blackberry compote:

• 200 g blackberries (I used frozen, but you can use fresh if you have them).
• 60 g caster sugar
• 1 lemon

For the gingerbread cupcakes:

• 200 g Stork (see Note 6).
• 190 g caster sugar
• 180 g self-raising flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk
• 3/4 tbsp treacle

For the cream cheese icing:

• 100 g unsalted butter, softened
• 160 g full-fat cream cheese
• 560 g icing sugar, sifted

Instructions

For the sugar daisies:

• Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. Spread out split peas (1 per cupcake) onto the tray, domed sides up, then set aside.
• Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar. Knead the sugar florist paste between your hands until malleable, then roll out as thinly as possible. Use the daisy-shaped plunge cutter to punch out 144 daisies (maybe a few extra, just in case!). As you make each daisy, push it out of the cutter into the palm of your hand, then use the modelling tool to press the centre of the flower to give it a cupped shape. Place each daisy upside down over a dried split pea on the lined tray and leave to harden for at least 12 hours.
• Once the daisies have hardened, make the marzipan centres. Knead the marzipan between your hands until malleable, then take a tiny pinch of the paste and roll it between the palm of your non-dominant hand and the index finger of your dominant hand, to form a tiny ball. Carefully lift a daisy off its split pea, then press the marzipan ball into the centre, where the pea has made the indent. Repeat for all the daisies and set aside in a cool, dry place until ready to decorate.

For the blackberry compote:

• Place the blackberries and sugar into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir every now and then, until the mixture starts to bubble, then turn the heat down to low and simmer gently for 35-40 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the compote from sticking and to help break up the berries.
• Once the fruit has all broken down and the compote is thick and jammy, remove the pan from the heat. Pass the compote through a heatproof sieve, pushing it through with the back of a spoon, to remove the seeds.
• Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to the strained compote and stir it through, then transfer the compote to an airtight container and store in the fridge until ready to use, or up to a week.

For the gingerbread cupcakes:

• Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases and set aside.
• Place all of the cupcake ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed to incorporate all of the dry ingredients, then gradually increase the speed to full, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Whisk the batter until it is light and fluffy- this shouldn't take longer than about 1 minute.
• Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake cases (I use an ice cream scoop to do this), then bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the cakes spring back when touched gently. Immediately transfer the cakes to a wire rack (to prevent any greasy cases), then leave to cool completely before filling/decorating.

For the cream cheese icing:

• In a large bowl, beat the softened butter for 1-2 minutes with an electric mixer, until smooth and noticeably paler.
• Add the cream cheese and mix into the butter by hand until incorporated.
• Sift in the icing sugar and mix by hand until incorporated. Use electric mixer to beat for 10-15 seconds only, until fluffy, but still thick and stiff. Transfer the icing to a piping bag, fitted with a large, round nozzle, ready to pipe onto the cakes.

To fill the cupcakes:

• Once the cakes are completely cool, use an apple corer/sharp knife to remove a small circle of cake from the top of each cupcake. Use a spoon or piping bag to fill the cavity with a small amount of blackberry compote, then trim the bottoms of the removed cake pieces and insert the tops back into the holes, to seal in the filling.

To decorate:

• Pipe a large swirl of cream cheese icing onto each cupcake. Use a spoon or piping bag to drizzle a small amount of blackberry compote on top of the icing, then use a sharp knife/cocktail stick to swirl it in. Press 12 sugar daisies into the icing, all around the base of the swirl, to give the appearance of a daisy chain-inspired friendship bracelet.
• Because of the cream cheese icing, these cupcakes are best served immediately, or within 1 hour of assembling, if kept at (a cool) room temperature. They will keep for about 2 days if stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes

1. Daisy plunger cutter: I used the 19mm cutter from this pack, but any daisy cutter will do. I like the plunge ones because the petals can be tricky to get out of normal cutters, but use what you have. 
2. Modelling tool: this is optional- it just helps to give your daisies more dimension. If you don’t have one, try using a chopstick instead. You could even skip this step and just set the daisies over the split peas instead, but the finished daisies will be slightly flatter.
3. Sugar florist paste: Florist paste is different to sugar paste, fondant or modelling paste- it is more flexible and dries harder. That’s not to say you can’t use the other ones to make the daisies, it might just be a little trickier/more time consuming.
4. Marzipan: I used marzipan for the centres of my flowers, because it is what I had, but you could use any sort of modelling paste (even a little sugar florist paste), dyed yellow, if you prefer. 
5. Dried split peas: worry not- you won’t actually be eating the dried split peas, they are just the perfect size/shape to dry the sugar daisies over to give them the right shape when they have hardened. You’ll need one dried split pea for each daisy.
6. Stork: as always, I like to use Stork in place of butter in my cakes, because I think it makes for a lighter, fluffier sponge. If you prefer, you can substitute the Stork for an equal amount of softened, unsalted butter. 

 

The recipes for the gingerbread cupcakes, blackberry compote and cream cheese icing have all been adapted from ‘The Crumbs and Doilies Recipe Book’ by Cupcake Jemma.

Table of Contents

• The ‘Snow on the Beach’ Cupcake: Explained
• Salted Caramel Ice Cream
• Making the Buttery Biscuit Bases
• Making the Chocolate Cupcakes
• Making the Marshmallow-y Meringue Icing
• Decorating the Cupcakes
• Notes on Making Ahead/Serving
• Recipe

The ‘Snow on the Beach’ Cupcake: Explained

The Snow on the Beach Cupcake is a Salted Caramel S’mores Baked Alaska Cupcake. I know, I know… so extra, right? But I ask you, what says beach more than S’mores (and Ken, obviously)? What says sea more than salt(ed caramel)? What says snow more than ice cream? Frankly, my hands were tied. Anyway, this Salted Caramel S’mores Baked Alaska Cupcake can be broken down into 5 main elements:

• Buttery biscuit base (the digestive/graham cracker part of the S’more).
• Chocolate cupcake (the chocolate part of the S’more and the cake part of the Baked Alaska).
• Salted caramel ice cream (the ice cream part of the Baked Alaska– salted caramel because the sea water is salty!).
• Marshmallow-y meringue icing (the marshmallow part of the S’more and the meringue part of the Baked Alaska).
• Digestive crumb (just for some extra sandy decoration!).

Essentially then, this is a chocolate cupcake, baked directly on top of a buttery, digestive biscuit base, topped with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream, which is covered in a super-tasty, marshmallow/meringue hybrid, which is sprinkled with some more digestive crumbs, for good measure. The meringue is then toasted a little to give it some colour and there you have it! A Salted Caramel S’mores Baked Alaska Cupcake. It is, quite literally, Snow on the Beach. In the words of Taylor, it’s weird, but it’s f****** beautiful. Also, it’s super delicious and I want to eat it forever and ever. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

You’ll need some salted caramel ice cream for these cupcakes. I’m using my homemade version (you can find the recipe for that here!), but you can use shop-bought if you prefer! Salted Caramel is a super popular ice cream flavour, so you’ll likely be able to find some at your local supermarket.

If you do want to make your own, remember to make the ice cream in advance! Ice cream isn’t too tricky to make, but it does require a significant amount of freezing/chilling time. The ice cream needs to be fully churned and frozen before you scoop it onto the cakes, so try to make it at least the day before you want to assemble your cupcakes.

Of course, if you don’t like salted caramel ice cream, you can absolutely use any other flavour of ice cream you like- you won’t get the same salty vibe, but you’ll still get the snow!

Making the Buttery Biscuit Bases

I am such a fan of a buttery biscuit base. I mean… cheesecake? Sign me up. Banoffee pie? YES, please. One of my FAVOURITE ways to utilise the buttery biscuit base, though, is to bake it right into brownies and chocolate cakes. As with most of my baking techniques, I learnt this method from Cupcake Jemma. Essentially, you make a buttery biscuit base as usual, then press it into your baking tin, add the batter right on top and bake the whole thing as usual. You end up with cakes and bakes with a super fun, deliciously crunchy base. I love to use this method when I’m making S’mores-inspired bakes: think S’mores brownies, S’mores cakes & S’mores cupcakes- the latter of which, of course, is exactly what we’re doing here. These buttery biscuit bases are going to represent the digestive biscuit/graham cracker element of a S’more, lending the required biscuit-y taste and texture to our bake.

Buttery biscuit bases are super easy to make- you only need 3 ingredients:

• Digestive biscuits

A buttery biscuit base obviously requires some sort of biscuit and, here in the UK, the most traditional biscuit for this purpose is the digestive. Of course, you can use any biscuit you like- just remember that a) using biscuits with a cream filling will affect the moisture content in the biscuit base (you may want to reduce the butter slightly if you do this!) and b) S’mores are traditionally made with Graham Crackers, so you’ll want to use a biscuit as similar to that for the most authentic vibe. If you live in a country where Graham Crackers are readily available, go ahead and use them. Here in the UK, digestives are the most similar alternative.

• Unsalted butter

Melted butter binds the dry biscuit crumbs together, so you have a buttery biscuit base rather than a buttery biscuit rubble!

• Golden syrup

A slightly rogue addition, but golden syrup helps to bind the base together. I learnt this trick from Cupcake Jemma (what’s new?) and I find that it really does make a difference.

Making the buttery biscuit bases is a super quick process- only 4 steps!

• Finely crush the biscuits: I like to use a food processor for this, because it’s so quick and you can get a really fine crumb, super easily. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a rolling pin to break up the biscuits- it will just take a little longer (and require a little more of an arm workout!). In the recipe below, the amount of biscuits listed is enough for the bases and some extra for decorating. You only need 135g of biscuit crumbs for 12 cupcake bases, so make sure to reserve the remaining 15g for decoration, or your biscuit bases will be too dry and might fall apart!

• Melt the butter: I like to do this in the microwave, but you can do it on the hob if you prefer.

• Mix everything together: Put the biscuit crumbs, butter and golden syrup into a bowl and mix well, until everything is combined. You should end up with a mixture that looks like damp sand and holds together if you press it with the back of a spoon.

• Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases: Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with cupcake cases and divide the biscuit mixture evenly between them (this works out as a little over 1 tbsp per case). Use the back of a teaspoon, or the end of a small rolling pin, to press down on the bases to compact them. Make sure the bases are as compressed as possible, as this will ensure they hold together after baking.

And that’s it! Your buttery biscuit bases are complete. At this point, you can set them aside while you prepare the cupcake batter.

Making the Chocolate Cupcakes

The next step is to make the chocolate cupcakes. I like to use the All-In-One Method for making cake batter because it is just SO easy, but you can use the more traditional-creaming method using the exact same ingredient quantities listed in the recipe, if you prefer. I have used both methods in previous posts here on the blog, so you can check those out if you would like a more in-depth explanation of either one:

• All-In-One Method
• Creaming Method

This chocolate cupcake recipe is super basic, but I have made a few modifications to my standard chocolate cake recipe, to really heighten the chocolate-y flavour:

• Additional cocoa powder: This recipe uses a cocoa powder:flour ratio of just over 1:3, which is pretty high! You still get a lovely, fluffy and well-risen cake, but it has a super chocolatey flavour.
• Salt: You only need a pinch of salt, but it really does enhance the chocolate flavour.
• Vanilla extract: My biggest pet peeve is when you buy a chocolate cake from a shop and it tastes more like vanilla than it does chocolate. WHY?! However, the pro bakers are (unsurprisingly) right when they tell you that vanilla actually enhances chocolate flavour- you just have to use it in moderation. A small splash is all you need for super chocolate-y, not vanilla-y, cupcakes.
• Hot coffee: Coffee is another ingredient that really enhances the flavour of chocolate. You only need a little coffee for these cakes, but it makes a world of difference. I like to use hot coffee because a) I’m too lazy to wait for it to cool and b) when I was younger I watched Nigella make a Devil’s Food Cake with boiling water on the Food Network and it changed my life. Using brewed coffee, rather than espresso powder/instant coffee granules will not only make sure your cake has a super smooth texture, it will also ensure you get the best flavour out of the coffee. You can either use coffee made from a coffee machine or you can make exactly the amount you need using boiling water and instant coffee granules. To do that, just add 1 tbsp of boiling water to 1/8 tsp instant coffee granules and stir to dissolve.

These adjustments are only small, but they make SUCH a difference. Truly, this is my go-to chocolate cake recipe now. It’s SO good.

As I said, today I’m using the All-In-One Method to make this batter. For this, you just need to put all of the batter ingredients (EXCEPT the coffee- more on that in a second!), making sure to sift all of the dry ingredients beforehand, into the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with the whisk attachment) and mix on low speed to incorporate everything. The reason you want to leave out the coffee initially is that it is hot and you don’t want to risk cooking the eggs! Wait until the eggs have incorporated into the batter, then add the coffee, turn the mixer up to full speed and beat for about 30 seconds, until the batter is light and fluffy. You’ll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl, intermittently, throughout the whole process, just to make sure everything is fully incorporated.

Once your batter is ready, you can divide it between the cupcake cases, dolloping it right on top of the buttery biscuit bases you just made. You can use two spoons to divide up the batter, but I like to use a regular-sized ice cream scoop (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter). This allows me to divide up the batter super quickly, but also makes sure that all of the cupcakes are even- which is a win in my book! Your cupcake cases will be filled a little higher than normal- about 3/4 of the way up, but don’t worry! That’s just because of the biscuit base on the bottom.

Bake the cakes at 170°C for 25-30 minutes, until they spring back when touched gently. As always, I like to remove my cakes from the tin and transfer them to a wire rack as soon as they come out of the oven, to prevent the cases from becoming greasy. If you do this, just remember to be careful, because both the cupcakes and the tray will be very hot. Be particularly careful with these cupcakes, because the buttery biscuit bases will be a little fragile when the cakes are still warm. Try not to smack the tray down or place the cupcakes down too heavily!

Make sure to let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating them- this is always important, but particularly so for this recipe, because we will be topping them with ice cream!

Making the Marshmallow-y Meringue Icing

This icing is one of my most favourite things in the whole world. It tastes just like a marshmallow, it has the consistency of a fluffy meringue icing, it holds its shape perfectly (which is ideal for getting those pretty ridges that brown up so beautifully) and, surprise surprise, it’s another Cupcake Jemma recipe. Well, kind of. I’ve noticed some slight variations in ingredient quantities across the iterations of this recipe on Cupcake Jemma’s YouTube channel & various cookbooks and it was making me so CONFUSED! As a result, while the basic recipe concept is from Cupcake Jemma, I have adapted the quantities myself to achieve my ideal Marshmallow-y Meringue Icing recipe, that I can come back to whenever I need, without getting confused.

This meringue is kind of like a spin on the classic Swiss Meringue icing. The main difference is that, while with Swiss Meringue, you heat the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler, then remove it from the heat before whisking, with this recipe, you whisk it right over the heat. It requires a little bit more of an arm workout, but it also makes for such a fluffy icing. I’m a big fan. This recipe also includes cream of tartar and golden syrup- both of which help to stabilise the meringue and help it to hold its shape. I think there’s something in the US called ‘Seven-Minute Frosting’, which, from what I can tell, is very similar to this Marshmallow-y Meringue Icing. This variation just seems a little stiffer, which makes it perfect for these cupcakes.

This icing is deceptively simple to make, but it does, unfortunately, require a little bit of elbow grease, which is ironic because you use an electric hand whisk for the whole thing. However, you do end up whisking it for 6-8 minutes straight, in total, and take my word for it, you’ll be feeling it when the time is up. On the bright side, perhaps if we all make this icing enough we’ll finally be able to execute an adequate overhand throw! (Please, do not tell me if the overhand throw is just a struggle for me, I need solidarity right now). Anyway, I highly recommend setting a timer for the whisking stages, or you might be inclined to stop too early.

For the icing, you need the following ingredients:

• Egg whites

Serendipitously, this icing uses the exact number of egg whites as the number of yolks used in my Salted Caramel Ice Cream recipe. That means, if you’re clever about it, you can use the yolks for the ice cream, save the whites for the icing and use all the eggs up completely! This is a huge win for me, because leftover yolks/whites are the continual bane of my existence.

• Caster sugar

Yes, it’s a lot. No, I do not recommend eating this cupcakes if you are trying to cut down on your sugar intake.

• Golden syrup

I know that it sounds like a lot of golden syrup (150g), but, in reality, that works out at about 7 1/2 tbsps, which (I feel?) sounds much less horrifying.

• Cream of tartar

Please don’t be tempted to substitute baking powder/baking soda- not only would it not work, but it would be downright icky. Cream of Tartar helps to give the meringue icing structure and stability, which will help you get those clean ridges when you pipe it, which will really stand out when you torch the meringue.

• Fine sea salt

This icing is kind of salty, but in the best possible way? The salt counters the super-sweet vibe it has going on, making the whole thing much more balanced and infinitely tastier. Make sure to use fine salt, otherwise it might not dissolve fully in time and your icing won’t be silky smooth.

• Water

I’ve listed this in the recipe ingredients, against tradition, because I always seem to forget it if I don’t! You need the water to help everything combine and melt together easily.

• Vanilla extract

This is quite a lot of vanilla extract, but it’s really important for ensuring that this icing really tastes like marshmallow. Vanilla is the main flavour in store-bought marshmallows, so its important to get that flavour across in this homemade tribute to them.

To make the icing, you just need to put all of the ingredients (except the vanilla- vanilla has the best flavour when it has not been heated, so you want to leave it out at this point and add it after the icing comes off the heat) into a large, heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan that has about an inch of barely simmering water in the bottom and keep the whole thing over a low heat, so that the water stays barely simmering. While the bowl is over the heat, you need to be whisking constantly. Use an electric hand whisk on high speed.

After 5-7 minutes of whisking over the heat, your icing should be opaque, holding stiff peaks and all of the sugar should be dissolved. You can check to see if the sugar is dissolved by picking up a small amount of icing on your (clean, obviously) finger and rubbing it between your finger and thumb. If you can’t feel any sugar granules, you’re good to go! Take it off the heat and stop whisking as soon as the sugar has dissolved- while it would take a long time, you can over-whisk this icing. All meringue reaches a point where it stops getting stiffer and starts losing its shape instead- if this happens, you’ve over-whisked it and will need to start again :(. Don’t worry though, you’d have to whisk for about 15 minutes or so before that happens!

Also, no, I do not want to talk about how I know that/why I was whisking it for 15 minutes. I am still haunted by the experience.

With the icing off the heat, you can add the vanilla extract. Beat the whole thing for a further minute, to incorporate the vanilla, help the icing to cool down a little and make sure it holds it shape perfectly.

Once the icing is ready, transfer it to a piping bag, fitted with a large, open star tip, ready to decorate. You can use any piping tip you want, but I like to use this one, because the ridges lend themselves very well to being toasted!

Decorating the Cupcakes

Now comes the part where you need to be pretty speedy: assembling the cupcakes. Essentially, there are 4 steps involved in decorating these cupcakes:

• Add a scoop of salted caramel ice cream to the top of each cupcake:

I like to use a 1 1/2-inch diameter ice cream scoop for this. A regular-sized ice cream scoop would be too big, as you need space to pipe the icing around the base of the ice cream. If you don’t have a smaller scoop, you could use a dessert spoon to make a similarly sized ball. Make sure the ice cream ball is centred on top of the cupcake, or your icing will look askew!

• Pipe a swirl of Marshmallow-y Meringue Icing onto each cake, surrounding the ice cream scoop:

Holding the bag vertically, pipe a circle around the base of the scoop. When you come back to the beginning of the circle, keep applying pressure and raise the bag slightly as you move around, so that you are piping a continuous spiral, which fully encloses the ice cream. Keep going around in a spiral, gradually moving into the centre once you pass the top of the ice cream, until you reach the top, then stop applying pressure to finish off the spiral.

• Toast the marshmallow-y meringue icing:

There are a couple of different ways you can do this:

A) Use a blow torch: This will give you lots of control and will allow you to toast the sides evenly- I think it makes for the most attractive end result, but it does require you to actually own a blow torch.

B) Grill the cupcakes: This is a more accessible method, but you won’t be able to brown the sides of the icing- only the top. I recommend assembling your cupcakes on a baking tray, then putting the whole thing under a hot grill for about 2 minutes, until the meringue has browned in a few spots.

C) Bake the cupcakes: This is another more accessible method but, while it will brown the sides of the icing a little more, it won’t achieve the same toasty colour as the other methods- you’ll end up with a more uniform, but significantly paler meringue. Like the grilling method, I recommend assembling your cupcakes on a baking tray, then baking them in the oven at 230°C for 2-3 minutes, until the meringue is golden.

For the last two methods, make sure your oven/grill is fully up to temperature before you assemble your cakes, so that your ice cream does not melt before the cakes have a chance to go in the oven.

• Sprinkle the cupcakes with digestive crumbs:

Sprinkle the reserved digestive crumbs on top of the toasted cupcakes, making sure to work quickly. Serve immediately.

The common theme throughout all of these steps is to work quickly! While the meringue does act as an insulator to the ice cream, which will help to prevent it from melting quite as quickly as usual, there is only a small amount of ice cream on top, so it will still melt more quickly than your typical Baked Alaska. Don’t fret though, I have a few tips for making these ahead/minimising the last minute stress of assembling these cakes, which you can read about in the next section.

Notes on Making Ahead/Serving

I recognise that assembling and serving these cupcakes can seem like quite an intense process, because the ice cream is, frankly, a liability (sorry, ice cream, I still love you). Admittedly, I do not recommend attempting to serve these cakes to a large crowd, or at an event where it would not be possible to assemble things last minute. However you approach making these cakes, there will always be some last minute faffing about- alas, it is the nature of the Baked Alaska. However, I do have a few tips/recommendations for making the separate components ahead/making the process a little less last-minute heavy:

• The cakes (along with their buttery biscuit bases) can be made 2-3 days in advance- just keep them, undecorated, in an airtight container until you’re ready to serve. 
• Store the extra digestive crumbs in an airtight container until you’re ready to decorate.
• If you’re making your own ice cream from my recipe, you can make this up to 3 months in advance and keep it in the freezer until you’re ready to decorate the cupcakes. 
• You can pre-scoop the ice cream balls to save time during assembly. 1-3 days before you plan to assemble the cakes, scoop out 12 ice cream balls and place them on a lined baking tray. Put the whole tray into the freezer and leave it until you’re ready to assemble. When you come to decorate the cakes, just pop one of the pre-scooped balls onto each cupcake as normal. 
• The marshmallow-y meringue icing is best made fresh, but if you’re truly desperate you can make it in advance, cover it with cling film and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Give it a quick beat before using it, then decorate the cakes as normal.. You might notice a slight difference in the texture, but it will still taste delicious!

And those are my ‘Snow on the Beach’, Salted Caramel S’mores Baked Alaska Cupcakes. They are really, truly, honestly, DELICIOUS. If you make them, I’d love to hear about it! Let me know in the comments.

Gemma

xxx

Recipe

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Snow on the Beach Cupcakes

Salted Caramel S'mores Baked Alaska Cupcakes, inspired by the salty, sandy, snowy vibes of 'Snow on the Beach' by Taylor Swift

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Buttery biscuit base, Chocolate, Cupcake, Ice cream, Marshmallowy meringue icing, Salted caramel, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift Cupcakes

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 12 cupcakes

Equipment

• 2 1/2-inch diameter ice cream scoop (optional)
• 1 1/2-inch diameter ice cream scoop
• Blow torch (optional)
• Electric hand whisk
• 1 Piping bag, fitted with a large, open star tip.

Ingredients

For the Digestive Base:

• 150 g digestive biscuits (about 10 standard digestives) (see Note 1).
• 45 g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp golden syrup

For the Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 150 g caster sugar
• 110 g self-raising flour
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 150 g Stork (see Note 2).
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp brewed coffee (see Note 3).
• 1 splash vanilla

For the Marshmallow Icing:

• 3 egg whites
• 255 g caster sugar
• 150 g golden syrup
• 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

To finish:

• Salted caramel ice cream (see Note 4).

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with dark brown cupcake cases and set aside.

Make the buttery biscuit bases:

• Use a food processor to grind the digestive biscuits into a fine, sand-like texture (you could also use a rolling pin to bash the biscuits, but make sure they are finely ground). Remove 15g of the ground biscuits and set aside for decoration later. Tip the remaining biscuit crumbs into a bowl, along with the butter and golden syrup. Mix well, until all of the ingredients are well incorporated. The mixture should look like slightly damp sand, and hold together if you compress it with the back of a spoon.
• Divide the biscuit mixture between the 12 cupcake cases (a little over 1 tbsp per case). Use a teaspoon/the end of a small rolling pin to compact the biscuit base as much as possible. Set the tray aside while you make the cake batter.

Make the chocolate cupcake batter:

• Sift the caster sugar, self-raising flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the Stork (or softened, unsalted butter, if you are using that), the eggs and the vanilla extract, then, using the whisk attachment, beat on medium/low speed until the ingredients are just incorporated.
• Add the hot coffee, then beat on full speed until the mixture is light and fluffy- about 30 seconds.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 cupcake cases (I like to use a regular-sized ice cream scoop for this), then bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when touched gently.
• When the cupcakes are baked, carefully remove them from the tin and transfer to a wire rack as soon as they come out of the oven. This will prevent the cupcake cases from becoming greasy. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Make the marshmallow-y meringue icing:

• Place of all the ingredients for the icing, except the vanilla extract, into a large, heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and, using an electric hand whisk, beat on high speed for 5-7 minutes, or until the mixture reaches stiff peaks and all of the sugar has dissolved- you should be able to rub the mixture between your thumb and index finger and not feel any grains of sugar.
• Turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the pan. Add the vanilla extract, then beat on high speed for a further minute off the heat.
• Transfer the icing to a piping bag, fitted with a large, open star tip and set aside while you get everything ready to decorate the cupcakes.

Decorate the cupcakes:

• If you plan to grill the cupcakes instead of blowtorching them, turn the grill on now, to give it time to heat up. If you would prefer to bake the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 230°C. Do not start assembling your cupcakes until the oven has come to temperature (if you plan to use a blowtorch to brown the meringue, skip this step). If you plan to use the oven to brown the meringue, I recommend assembling your cupcakes on a baking tray, so that you do not have to transfer them all in and out of the oven individually.
• Working quickly, place a small scoop of ice cream on top of each cupcake, making sure it is centred. Immediately pipe a swirl of Marshmallow-y Meringue Icing around the ice cream scoop, making sure it is completely covered.
• At this point, either carefully blow torch the meringue (try to evenly brown all of the sides!), or transfer them to the preheated oven/grill for 2-3 minutes, until the meringue is slightly toasted. Sprinkle with the reserved digestive crumbs, then serve immediately, before the ice cream melts!

Notes

1. I live in the UK, so I use digestives for my S’mores-inspired baked goods. If you live in a country where Graham Crackers (the more traditional biscuit used for S’mores) are readily available, feel free to use them instead, You only need 135g of biscuits for the buttery biscuit base, but I like to save some digestive crumbs to decorate the finished cupcakes with. I only used a little, so 1 extra digestive was fine for me, but if you want more digestive decoration, feel free to add more! Just make sure that you use 135g of digestives for the base, or the ratios will be off and your base may not hold together right. 
2. As always, I like to use Stork in place of butter when I make cakes, because I think it gives them a fluffier, moister crumb. If you would prefer to use butter, you can use an equal amount of softened, unsalted butter in place of the Stork.
3. You can either use coffee straight from a coffee machine, or you can make exactly 1 tbsp using instant coffee granules: place 1/8 tsp instant coffee granules into a small bowl, then add 1 tbsp of boiling water and stir to dissolve. 
4. 1x batch of my Salted Caramel Ice Cream makes just a little more than you need for this recipe, but you can also buy any salted caramel ice cream from a store, if you prefer. You only need 1x small scoop per cupcake (about 1.5 tbsp), so you don’t need too much- an average pint will be plenty. 

Table of Contents

• The Anti-Hero Cupcake: Explained
• Earl Grey-Infused Milk
• Making the Earl Grey Cupcakes
• Making the Earl Grey Buttercream
• Making the Chocolate Fedoras
• Decorating the Cupcakes
• Recipe

The Anti-Hero Cupcake: Explained

The Anti-Hero cupcake is made up of 3 main elements:

• Earl Grey cupcake
• Earl Grey buttercream
• Chocolate ghost decorations

I really embraced the ‘at tea-time, everybody agrees‘ lyric from the song’s chorus. This cake is tea. I went for Earl Grey, because I really love the flavour, but you could use a more classic breakfast tea, if you prefer. To get all that delicious tea flavour into both the cake and the buttercream, I used some homemade infused milk.

The chocolate decorations are what really elevate these cupcakes from tea to tea time. Anti-Hero is one of the 3 songs from Midnights that has a music video (along with Lavender Haze and Bejeweled), so I had plenty of extra inspiration for the decorating these cupcakes! In the video, there are a bunch of ‘ghosts’ (read: people wearing sheets, sunglasses and funky hats), which have become pretty iconic. I knew, almost immediately, that I wanted to decorate my cupcakes to look like the ghosts, because a) they’re so CUTE and b) they’re so iconically Anti-Hero. I singled my decorations down to a single ghost, my favourite ghost: Fedora Ghost:

To make Fedora Ghost, I use a combination of white modelling chocolate, dark chocolate chips, Rolos and giant chocolate buttons. Basically, chocolate 4 ways. What’s not to love? Ultimately, these Anti-Hero cupcakes end up as a delicious tea time treat, vaguely reminiscent of a classic Fondant Fancy, amped up with the flavours of tea and chocolate!

So, those are the basics of the Anti-Hero cupcake. Now, let’s get into some specifics.

Earl Grey-Infused Milk

To get the Earl Grey flavour into both the cupcake batter and the buttercream, we need to make some infused milk. Luckily, it’s super easy to do! All you have to do is put the milk and tea bags into a small saucepan, bring the whole thing to a simmer, then turn off the heat, cover it and allow the milk to infuse as it cools down to room temperature- about 30 minutes. Once it’s cool, you can remove the tea bags (make sure to squeeze them to get every last drop of flavour!) and discard them, leaving you with Earl Grey-infused milk. So easy, right?

Earl Grey has quite a subtle flavour, so I’ve tried to really amp up the flavour in the batter/buttercream by using 4 tea bags for 100ml of milk. It might seem like a lot, but you need to get a really concentrated flavour in the milk, because adding too much liquid to either the batter OR the buttercream can cause them to split (more on that later). I found that this ratio of tea:milk makes for the perfect hit of Earl Grey in the finished cupcakes, without any of the bitterness that you can get from over-brewing the tea bags.

Making the Earl Grey Cupcakes

Once you’ve got your infused milk, you can move on to making the cupcake batter. For this, I used my All-In-One Method (I recently made a post where I described this process in depth- you can check it out here if you want to learn more). Essentially, you just put all the ingredients, making sure to sift the dry ingredients beforehand, into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, and whisk until it’s smooth, light and airy. SO easy! To flavour this batter, I used 3 tbsp of the Earl Grey-infused milk. I also added a few drops of vanilla extract, just to bring out the flavours in the tea even more.

As always, I like to divide my cake batter into the cupcake cases using a standard-sized ice cream scoop- I find this is the perfect size and makes scooping the cupcakes so much quicker! For these cupcakes, I opted to use dark brown cupcake cases, to match the fedoras on my ghosts. I used these ones, but they’re slightly smaller than my normal cupcake cases and not overly thick, so I’m still on the lookout for the perfect dark brown cases!

Once your cupcakes are all scooped, you just need to bake them at 170°C for 25-30 minutes, until they have risen and the tops spring back when touched lightly. This is a slightly lower baking temperature than most cupcake recipes suggest! I found that, at higher temperatures, my cupcakes were coming out with super peaked tops, almost like volcanoes- a sure sign that the oven temperature is too high! Baking the cupcakes at a lower temperature ensures they rise into perfect, even domes, making them a) prettier and b) easier to pipe onto!

I like to transfer the baked cupcakes to a wire rack as soon as they come out of the oven. The reason for this is that, if left in the baking tin as they cool, the bottom of the cupcake cases can become greasy. By taking them out of the tin immediately, you can prevent this. Do be careful though, because the cakes (and the tin!) will be very hot. Once you’ve transferred them, make sure to let the cakes cool completely before you decorate them, or the buttercream will melt.

Making the Earl Grey Buttercream

For these cupcakes, I opted to make a typical American buttercream, flavoured with the same Earl Grey-infused milk as the cake batter. American buttercream is one of the easiest icings to make, but I do have a few tips and tricks to make the process even more straightforward and produce an even more delicious buttercream.

Quick note here: when I was making my buttercream for these cakes, disaster struck! My icing… split! Only slightly and, strangely enough, it split after I’d piped it onto my cakes, by which point I was tired and decided to just go with it, knowing it would be covered up later anyway. Ah well, these things happen! It was a combination of me baking these cupcakes in a warm, humid kitchen & getting cocky and adding too much infused milk. I’ve tinkered with the recipe a little to make sure this won’t happen to you if you use this recipe, so don’t worry!

This buttercream recipe only uses 4 ingredients. To make it, you will need:

• Softened unsalted butter

When you’re making buttercream, the butter absolutely has to be softened (i.e. at room temperature). You should be able to press your finger into the butter and make an indent in it easily, but it shouldn’t be melty or liquid. Soft butter will ensure that your ingredients can incorporate fully into a smooth, creamy buttercream.

• Icing sugar

I know that sometimes sifting can feel like a super mundane job. Unfortunately, when you’re making buttercream, it’s wholly necessary. Not sifting your icing sugar can leave you with a lumpy buttercream, which is just… not the vibe. Take it from me: sift your icing sugar!

• Earl Grey-infused milk

The amount of infused milk this recipe makes is enough for both the batter and the icing. Adding the infused milk to the buttercream will get loads of delicious tea flavour into the icing, without compromising the smooth texture. Just make sure not to add too much, or else your buttercream may split (again, speaking from experience…).

• Salt

Listen, I’ve never fully got on board the whole ‘salt in baked goods’ train. I just… don’t think it makes much of a difference? However, there are some baked goods for which I will wholeheartedly embrace the addition of salt- salted caramel being the obvious choice (side note: I recently posted a recipe for salted caramel ice cream, so definitely check that out if salted caramel is your thing!). This icing, randomly, weirdly, unexpectedly, needs salt. I’m not talking loads of salt- just a little pinch. At last, I have found an instance where I can understand the famous bakers’ and chefs’ claims that ‘salt brings out the flavour of the other ingredients’, because, in this recipe, it really does. Go figure.

The best American buttercream is whipped a lot. The more you whip it, the fluffier it gets. The fluffier it gets, the less cloyingly sweet and stodgy it is. Therefore, be patient and whip the icing- you will be so glad you did! I like to start by whipping the butter, on its own, for about 2 minutes, until it’s super pale and fluffy. Then, I add half of the icing sugar, incorporate it by hand (to prevent an icing sugar cloud) and then whip it for another minute. I add the infused milk and whip again for a further minute. Finally, I add the remaining icing sugar, incorporate it by hand, then whip the whole thing for a final minute. You can do this with an electric hand whisk or a stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment), but I don’t recommend doing it by hand. It’s possible, yes, but only at great cost to your arm muscles. Save your arms and go electric- you’ll thank me later.

Making the Chocolate Fedoras

I said we were creating Fedora Ghost, so, obviously, we have to make some fedoras. Luckily, they’re super easy to make! You only need two ingredients, Rolos and giant chocolate buttons (I used Cadbury), as well as a small frying pan. That’s it!

Side note here: is there some Rolo-related stockist drama I don’t know about? I’ve been having real trouble finding them lately, particularly in the bigger supermarkets. The ones I used here were purchased from a corner shop, so, if you’re struggling to find Rolos too, maybe try your nearest one of those!

Anyway, if you have managed to obtain the Rolos, you can get started on making the fedoras. You’ll need 1x Rolo and 1x giant chocolate button per fedora, so 12 of each if you’re making a single batch of this recipe (the standard-sized Rolo tubes that I purchased each had 12 Rolos in, so 1 tube should be perfect. Having said that, sometimes the caramel can ooze out of Rolos, making them a little messy, so if you want perfect fedoras, it might be worth buying an extra pack to give yourself more options- you can always eat the leftovers!).

Begin by warming the frying pan over medium heat. When it’s hot, turn off the heat and use the residual heat of the pan to melt the base of a Rolo. You don’t need to melt it a lot, just enough that you can stick the Rolo to the chocolate button. To get a similar shape to the hat in the music video, I opted to stick the Rolo to the flat side of the chocolate button (so that the domed side was facing down). Repeat this process for each hat, making one for each cupcake, then set your fedoras aside for the chocolate to harden while you get on with the other decorations.

Decorating the Cupcakes

First up, you’ll need to pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes. For this, you’ll need a piping bag fitted with a large, round piping tip (I used a #1A tip). Put the buttercream into the bag, then hold the bag vertically, so that the tip is centred above the surface of the cupcake. Apply a gentle pressure, lifting the bag as you go, to create a tall ‘dollop’ of icing in the centre of the cake- the aim is to bring the icing upwards, not outwards (i.e. the surface of the cake won’t be covered, just the very centre), like in the photo below:

Once you have iced your cupcakes, you need to chill them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will firm up the buttercream, making the next stage much easier.

One quick note here: modelling chocolate, much like fondant, is hygroscopic, meaning it will absorb moisture from its surroundings. I recommend decorating these cupcakes the same day that you plan to serve them, otherwise you run the risk of your modelling chocolate ‘sweating’. This doesn’t affect the overall flavour, but will affect the texture/appearance of your cupcakes.

When you’re ready to decorate your cupcakes and the buttercream has chilled, you can start creating the modelling chocolate ‘sheets’ for your ghosts. Do this just before you want to put them on the cakes, or the modelling chocolate might dry out before you have a chance to drape it over the icing. Knead the modelling chocolate into a smooth ball, then break off a piece- about 15g. Shape it into a ball and dust your work surface with icing sugar, then use a small rolling pin (dusted with more icing sugar!) to roll it out very thinly, trying to maintain a roughly circular shape, until it’s about 12cm in diameter. If the edges are looking a bit ragged, use a small, sharp knife to cut a neater, wavy edge all around, keeping that rough, circular shape. After that, you can carefully lift up the chocolate sheet and drape it over your cupcake. Use your hands to press the chocolate around the buttercream below, allowing it to fold organically. Repeat this process for each cupcake.

Once you have all of your cupcakes covered in their modelling chocolate ‘sheets’, you can add the eyes. For this, I used 2x dark chocolate chips per cake (one for each eye). You want to press the chips into the modelling chocolate, so that they sit about half of the way down the buttercream dollop. Push them in pointy side first- not only will this look neater, but the point of the tip will pierce the modelling chocolate and help to secure the chips.

Side note: if these weren’t Taylor Swift-inspired cupcakes, I would have been tempted to leave them at this stage: they’re SO CUTE! I think these cupcakes would be perfect, left at this stage, for a fun Halloween treat.

Nevertheless, these are Taylor Swift cupcakes, so we have to turn these spooky eyes into super cool sunglasses. I used this black edible marker to draw in a bar between the two chips, but I wasn’t crazy about the result. It was quite finicky to do and doesn’t look super neat. If I were to make these again, I would probably melt a tiny bit of dark chocolate and use a cocktail stick/skewer (maybe even a piping bag with a very fine tip?) dipped into it to etch the little line across. I think that would be neater and ultimately easier, even if it requires a couple of extra steps.

The final step was to attach the chocolate fedoras that I made earlier. Modelling chocolate isn’t overly sticky, so you can’t just stick the fedora on top or it would fall off! Instead, I used the same frying pan-method that I used to make the fedoras. After I heated up the pan, I used it to melt the base of each hat (i.e. the domed part of the giant chocolate button), very slightly, then used that melted layer to stick the hat to the top of the modelling chocolate ‘sheet’. It worked really well, but do be careful not to melt the button too much, or it might ooze out as you press the hat down, making your cupcakes a little untidy!

With that, the Anti-Hero cupcakes are finished! I have to be honest, these cupcakes kind of give me more… Mafia vibes (??) than Anti-Hero, BUT they are still super cute. Also, the tea flavour is very much Anti-Hero and not at all Mafia, so I’m still counting this one as a win. I hope you’ve enjoyed my tutorial for these Anti-Hero cupcakes- let me know if you try them out!

Gemma

xxx

Recipe

Print

Anti-Hero Cupcakes

These cute cupcakes, inspired by the music video for Taylor Swift's hit song Anti-Hero, are flavoured with Earl Grey and reminiscent of classic Fondant Fancies, making them a perfect treat for tea time (everybody agrees!).

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Chocolate, Cupcake, Earl Grey, Halloween, Infused milk, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift Cupcakes, Tea

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Equipment

• 1 piping bag
• 1 large round piping nozzle (I used a #1A tip).
• small rolling pin

Ingredients

For the infused milk:

• 100 ml milk
• 4 Earl Grey tea bags (see Note 1).

For the Earl Grey cupcakes:

• 150 g caster sugar
• 150 g Stork (see Note 2).
• 3 eggs
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 3 tbsp infused milk
• 3 drops vanilla extract

For the Earl Grey buttercream:

• 100 g unsalted butter, softened
• 220 g icing sugar, sifted
• 2.5 tbsp infused milk
• 1 pinch salt

To decorate:

• 12 giant chocolate buttons (I used Cadbury)
• 12 Rolos
• 24 (about 7-8g) dark chocolate chips
• Black edible ink marker (see Note 3).
• 180 g white modelling chocolate (see Note 4).
• Icing sugar, for dusting.

Instructions

Make the infused milk:

• Put the milk and tea bags into a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and cover, then leave to cool down to room temperature- about 30 minutes. When the milk has cooled, remove the tea bags, squeezing out any excess milk for extra flavour, and discard.

Make the Earl Grey cupcakes:

• Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with dark brown cupcake cases and set aside.
• Place all of the cupcake ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on low speed until most of the flour is incorporated, then gradually increase the speed to high. Beat until light and fluffy- about 30 seconds.
• Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and ensure everything is fully combined. Use a regular-sized ice cream scoop to divide the batter between the 12 cupcake cases, then bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when touched gently.
• When the cupcakes are baked, remove them from the oven and transfer immediately to a wire rack, to prevent the bottom of the cases from becoming greasy. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Make the Earl Grey buttercream:

• Place the softened butter into a medium-sized bowl. Using an electric whisk, whip on high speed until the butter is pale and fluffy.
• Add half of the icing sugar to the whipped butter. Use a spatula to incorporate the sugar (this will prevent an icing sugar cloud), then beat with the electric whisk, on high speed, for a further minute.
• Add the infused milk, then beat for another minute. Add the remaining icing sugar, stir in with a spatula, then beat the whole thing for a final minute. Transfer the icing to a piping bag, fitted with a large, round tip, ready to decorate the cupcakes.

To decorate:

• Pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake- you are aiming for a tall-ish cone in the centre of the cupcake. To achieve this, hold the piping bag vertically in the centre of the cake, then apply gentle pressure, lifting as you go to add height. Place the iced cakes into the fridge for about 15 minutes, to allow the buttercream to firm up, while you make the other decorations.
• To make the chocolate fedoras, warm a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, turn off the heat. Use the heat from the pan to melt the base of a Rolo (be careful of your fingers near the hot pan!). When the base has melted a little, stick the Rolo to the flat side of a giant chocolate button, making sure it is centred. Repeat 11 more times, for a total of 12 chocolate fedoras, then set all the chocolates aside to harden.
• When the buttercream on the cakes is firm, you can start making the 'sheets' for the ghosts. Knead your modelling chocolate to bring it back to a smooth, pliant dough, then break off a small piece (about 15g). Dust your work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar, then roll out the ball, keeping the chocolate in a roughly circular shape, very thinly (about 12cm diameter). Use a small, sharp knife to cut off any messy edges with a wavy line, then carefully lift up the chocolate and drape it over the chilled cupcake. Press it against the central buttercream dollop and arrange the folds evenly.
• Before the modelling chocolate firms up, press two dark chocolate chips into the chocolate, to act as eyes. Using the black edible marker, draw a bar connecting the two chips to create the sunglasses (see Note 3).
• Heat the same, small frying pan you used to make the fedoras back up over a medium heat. Once the pan is hot, turn off the heat and use the warmth of the pan to melt the bottom of each fedora slightly (this will allow them to stick to the top of the modelling chocolate). Press one fedora on top of each ghost cupcake. Be careful not to over-melt the chocolate, or it will ooze out when you push it down onto the cupcake.
• I recommend adding the chocolate decorations (from the modelling chocolate 'sheets' onwards) on the day you plan to serve the cakes, to prevent any 'sweating'. The iced cupcakes will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container (or the fridge), while the fully decorated cupcakes are best eaten on the same day.

Notes

1. I like to use decaf tea when I’m baking with it, so that I can have a cake at any time of the day without worrying, but feel free to use caffeinated tea, if you prefer.
2. As always, I like to use Stork in place of butter for my cakes- I think it makes for a fluffier, moister cake. If you don’t want to use Stork, just substitute it with an equal quantity of softened, unsalted butter. 
3. I used an edible ink marker to join the two chocolate chip ‘eyes’ into sunglasses, but it was a little bit finicky and I wasn’t super happy with the result. If you want to use an edible marker, I recommend you press the chips in, then remove them and draw the bar between them, before pressing the chips back in, to make the process easier. Otherwise, you could use some melted dark chocolate, either by placing it into a piping bag fitted with a very fine tip OR by dipping a cocktail stick into it and etching a small line that way. 
4. As always, you can use any edible modelling paste for this. I’ve opted to use white modelling chocolate, because I like the taste and the colour, but you could also use fondant or marzipan, if you prefer. All of these modelling pastes will ‘sweat’ if left on the cakes for too long though, so I would still only add them to the cupcakes on the day you plan to serve them, no matter which paste you choose to use.

Anyway, let’s get into it, shall we?

Table of Contents

• Inspiration
• Equipment
• Cover Page
• Monthly Calendar
• Projects + Daily Sunshine
• Weeklies
  • Week 1
  • Week 2
  • Week 3
  • Week 4
  • Week 5
• August Review
• Final Thoughts

Inspiration

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has a very romantic, fairytale-esque vibe, so I tried to reflect that in my setup this month. I tried to incorporate some more ornate elements, as well as some slightly more detailed doodles to really reflect my source material. As usual, I completely overestimated my artistic abilities. My drawing are… not perfect (cursed hand, I’m looking at you), but I think they still convey the right vibe! Also, this setup is a veritable explosion of purple. In my defence, Speak Now has always been Swift’s ‘purple’ album, so I just had to do it, really.

A couple of (slightly more niche) sub-inspirations (is that a word? Probably not, but it will have to do): I have recently begun a collection of Taylor Swift vinyls (because, well, take my money, Taylor), so I did refer to my new Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) vinyl (I got the Orchid colourway) for some extra inspiration! One of the recurring elements in this setup, the torn purple paper, is inspired by the inside cover, as shown above.

At the time of writing, Swift has released one music video for the new album, for the song I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault). The music video doesn’t necessarily fit the vibe I had in my head for this setup (it has a heist storyline- not really the flowery, purple fairytale I was rolling), but there was one thing that caught my eye: the gold picture frame. In fact, a gold frame was also featured in the promotional content for the album, posted by Taylor Nation, on Instagram. I think the latter may have been an Easter egg for the music video, but no matter- I knew I just had to include a gold frame in my setup. In fact, I ended up including 2! They’re not the same shape/style as the one in the video, because I wanted a slightly more romantic, fanciful vibe, but I think they are still a fun nod to the video.

As I mentioned before, I waited until I’d heard the ‘Vault’ tracks on the album before sketching out this setup (side note: I think these might be my favourite ‘Vault’ tracks, out of the three albums Swift has re-released- I found the others a little hit-or-miss, but these are all firmly hits for me!). Most of the doodles, therefore, are inspired by the 6 new song- with a couple of exceptions, here and there.

In terms of fonts, the back cover of the album includes two very distinct fonts: there is the ‘Speak Now’ cursive font, which is pretty similar to Swift’s handwriting, and the standard ‘Taylor’s Version’ font, which is a fine, block capital font with slightly thicker down strokes. I made use of both of these fonts within my setup. On the whole, I use the cursive font for headings/titles and the block capitals for subheadings and quotes.

Anyway, enough chit-chat. Let’s look at the equipment you’ll need to recreate this setup in your own bullet journal.

Equipment

• Muji 0.38mm pen, black.
• Uni-ball Signo Broad, gold.
• Tombow ABT Dual Brush pens: 623 (Purple Sage), 606 (Violet), 990 (Light Sand) and a selection of grey shades, from this pack.
• Crayola SuperTips: mainly purple shades (purple, plum, wisteria & heather), but also some other rainbow shades for the fireworks. (SuperTips don’t have ‘names’, so these are my best estimations of the shades. The exact pens that I used are from a combination of this pastel pack and this assorted pack).
• Kuretake clean colour dot pens, mild colors (for this setup, I only used the purple shade from this pack).
• Gold glitter paper (this stuff is great– it doesn’t shed and it’s easy to cut. The back of each piece of paper is white, so you can easily sketch out your designs before cutting, and it’s not as thick as regular card, so it’s great for bullet journalling!).
• Purple lined paper.
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors

Cover Page

Like in my May 2023, Bridgerton-inspired bullet journal setup, I wanted to use a whole double-page spread for my cover page this month. Usually, I opt for putting my cover page on the right-hand side and a quote page on the left, but I had a vision for this setup.

This is one of two pages that feature a gold frame. To make the frame, I used the gold glitter paper and sketched out a scalloped frame on the back, before cutting it out. Within the frame, I drew (my best attempt at) a castle (partly crumbling, of course), with some dragons (an ode to Long Live) and some fireworks (an ode to both Sparks Fly and Dear John). I used a variety of grey shades from the grey Tombow pack for the castle/dragons and a selection of rainbow colours from my two SuperTips packs for the fireworks. I really wanted this drawing to have lots of little references to songs from the album, but also to convey that magical, almost childlike, fairytale vibe. I also added some torn purple paper, for extra decoration. For the monthly header, I tried to mimic the font used for the title on the album’s back cover, using two different shades of purple (I used the fine tip of my 606 and 623 Tombow pens), and added some little heart/star/twinkle doodles around it, almost like confetti, using my plum and wisteria SuperTips.

If I’m being honest, I feel like this cover page doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the setup. I don’t know if it’s just because there’s less purple on it, or because of my lack of drawing ability, but it’s just not my favourite? On the bright side, all the little Speak Now references do make my heart very happy, so it’s not all bad!

Monthly Calendar

Time is a major theme throughout the album, so I knew that I wanted to incorporate some clocks into this spread (I mean, one of the ‘Vault’ songs is literally called Timeless). I opted to use a traditional, pocket watch style for my clocks, and created a cascade of them, using my Uni-ball gold pen, going down the side of my monthly calendar. I even made sure to have some clocks pointing to specific times that are referenced in the album’s lyrics!

Aside from the clock cascade, this monthly calendar was pretty simple: I opted for my typical calendar grid, with a 6×6 box for each day. I used my purple Kuretake dot pen for the dates. For the title, I used the same two-tone style as my cover page, along with the little confetti doodles.

Projects + Daily Sunshine

Last month, I included a ‘hub’ spread in my journal for the first time. I liked it, but I’m still tinkering with it to make sure it is as useful to me as possible. This month, we have a slightly adapted version of the ‘hub’, which I have called ‘projects’ (even though it is really just my notes for this blog!). One of the ‘Vault’ songs in the album has an antique shop as its setting, so I decided to channel that vibe into this spread. I used my heather SuperTip and Uni-ball gold pen to make an ornate, shop sign-style header at the top. Speak Now also contains a lot of references to books (both directly and indirectly), so I figured this antique shop spread would be a good place to include some little easter eggs for those. In terms of content, I have a space for my scheduled posts for August, as well as any notes. I then have a larger space at the bottom, where I can fill in any specific tasks I need to do for each post. I’m hoping this will help me stay ahead of my tasks and not leave them until the last minute! For each of these boxes, I used a more traditional style for the boxes, with inverted corners, in which I drew a little gold heart.

Moving on to the Daily Sunshine spread. I must confess, it’s not… my favourite? Similarly to the cover page, I just don’t feel like it fits in very well with the rest of the setup. Nevertheless, it is one of my most used spreads every month, so I’ll have to get over it. Serendipitously, the lined paper I had been using for decoration throughout the setup had exactly 31 lines on it, the same number of days in July, so I decided to just use a sheet of that for this spread. The lines on the paper are slightly thinner than those in my bullet journal, so I had more space for my header, which, you guessed it, I made in that same two-tone style, with confetti doodles around it.

Weeklies

As always, I am using tabs to separate my weekly spreads. For the tabs, I used the 5 main purple pens that I have used throughout this setup (4x SuperTips and 1x Tombow (623)), one for each tab, arranging them in a gradient. I usually like to place something in front and behind the tabs, so they really pop, but I thought they looked nice against the white, so I just left the spaces blank instead.

For all of my weeklies, I included a little doodle with a song lyric from the album. Other than that, and the differing layouts, all the weeklies are pretty similar: they all include a cursive header that reads ‘August’, with the ‘Taylor’s Version’ font for the dates/subheadings. Pretty much all of the boxes have inverted corners with gold hearts and the subheadings for the boxes are written along purple ribbons (I used my Tombow 623 for this). Each main header is also decorated with some torn paper and more confetti doodles.

Week 1

The first week of August only has 6 days, so I had space for a larger header. For this page, I included a doodle of a phone, because telephones and phone calls pop up a lot in the album’s lyrics! Admittedly, most of the lyrics that refer to phones are a little depressing, so I opted to include the nicest one, from the ‘Vault’ song, When Emma Falls In Love.

Week 2

I can’t help but laugh when I look at this setup and that is because of one thing and one thing only: the CURSED HAND IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER. I mean… look at it. I think I must have been labouring under some false sense of confidence when I decided that I, with my next-to-no drawing skills, was capable of drawing a hand and now we all have to live with the consequences. Anyway, I left it in because a) it makes me laugh and b) I’m not even sure I could do it any better. Anyway, this week’s quote is from another ‘Vault’ song from the album, Electric Touch (which features Fall Out Boy- random, huh?).

Week 3

I shook things up a little for Week 3 and used larger purple ‘sparkles’ for my dates. Because these naturally have inverted corners, I felt that using the same corners for the boxes alongside them might be a bit too much, so I opted for plain rectangles. I did, however, bring back the heart corners for my note and task boxes! The doodle for this week was definitely the easiest one to create: it’s just a super simple US-style mailbox, an ode to the ‘Vault’ song Foolish One.

Week 4

For Week 4, I returned to the heart corner boxes for all of my sections. I ended up having a much larger space for decoration at the bottom of the right-hand page, so I braved a moth drawing. I was pretty proud of my moth, but then, of course, I coloured it purple and now it just feels like a butterfly. Also, I gave it creepy legs. Sigh. Anyway, this drawing was inspired by the new line in Better than Revenge (which is randomly controversial, but I really like it!). I also added a little nod to Dear John on the match box.

Week 5

The final week in this setup contains the last 4 days in August and the first 3 days in September. As always, I like to include a little space for each of the days in the upcoming month, just so I can always see the whole week at a glance. For this spread, I kept the August days on the left-hand page and put the September days on the right-hand page, along with my task and note boxes. For decoration, I included a doodle ode to the numerous references throughout the album to letters, love letters and notes. For the note, I used my Tombow 990, to achieve that parchment-y kind of vibe.

August Review

I think this spread might just be my favourite in the whole setup! As I mentioned earlier, I left a blank space on the right for the tabs, but the rest is very standard in terms of my typical review spread. On the left-hand page, I have spaces for my monthly favourites, my #1 memory from the month and the ATP/WTA top 10. On the right-hand page, I have space for a polaroid in the gold frame, which I made in exactly the same way as the larger one on the cover page. I doodled some roses along the bottom, as an ode to Back to December, and coloured them in with my plum and wisteria SuperTips. For the header, I used the same cursive font for ‘August’, over the top of the torn paper, then the ‘Taylor’s Version’ font for ‘review’.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think this setup really conveys the romantic, nostalgic, fairytale that I was aiming for. I have to admit, the cover and daily sunshine pages aren’t my favourite, but I really love my weeklies and review page, in particular. I really did challenge myself with all the drawn elements in this setup (the HAND, I am truly sorry), so I’m proud of that, but I definitely think that I’ll be going for a much less drawing-heavy theme for September!

Have you listened to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Gemma

xxx

Let’s get into it, shall we?

Table of Contents

• The Lavender Haze Cupcake: Explained
• Cold Infusion vs Hot Infusion
• How to Make Chocolate Koi
• The Reverse-Creaming Method
• Food Colouring 101
• Whipped Cream Icing
• Decorating the Cupcakes
• Recipe

The Lavender Haze Cupcake: Explained

The Lavender Haze Cupcake has 3 main elements:

• Smoky lavender cake
• Smoky lavender whipped cream icing
• Chocolate koi decoration

Obviously, these cupcakes absolutely had to be flavoured with lavender. I mean- the song is literally called Lavender Haze. In the music video, the titular ‘haze’ is portrayed as a smoky purple mist- so, to get that ‘hazey’ vibe, I wanted to introduce a smoky element. To do that, I used lapsang souchong, which is a smoked tea. The combination of lavender and lapsang souchong makes for quite a mature flavour- think floral and a little musky. These cupcakes won’t be for everyone, much like how both lavender and lapsang souchong aren’t for everyone. However, I think the (admittedly, slightly unusual) combination of flavours embodies the song perfectly, so you should definitely give it a try!

To get the flavours into these cupcakes, I infused the milk (for the cakes) and the cream (for the icing). To get the best results, I did this in two ways: hot infusion (the more standard method) and cold infusion. More on that later.

Instead of a typical buttercream, these cupcakes are decorated with infused whipped cream. I think this is the perfect topping for 2 reasons: firstly, whipped cream is inherently so much lighter and airier (dare I say… hazier?) than buttercream. As a result, it just fits with the vibe I was going for with these cupcakes. Secondly, the cold-infused whipped cream really helps to lift the flavours in the cake, making it the perfect topping for these cupcakes. I find the whipped cream icing gives these cupcakes a fresher, lighter taste, making them even tastier!

The decoration of these cakes is hugely influenced by the song’s music video- particularly the scene in which Swift sits among clouds, surrounded by floating koi (strange, yes, but we roll with it).

Even though the koi themselves appear to be an Easter Egg for the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), I still wanted to include them on these Lavender Haze cupcakes, so I made little chocolate koi- there’s a full tutorial for this below. The cupcakes themselves are lavender-coloured (lavender/purple food colouring is a key ingredient in this recipe! You can read more on that below) and half of the whipped cream is purple too! In fact, the piping on top reflects two aspects of the song/its music video: the white ‘clouds’ (see koi scene, above) and the purple ‘love spiral’ in the middle (I even have a few different decorating variations for you!).

So, that’s the cupcakes explained. Essentially, they are smoky lavender cupcakes, topped with two colours of smoky lavender cream, decorated with chocolate koi. Obviously, you can make these cupcakes without the extra decoration (i.e. just the cupcakes and cream on top, with no food colouring), if that’s more your vibe. Now though, let’s get into some specifics…

Cold Infusion vs Hot Infusion

As I said before, this recipes uses both hot and cold infusion to get the smoky lavender flavour into the cupcakes. This is not to make life more complicated, but to ensure you get the best out of all of your ingredients! Let’s discuss the difference between the two methods first:

For this recipe, you’ll use the hot infusion method to infuse the milk for the cupcake batter, while you’ll use the cold infusion method to infuse the cream for the whipped cream icing. Because flavours can change and become less intense during baking, it’s better to use a hot infusion for the cupcake batter. However, because the whipped cream is not baked, you don’t require as intense a flavour, so the cold infusion method can be used successfully. The benefit of using a cold infusion for whipped cream is two-fold: not only does cream whip up best when it is completely cold (meaning you’d have to chill it after hot-infusing anyway!) but, when you heat cream, you run the risk of splitting/curdling it, which would render it useless for whipping! Therefore, using both infusion methods for this recipe means you get the best flavour and the most successful results. It may seem like a bit of a faff, but, I promise, it will pay off!

One final note on the infusing process before we move on: both lavender and lapsang souchong are strong flavours. Don’t make your infusions too strong, because the delicate balance between the two ingredients is essential for these cakes. For the hot infusion of milk for the cake batter, I only leave the teabag in for 10 minutes and the lavender for 15 minutes– truly, that’s all you need! The cold infusion cream is a little more forgiving- I find 3 hours gives the perfect amount of flavour, but you can adapt this to your tastes by leaving it in the fridge for more/less time for a stronger/weaker flavour, respectively.

How to Make Chocolate Koi

My Lavender Haze Cupcakes are topped with little chocolate koi, in a nod to the song’s music video. These are actually pretty simple to make- they don’t even require any specialist tools (only some specialist ingredients)! Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• Modelling chocolate

I used white modelling chocolate for the bodies of my koi because I love the taste (I used this brand). However, you could use any other pale, edible modelling paste, such as marzipan or fondant. You need 3g of your chosen modelling paste for each koi, and you’ll need 1 or 2 koi per cupcake, depending on how you decorate it. This recipe makes 12-16 cupcakes, so you’ll need 36-96g of paste in total (though it might be a good idea to have some extra to practise with!).

• Flaked almonds

I used flaked almonds for the fins of my koi. Admittedly, koi have a lot of fins in real life, but I settled for 2, just to give the general impression. If you need to make a nut-free version of the koi, make sure you use a nut-free modelling paste (definitely not marzipan!) and use scissors to ‘snip’ two little fins on the side of the body, which you can then flatten & shape using your fingers, instead of using flaked almonds.

For each koi, you’ll need 2x flaked almonds, but you’ll want a selection of almonds to pick from, so that you can get matching pairs. Because the koi are so small, you’ll need to pick out the smaller almonds to get fins that are in proportion to the body!

• Edible ink markers in orange and black

The koi in the Lavender Haze music video are white with black and red/orange splotches. To achieve that look, I used these edible ink markers by Sugarflair, in the shades Liquorice and Tangerine. Using edible ink markers gives you more control and means that your koi are less likely to stain your mouth when you eat them, but you can substitute them with regular or powdered food colouring, if you prefer.

• Icing sugar

Because you’ll be working with modelling paste, you’ll need a little bit of icing sugar for dusting your work surface and hands throughout the process.

Equipment:

• Small, sharp knife
• Baking tray lined with greaseproof paper

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Weigh out 3g of modelling chocolate for the body. Knead on a clean surface, dusted with icing sugar, until smooth, then roll into a ball between the palms of your hands.

2. Roll the ball into a sausage shape, tapering one end slightly. Curve the tapered sausage slightly.

3. Use your finger to press down on the very end of the tapered part of the body, to flatten out the tail. Carefully peel the koi off of your work surface and dip the underside of the tail into some more icing sugar, to prevent further sticking.

4. Use a small, sharp knife to make an incision in the flattened tail, separating the tail into two fins.

5. Select two similarly-sized and shaped flaked almonds for the fins. Gently press one into each side of the thicker part of the body. Set aside on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper to dry out a little while you make more koi.

6. Once you have made all your koi bodies, you can add colour. Starting with the orange edible ink marker, scribble little patches of colour randomly over the body and fins of each koi. Set aside to dry for 10-15 minutes.

7. After the orange colour has dried for 10-15 minutes, repeat the process with the black edible ink marker. Set aside to dry for at least 30-40 minutes before using to decorate cupcakes.

And there you have it! Handmade chocolate koi- ready to decorate your cupcakes with. These may seem a little fiddly at first, but with a bit of practise, you’ll be making them super quickly!

The Reverse-Creaming Method

These cupcakes are made using the Reverse-Creaming Method. Typically, when you make a cake, you cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, beat in the eggs, then fold in the remaining dry ingredients. With reverse-creaming, the process is flipped on its head. You start by mixing the butter into the dry ingredients (plain flour, caster sugar and baking powder), until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, like this:

In a separate jug, you whisk together milk, eggs and vanilla, which you then pour into the butter/dry ingredient mixture in a slow, steady stream, with the mixer on low, before turning up the speed and giving the batter a final beat to smooth out all the lumps. The end result is a super easy, moist cake that is slightly denser than a typical sponge. I learned about the reverse-creaming method from The Scran Line, but it was popularised by Rose Levy Beranbaum in 1988.

While I usually use the standard creaming method for my cakes, I opted to use the reverse-creaming method for this recipe for a couple of reasons. Firstly, recipes made using the reverse-creaming method naturally have a larger quantity of milk in them. Because the infused milk is vital to this recipe and because it’s much easier to infuse a bigger quantity of milk (as opposed to a couple of tablespoons) without wastage, having more milk suits this recipe perfectly. The second reason is that I wanted the cakes themselves to be purple. Because cakes have a high sugar content, they tend to brown around the edges/top when baked, which obscures any colour used in the batter. You can get around this by baking your cakes at a very low temperature for longer- this recipe calls for 35-40 minutes at 140°C- a very low oven for cakes (this is another tip I learned from The Scran Line). The moister cupcake given by the reverse-creaming method can handle that low, slow bake much better than a typical sponge, which might dry out!

Although I learned about reverse-creaming from The Scran Line, I wasn’t crazy about the cake recipe from that website- it was a little too dense and tough for my taste (it did, however, look INCREDIBLE- no browning whatsoever AND a super smooth top and bake). Instead, I adapted the cooking time of this recipe, by Benjamina Ebuehi. These ratios, plus the low, slow cooking time, gave me the moistest, easiest cupcake that retained its purple colour during baking. It caramelised slightly more than The Scran Line’s recipe, but not so much that I was willing to sacrifice the delicious texture.

Food Colouring 101

I learned the hard way that not all food colourings are made equal. When you’re colouring a batter, you need a food colouring that a) will not be affected by the heat of the baking process and b) is specially formulated to combine evenly into high-fat mixtures. I have always used food colourings from Wilton, which are great, but they are no good at all for baking with. I tried to get a pretty, lavender cake and I ended up with cakes that either had an off-putting grey tinge or a bizarre ombre of pink to blue (???). Anyway, infuriated, I tried out a new brand, Colour Mill, which even happens to have a specific lavender shade, which is apparently specifically formulated to work well with high-fat mixtures/baking.

It was perfect! I used it for both the cake batter and the whipped cream, and I was so pleased with the results. Not only did it give a super even colour, but it was also incredibly easy to use because it comes in a squeeze-y bottle, so I didn’t have to faff around with cocktail sticks/spoons.

Whipped Cream Icing

Ah, whipped cream, the bane of my life. No, but in all seriousness- why is it so temperamental? You underwhip it and it slides off your cakes. You overwhip it by a second and you have butter. You pipe it and it loses its shape. You cannot win! There are whole YouTube videos out there comparing different ways of stabilising whipped cream, ranging from the pretty gross (cornflour (?!)) to the straight-up different food item altogether (surely adding cream cheese just makes it… cream cheese icing?). Anyway, after years of strife, I think I’ve cracked it- and it’s a lot easier than you might think!

I ‘stabilise’ my whipped cream with icing sugar. You only need a couple of tablespoons, but it really does help it keep its structure. I mean, this is not strictly stabilised whipped cream- you will need to refrigerate the cakes after decorating them, because, if your cream gets too warm, it will melt. Long story short, add the sugar, don’t leave your cakes out in the sun for hours (i.e., don’t be a silly sausage) and keep them refrigerated as much as you can. You’ll get great tasting whipped cream that stays firm. Win.

The other thing to consider is how much you whip your cream. Cream has this incredibly annoying habit of going from pourable to butter in the space of a few seconds. Once your cream is whipped, it will keep getting thicker the more you mess with it, whether you are just lightly stirring it or, yes, even piping it. Whip your cream so that it just hold stiff peaks. When you lift the whisk, it should just hold its shape, but the cream should still look soft and glossy. By the time you get it in the piping bag and onto your cupcakes, the cream will be perfect.

This recipe calls for half of the cream to be coloured lavender. In the recipe, I tell you to split your infused cream in half and add colouring to one bowl before whipping it and I strongly suggest you do this! I know it seems so much easier to whip all the cream and then colour it, but, by the time you have incorporated all of the colour evenly, your cream will be overwhipped and you’ll have to start again 🙁 . By adding the colouring at the start, you’ll have more control over the finished colour (you can still add more as you whip, before you get to stiff peaks!) and perfectly whipped cream.

Decorating the Cupcakes

You can decorate these cupcakes however you want! I tried out a few different styles, all of which use the same whipped cream and 1-2 piping tips, so you can easily mix-and-match, if that’s your vibe. Once you know the basics, they’re all super easy to achieve.

The ‘Love Spiral’

Named after one of the lyrics in the song, the ‘Love Spiral’ only uses purple cream in a piping bag fitted with a large, open star tip. If you want to use this technique, don’t divide your cream into two bowls and just colour the whole lot lavender. After that, it’s a very straightforward swirl of icing on top of each cake: hold the piping bag vertically above the centre of the cake and apply a gentle pressure. Keep applying that pressure as you move out from the centre of the cake and ‘draw’ a circle around the perimeter, then continue around in a spiral, building up the icing and coming back towards the centre as you go, until you reach the middle. At this point, release the pressure to finish off the spiral. Done!

The Cloud

As further tribute to the cloud/koi scene in the Lavender Haze music video, this icing style makes the top of the cupcake into one fluffy cloud. Super dreamy! You only need uncoloured cream for this style, so skip the food colouring and whip up all the cream in one. Place the cream into a piping bag fitted with a large, round tip, and pipe little dollops of cream around the perimeter of the cupcake.

Use an angled palette knife (or teaspoon, if you don’t have one!), to gently drag from the centre of each dollop, into the middle of the cake, like in the photo below:

Once the bottom layer is done, repeat the process, piping dollops then dragging them into the centre, on top of the first layer, making sure to offset the dollops.

Finish off the cupcakes with a final dollop on top, in the centre, and you have a cloud cupcake!

The Combo

The cupcakes in the thumbnail were decorated with a combination of the two styles. For this style, you’ll need to colour half of your cream lavender, while leaving the other half white. Pipe the first layer of the ‘Cloud’ icing style as above, using the white cream in a piping bag fitted with a large, round tip, then make a smaller ‘Love Spiral’ in the centre, using the purple cream in a piping bag fitted with a large, open star tip.

Once you have iced all of your cupcakes, all that’s left to do is decorate each one with 1 or 2 chocolate koi and you have your Lavender Haze Cupcakes!

Recipe

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Lavender Haze Cupcakes

Inspired by Taylor Swift's song 'Lavender Haze', these smoky lavender cupcakes are topped with whipped cream clouds + a love spiral, as well as some handmade chocolate koi, in a nod to the song's music video.

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Cupcake, Lapsang souchong, Lavender, Lavender Haze, Reverse creaming method, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift Cupcakes, Whipped cream

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Infusing time 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 hours hours 55 minutes minutes

Servings 12 – 16 cupcakes

Equipment

• 12-16 lavender cupcake cases
• 1 large round piping nozzle
• 1 large open star nozzle
• 2 piping bags
• 1 offset spatula

Ingredients

For the smoky lavender whipped cream:

• 500 ml double cream
• 1.5 tsp dried lavender (see note 1)
• 1 lapsang souchong tea bags
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• Lavender food colouring

For the chocolate koi decorations:

• icing sugar , for dusting
• 36-96 g white modelling chocolate (see note 2)
• flaked almonds (see note 3)
• edible ink markers, black and orange (see note 4)

For the smoky lavender cupcakes:

• 240 ml milk
• 1 1/2 tsp dried lavender (see note 1)
• 1 lapsang souchong tea bag
• 250 g plain flour
• 250 g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 100 g unsalted butter, at room temperature (see note 5)
• 2 eggs
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the smoky lavender cream:

• Begin by cold-infusing the smoky lavender cream, as it will need to infuse for about 3 hours. Add the cream, dried lavender and lapsang souchong teabag to a bowl, cover and place into the fridge. Leave for 3 hours, while you make the rest of the cake components.

Make the chocolate koi:

• Dust a clean work surface with icing sugar. Knead your modelling chocolate on the surface, until you have a smooth ball.
• Take 3g of the modelling chocolate and roll into a ball between the palms of your hands (dip it into the icing sugar if it gets too soft/sticky). Flatten your palms slightly and continue rolling to elongate the ball- you're aiming for a rough sausage shape. Gently taper off one end of the sausage for the tail. Bend the sausage slightly, so your koi has a curved body.
• Use your finger to press down on the very end of the tapered part of the sausage to flatten it and begin the tail. Carefully peel the 'tail' off the work surface, then dip the underside of it into icing sugar to prevent further sticking. Use a small, sharp knife to make a cut down the centre of the flattened tail.
• Select 2 small flaked almonds (try to find 2 that are a similar size/shape to each other). Gently insert one almond into the chocolate on each side of the thicker part of the body. Set this first koi aside to dry out a little while you make the others- you will need 1 or 2 per cupcake, depending on how you plan to decorate.
• Once you have shaped all of the koi, it is time to decorate them. Using the orange edible marker first, gently sketch rough patches of colour all over the body and almond fins of the koi. Set these aside to dry for 10-15 mins, before repeating with the black marker. Set the decorated koi aside to dry, at room temperature, while you make the cupcakes (at least 30-40 minutes).

Make the smoky lavender cupcakes:

• Preheat the oven to 140°C (120°C fan) and line a 12-hole cupcake pan with lavender cupcake cases (this recipe will make 12-16 cupcakes, so you may find you need an additional 4 cases to line another cupcake pan).
• Begin by infusing the milk. Place the milk, lavender and lapsang souchong tea bag into a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to just below a simmer. When you see little bubbles forming around the edge of the pan and steam starting to come from the milk, turn off the heat, cover and set aside.
• After 10 minutes, remove the teabag from the milk (you can discard the teabag at this point). After a further 5 minutes, strain the milk into a jug through a fine mesh sieve and discard the lavender. Allow the infused milk to cool to room temperature before proceeding.
• Sieve the flour, sugar and baking powder into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture resembles fine sand and no large lumps of butter remain.
• Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the cooled infused milk. Whisk to combine and then, with the mixer on low, add the wet ingredients to the butter/dry ingredient mixture in a slow, steady stream. Once you have added all of the wet ingredients, stop the mixer (the mixture will still look a little lumpy and undermixed at this stage) and add the lavender food colouring. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until you have a smooth, evenly coloured batter- about 1 minute.
• Fill the cupcake cases about 3/4 of the way full (I use a regular-sized ice cream scoop). Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cupcakes spring back when touched lightly. Carefully remove from the pans as soon as the cupcakes come out of the oven (this will help to prevent greasy cupcake cases) and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the whipped cream topping:

• Once the cream has been infusing in the fridge for 3 hours, strain it through a fine mesh sieve to remove the lavender and the teabag. Divide the cream into two equal parts (about 250ml each- though you will inevitably have lost a little cream in the straining process) and place each half in a separate, medium bowl (see note 6).
• Sift 1 tbsp icing sugar into each bowl of cream, then whisk (I prefer to use an electric hand whisk) the cream in one bowl until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overwhisk, or you will end up with butter).
• Colour the second bowl of cream lavender with food colouring, before whipping to stiff peaks, like the first bowl. Once both creams are whipped, you can proceed to decorating the cupcakes.

Decorate the cupcakes:

• Fit one piping bag with a large round nozzle, and another with a large open star nozzle. Place the uncoloured cream into the bag with the round nozzle, and the lavender cream into the bag with the star nozzle.
• Begin with the uncoloured cream. Pipe dollops of cream around the edge of each cupcake, then use the offset spatula to drag each dollop into the centre, to make the 'clouds'.
• Switch to the lavender icing. Pipe a spiral of cream into the centre of each cupcake, in between the clouds.
• Once the cupcakes are iced, place a chocolate koi on top of each cake to decorate. Once iced, the cupcakes must be refrigerated and are best eaten within 2-3 hours, though they will keep for up to a day. If you want to make the cakes in advance, you can bake the cupcakes and keep them, undecorated, in an airtight container for 2-3 days, then decorate just before serving.

Notes

1. Make sure the lavender you purchase is culinary grade. You can buy the packet I got here. 
2. I used white modelling chocolate, but you can use any pale modelling paste, e.g. fondant or marzipan. You will need 3g of modelling paste per koi, so decide how many koi you want to put on each cake to work out how much paste you need.
3. You will only need 2x flaked almonds per koi, but it is best to have more than you need. This will ensure that you are able to find matching pairs of flaked almonds that are on the smaller side, so that the fins are proportional to the bodies of the fish. 
4. I used edible ink markers for easier application (you can find the markers I used here– I used the shades Liquorice and Tangerine), but you can use regular or powdered food colouring if you prefer. Regular food colouring will, however, take longer to dry and be more likely to stain your mouth when you eat it. 
5. I prefer to use Stork in place of butter in my cakes, because I think it produces a lighter, softer crumb. If you’re using Stork, substitute the butter for an equal amount of Stork. If you’re using unsalted butter, make sure it is softened and at room temperature before you begin baking. 
6. Once cream reaches soft peaks, it will stiffen up incredibly quickly, even when mixing with a spatula by hand. It’s best to split the cream into two separate bowls and add the lavender food colouring to one bowl of cream before whipping it, so you can get an even colour distribution without worrying about overmixing the cream and ending up with butter!

I really hope you have enjoyed this post- I had so much fun coming up with the concept for these cupcakes and working out the recipe for them. Let me know what you think in the comments! I’d love to hear which Taylor Swift song you’re most excited to see in cupcake form!

Gemma

xxx