Homemade Applesauce

Ingredients

5 medium apples

Hot water

1 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Peel the apples and cut them into small cubes.
2. Place the apple cubes into a microwave safe jar and cover in hot water.
3. Cover the top of the container so that only a small amount of air can escape. You can use a small sandwich bag and a rubber band to do this.
4. Microwave for three minute intervals mixing each time. The apple cubes should become very hot and sticky.
5. Once the apples have softened, drain them so that all the water is gone.
6. Add the cinnamon.
7. Use a food processor or a stick blender to blend the apple cubes into a sauce.
8. Leave to cool and store in the fridge.

Cherry Lollipop Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

50 ml vegetable oil

2 tbsp yogurt

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp cherry essence
Red food dye

Buttercream

2/3 cup softened butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
5-7 tbsp milk 
2 tbsp cherry essence
Red food dye
Cherry flavoured lollipops for topping

*Recipe makes about 20 cupcakes

Method

Cupcakes

1.   Pre-heat the oven to 160℃/320°F

2.   Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3.   In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Because there is more sugar than butter, it won’t cream together completely. Just make sure that it isn’t lumpy.

4.   Add the vegetable oil and yogurt and mix on medium speed until the mixture is white and fluffy. This should take about 10 minutes.

5.   Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and and mix until well combined.
6. Add in the cherry essence and red food dye until you have the desired colour.

7.   Add in the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Do not overmix.

8.   Line a cupcake tin with cupcake holders and fill them about ¾ of the way.

9.   Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Buttercream

1. Add the soften butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high until the butter becomes creamy and whiter in colour.

2. Sift the sugar and add it to the butter 1/2 cup at a time.

3. Add milk and continue mixing until the buttercream is the right consistency. Do not be afraid to overmix. It should be smooth and fluffy. Make sure that there are no small butter pieces left.

4. Mix in the cherry essence.

5. Set aside half of the buttercream and add the red food dye to the other half.

6. Pipe alternating stripes of red and white buttercream onto plastic wrap. Roll the buttercream stripes onto each other using the plastic wrap and place it into a piping bag.

7. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top each one with a lollipop!

Homemade DIY Sprinkles

Making your own sprinkles sounds like a daunting task and it is. So many people ask me why I would do it and my main reason is because it’s much cheaper. Making a batch of royal icing and piping it into small dots is much cheaper that buying a small packet of sprinkles for a very high price. The good news about this daunting task, however, is that it gets easier every time you do it and that it produces more sprinkles than you think. The first batch may not be amazing, but the more you practice the better it gets.

Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp meringue powder

Hot water

Food colouring

Method

1. Mix together the powdered sugar and meringue powder.

2. Add the hot water 1 tbsp at a time until the icing is the right consistency. It must be thick enough to hold its shape when piped into small dots, but still thin enough to be piped with a very small tip.

3. Split the icing into different bowls and colour how you wish.

4. Fill small piping bags with the icing or you can use small sandwich bags.

5. Pipe small dots onto parchment paper.

6. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

7. Peel off of the paper and place in an air tight container.