Green Velvet Cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

In case you ever reach the end of  rainbow and meet the elusive Leprechaun guarding his pot of gold, remember I once told you this. Dropping some Irish folklore knowledge bombs on you, so listen up.

Leprechauns are little scheming, tricksters. They don't want to give you their gold. And when you get to the end of the rainbow, the innocent looking little shoe menders will be none too pleased you are there. If you can catch him, he has to grant you three wishes. But instead of capture, he might offer you one of two options; his pot of gold or one silver coin in a drawstring purse.

Looking at that gleaming, big ol' pot of gold sparkling at the end of the rainbow you might be tempted to scoff at the drawstring purse, but consider yourself warned.

The correct option is the purse.

A Leprechaun is full of mischief so keep your eyes on him. As soon as you have chosen the gold, he will disappear over the rainbow and the pot will turn to dust. Leaving you empty handed...

The one silver coin in the drawstring purse is what you need to be choosing. The purse itself, is self replenishing. As soon as you take the silver coin out, another magically appears. That's the gold you're looking for. And if you are lucky enough to get hold of such a magical item, use it wisely. Like buying all your friends something nice... and me a bakery (seeing I was the one who told you about it in the first place!!).

Until then though, keep chasing the rainbows. It's the only way you're going to catch up with the little scamp in the first place.

Green Velvet Cupcakes (Makes 12)

125g salted butter
225g caster sugar
275g self raising flour
1 tablespoon coco powder
2 large eggs
200ml buttermilk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking powder
couple drops of green food colouring- depending how dark you want them.

Cream your butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale, I usually leave my mixer on for about 5 minutes. 
Add in an egg, one at a time until the yolk has been disappeared.
Dry whisk or sieve your flour and coco powder together.
Add the vinegar to the baking powder and make a paste, then add this to the egg/sugar/butter combination. Fold in.
Add half your dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla mix and then half the buttermilk. Mix until combined and repeat. Add the food colouring.

Be careful not to over mix the batter here as you want them to stay light and fluffy. The buttermilk helps with that too. Just make sure all the ingredients have been mixed together.

Fill your cases to two thirds full and bake in your oven at 350/180 or Gas mark 4.
Bake for 18-20  minutes. You'll know when they are done as the tops are a little crisp, have a slight spring in them when you gently push down on the top or a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clear!

You will find the vanilla buttercream recipe HERE.

Buttermilk Pancakes

American style (as in not thin and crepe like)

This recipe makes about 12 medium pancakes. I used it to make 24 little ones and still had some left over for breakfast!

225g plain flour
1 tablespoons baking powder (you could just use self raising flour/all purpose here if you didn't have plain or baking powder)
1 teaspoon sugar
30g melted salted butter
300ml buttermilk
2 large eggs
Green food colouring as above...

I dump all the ingredients in the bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and pour that in. I mix with an electric hand mixer until all the ingredients have been combined. Pour it out into a jug and let it sit in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes before cooking.

I use real butter to fry up little tiny pancakes, transfer them to a plate, pat them dry with a bit of paper towel and let them cool completely before putting them on a cupcake (otherwise it'll melt the buttercream!). 

I then just drizzle maple syrup over the top of the pancake and let it run down the side of the cupcake. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my family friends and to you my lovelies! 

Thank you as always, for stopping by and gracing this little corner with your presence. I hope that whatever part of the world you are in, it's green and happy and that the luck of the Irish spreads your way...