#NicaBakeOff: Simple Vanilla Cupcakes

Here at Nica HQ we’re all massive fans of the Great British Bake Off, so, in anticipation of watching the new series each week, we've decided to start our own #NicaBakeOff!

Each Wednesday, a member of Nica HQ will be sharing one of their delicious recipes with you right here upon our blog. Plus you can keep up with all of our bakes and sweet inspirations by following our new #NicaBakeOff Pinterest board! 

So, first up we’re beginning our bake off with some delicious vanilla flavoured cupcakes finished with vanilla butter icing. They’re super easy to make and only take around 40 minutes!

Ingredients

For the Cake:

2 medium beaten eggs

75g self-raising flour

110g caster sugar

110g butter

2 – 3 drops Madagascan vanilla extract 

For the Butter Icing:

2 to 3 drops Madagascan vanilla extract
175g icing sugar
75g unsalted butter 
chocolate sprinkles

Step by Step 

1) Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4.

2) Beat 2 medium eggs in a bowl.

3) Mix together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon.

4) Gradually mix in the beaten eggs.

5) Add the Vanilla extract.

6) Take a metal spoon and fold in the flour.

7) Place spoonfuls of the mixture into cupcake wrappers. 

8) Bake in the oven until golden brown and firm to the touch for around 15 to 20 minutes. 

9) Leave to cool before decorating with cream.

10) For the cream, mix together the unsalted butter with the icing, and add in the vanilla extract until the mixture is light and spreadable. If desired, add in some water until you achieve your preferred consistency.

11) Spread the cream upon the cooled cupcakes, and top with a dash of chocolate sprinkles. 

Et voilà! That's how easy it is. Have you been inspired by our baking? If so, why not show us your bakes by tagging us @Nica_Handbags on Twitter or @nicahandbags on Instagram. We can't wait to see. 

#NicaBakes: How To Make Healthy Peanut Butter Brownies

Imagining all of the unhealthy chocolate that we could scoff this Easter got us thinking that maybe it was about time that we pulled out our oven mitts once more, and whipped up a healthy yet sweet alternative!

So, after a quick peruse around some of our favourite blogs, we were hooked on Blogger Deliciously Ella’s healthy take upon our regular naughty brownies, which switch the flour for sweet potatoes instead. So, we used her recipe as a guide and infused it with a peanut butter twist! Here's what you need:

Ingredients

2 small sweet potatoes
1/3 cup of raw cocoa powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup coconut cream
2 tablespoons raw honey
½ tsp salt
4 Tablespoons peanut butter
½ cup pitted dates 
½ tsp baking powder
Walnut oil to grease tray 

Instructions

1) Soak the dates in tepid water for ten minutes

2) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

3) Grease your baking tray with a little walnut oil

4) Peel and boil the sweet potatoes until they’re soft enough to mash

5) Place the soaked dates into a food processor and mix until they clump together in a small ball.

6) Add in all of the other ingredients, except the peanut butter and sea salt, and blend together until a smooth mixture forms.

7) Pour into the greased tray and cook for 20 minutes until the tip of a fork pulls clean.

8) Allow to cool before spreading on the peanut butter.

9) Finish with an optional sprinkle of sea salt and cut up into squares to serve. 

Et Voilà! Our delicious peanut brownies are a healthier take upon the traditional brownie, helping to make those naughty indulgences guilt free! 

Here at Nica, we love to try out new healthy recipes, so, please feel free to share your favourites with us and we may just try them out. Get in touch @Nica_Handbags on Twitter or @nicahandbags on Instagram. 

#NicaBakes: Discover Our Organic Cheese Cake Recipe

As you’re probably already quite aware by now, we love discovering new recipes online and getting some tips from our favourite bloggers but we never get around to sharing our own baking attempts with you. Well, as of today, that’s about to change!

Each month, we’ll be donning our oven mitts and getting our bake on just for you! And just to make ourselves feel a little bit better about all of the extra sweet treats that we’ll now be sampling, all of our recipes will have an healthy edge… But of course that doesn't mean that they'll taste any less delicious! 

We've derived recipe inspiration from various sources online, added in a few of our own ideas, and we’re kicking off our baking fest with a scrummy organic cheese cake for which you’ll need the following ingredients:

Filling:

1.5 cups raw cashews – soaked in water overnight or 4 hours +

1 lemon

1.5 cup coconut milk 

2 tbsp honey

Base:

1 cup pitted dates

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup raw brazil nuts

1/4 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

*Feel free to mix and match the seeds and nuts, you don't need to have a big selection – just add up the quantities.

Topping:

Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

*Other toppings can be used such as strawberries, peanut butter, or passion-fruit.

1. Add dates into the food processor and blend until they clump together into a sticky ball.

2. Empty the dates from the food processor and add the rest of the base ingredients, pulsing the food processor until the nuts and seeds form smaller crumbs, next add the dates back in and blend all together.

3. Empty the base mixture into a lightly greased tupperware container or tin and spread the mixture along the bottom evenly, set aside.

4. Drain the soaked cashews and add into the food processor along with the juice of the lemon, (watch out for pips!) and the rest of the filling ingredients, then, blend until a cream mixture forms.

5. Evenly spread the filling mixture over the base and decorate with the washed blueberries, now all is left is to pop the cheesecake into the freezer for 4+ to set.

Et Voilà! Cut the cheese cake up into slices, and enjoy with a nice cup of herbal tea! Why not test out our recipe for yourself, and share how you get along by tagging your bagging photos with #NicaBakes on Twitter or Instagram? 

And we’re always looking for some healthy baking inspiration, so, please share your own recipes with us too! 

#NicaChristmas: Discover Some of our Favourite Festive Baking Ideas

We’re starting to feel very Christmassy here at Nica HQ, and one of our favourite things about the festive season is dabbling in a spot of Christmas time baking!

So, we've been looking through Pinterest for some recipe ideas. Why not take a look at our #NicaChristmas board to see what we've found?

We've stumbled upon quite a few that we fancy testing out. Here are some of our favourites. Which ones have inspired you to start baking?

Gingerbread Tree

Forget the traditional flat gingerbread trees and create mini life like ones instead. Plus, it’s really easy too! All’s you need to do is bake some simple star shaped ginger bread cookies, stack them on top of each other, and simply glue into place with a splash of yummy icing. 

Image Source

Snowflake Carrot Cupcakes

A simple cupcake made from carrot cake mixture and prettily decorated with vanilla butter cream and chocolate snowflake decoration. Finished with a splash of sparkly edible glitter to up that festive feeling.

Image Source

Santa Brownies

Nothing screams Christmas more than a Santa’s hat, and look what such a simple addition does to an ordinary brownie. Simply created with a splash of buttercream and a delicious strawberry. 

Image Source

All of the recipes for the cakes featured can be found under image source. And remember, we love to discover a new recipe, so, please share your festive baking with us by using #NicaChristmas upon our social channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.