Happy 25th Birthday HELLO! Magazine

HELLO! Magazine 1st edition, 1988HELLO! 25th birthday edition 2013It's May 21st 1988 and a new magazine has just hit the shelves with exclusive photos of Burt Reyolds' wedding to actree Loni Anderson, and Princess Anne (Princess Royal) on the front cover looking relaxed, but pensive, at Buckingham Palace.

Fast forward 25 years and HELLO! Magazine is still going strong, publishing news on celebrities and the royal family. Over the last two and a half decades HELLO! have written about some of the biggest headlines to hit the UK.

To celebrate this milestone we baked them some rather special Banoffee cupcakes and sent them on down to their headquarters on London's Upper Ground, just near the National Theatre.

Addressed to the editor of HELLO! Rosie Nixon, our cupcakes made their way to SE1. With a note attached, they received a box of our moist banana sponge cupcakes, filled with dulce de Leche, topped with a gooey caramel buttercream and a fondant disc adorned with their 25th birthday emblem.

Rosie took to Twitter to let us know they were the best ever. We're inclined to agree (no bias, we swear!)

  

Why do my cupcake cases peel away?

This is one of the most annoying problems a baker can face. It doesn't matter if you're a professional or a hobby baker; once those cases peel away from your cupcakes, they're ruined. You can, maybe, try and "glue" them back on with some buttercream... but really, who has the time? (plus, they'll look horrendous... just saying)

You may be reading this and nodding along as you recall the memory of when your cupcake cases peeled away from your batch of perfectly risen, beautiful looking cupcakes. Don't lose hope, all is not lost in this situation, you can make yourself some cake pops with the sponge, or just eat them (loving THAT option!)

BUT I WANT TO STOP MY CUPCAKE CASES PEELING AWAY FROM THE SPONGE!

Ok, we hear you: so what can we do to stop the dreaded peeling of cases from happening? There are a number of reasons why your cupcake cases may be coming away from your cupcakes during the cooling period. If you've ever experienced it and felt the cupcake case, it feels quite soggy and flimsy. Here's why your cases may be coming away from your cupcakes:

• Quality of case - at Wraggamuffins we use cases that are 65gms in thickness, so they're nice and sturdy. The other reason for this is so that they won't buckle so quickly if a little moisture seeps in during baking. Always buy good quality cases.
• Too much fat in your batter - that's not a way of telling someone they're porky, no no, we mean you added more butter than you should have to your cupcake batter, or perhaps added a splash too much of oil to help give the cakes moisture, you may have made them too greasy.
• Too much liquid in your batter - yep, it's back down to your cupcake batter again. It's fine if your cupcake recipe produces a slightly runnier batter than others, but you may want to check your cooking times. Give it an extra minute or two in the oven to let some of the moisture bake off.
• Let them cool down - allow them to cool completely before placing into any kind of container. If they're still warm and you put them in an airtight box then condensation will build up between the sponge and the case... then it peels. Ideally you'll have a cupcake box to hand (one that's not completely airtight, but protects the cake enough so it doesn't dry out).
• Don't leave them in the baking tin - you might like to let them rest in the baking tin, but don't let them stay in there for too long because this will also create condensation between the sponge and the case. Peel baby peel!
• Don't take them out the baking tin - I know, I know, contradicting information is confusing (hey, baking isn't called a science for nothing you know). But if you handle your cakes whilst they're too soft and too hot, you may inadvertently force them out of their cases with your manhandling ways. So let them sit in the tin for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
• Use a proper cooling rack - don't leave them cooling on the kitchen side, you want the air to get around the whole cupcake and cool it down. Heat rises, and the underneath of your cupcake case will be soggy if you leave it without the air getting to it. Don't have a cooling rack? Try using the rack from your grill (clean it first though).

Mini-Muffins now available across the UK

Hooray! For those outside of London who drool over our website and Facebook page there is good news. You can now order mini-muffins to be delivered to any UK address.

Order Mini-Muffins online, shipped to any UK address

Simply place your order online and enter your details at checkout. All mini-muffins will be sent to you via Royal Mail Special Delivery guaranteed before 1pm.

You must order 48 hours in advance, so if you place an order before 5pm today you could be eating them for breakfast the day after tomorrow. Pretty cool huh?

Hilarious Cake Fails

Thinking of having Walmart decorate your cake for you? Maybe rethink that!

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That CAN'T be my cake. I ordered a turtle.

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Just write, "Good luck, Kim" and in big letters, could you add "Have fun" on the form, too? Thanks!

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Remember, it's rude to stare, unless the cake starts it.

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...and the last, but probably the best (this one got a snort laugh)

Toy Story Cupcakes - to Infinity and in my mouth!

Woody Toy Story CupcakesAll the Toy Story characters came out to help make these cupcakes something special: Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, Mr. Potato Head, Alien, and Bullseye adorned a selection of Vanilla filled with Raspberry, and Chocolate filled with Caramel cupcakes.

To infinity, and beyond!

Delivered to a penthouse apartment near to Gloucester Road, London; ready to be transported to awaiting party guests in Crawley, West Sussex, who were all dressed up as cartoon characters.

Hey, Buzz! You're flying!

 Buzz Lightyear Toy Story Cupcakes

There is no way Buzz Lightyear would let Emperor Zurg get his hands on these cupcakes, they were made for a very special little boy who turned 2 in at the beginning of May.

This isn't flying, this is falling with style!

These cupcakes were a little different to what we normally offer on the menu, but it is always great fun to make these special and bespoke orders for our customers. Especially when they're being shipped off outside of London to people who may not have had the chance to sample the best cupcakes in London (according to TimeOut and our customers) No room for bias here, ok... maybe a little!

Toy Story Cupcakes

Ride like the wind, Bullseye!

And ride they did, straight into the mouths of lots of hungry guests, with all that delicious vanilla frosting (made from Wraggamuffins homemade vanilla extract no less!) it's any wonder they made it out of London!

10 Funny (but a bit random) Tweets about muffins

Twitter is full of hilarious, random, wild, and weird tweets. Some of us use it for general musings, others to keep up-to-date with breaking news and events, others use it to post random stuff about muffins.

We've pulled a selection of 10 funny (but random) tweets about muffins for you to enjoy:

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