The Primrose Bakery: Cookies and cream cupcakes
My lovely boyfriend got me The Primrose Bakery book for my birthday (probably more for his benefit than mine!) so I thought I’d make some yummy cookies and cream cupcakes for his birthday (today) in return.
That was my first mistake. I started baking at 08:30 this morning and finished at 11:45. Bakers out there are probably thinking, what the hell was she doing to take that long making cupcakes? I’ve asked myself the very same question. The cakes themselves were pretty simple – melt a bit of chocolate, add to normal cupcake mix and throw in a bit of vanilla essence and milk, then bake. Job done.
It was the icing that bested me. Beaten by sugar and Golden Syrup – the shame. Now, it was definitely some kind of fatal error on my part – not blaming the Primrose Bakery in any way – but I couldn’t get the marshmallow icing right AT ALL. All I had to do was melt some sugar, Golden Syrup and water together and pour over some egg whites. Ha, ALL I had to do… My first batch (yep, I had to do this TWICE) went wrong immediately because I accidentally picked up maple Golden Syrup and spent ten minutes wondering why it was a funny colour. Then I burnt it severely, but figured it would be ok so poured it over my egg whites in one big rush, which burnt the egg whites and smelt horrible.
In the bin with that lot then. The second batch (with the right kind of Golden Syrup) worked much better, but try as I might I couldn’t get it to thicken up enough. And lord knows, I tried my hardest. I tried so hard that my electric handheld whisk got too hot to hold and, when I came to wash it up, I found I’d actually melted it. In the bin with that as well. Ho-hum.
I’d had enough by this point, so just slopped on my icing as best I could and crossed my fingers.
Here’s what they should look like:
And here’s what mine do look like:
Appetising? Not sure. Do they pass the Tom taste-test? Let’s find out:
“I give these cupcakes a 6/10, because they tasted good but looked discombobulated. They’re a bit special. Given how many cupcake recipes there are in the world, I don’t think you should make these again.”
Verdict:
Taking into account the amount of time I spent making these little bastards and how they look (as we all know, presentation is nine-tenths of the law when it comes to making cupcakes), as well as taste, I’d say: Don’t bother pre-heating the oven. Cookies and cream cupcakes are decidedly not worth the washing up.
Anyone else tried making these? Got any tips for getting marshmallow icing right? Please help!
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Black Cat Originals 
Cookies and Cream cupcakes are excellent with the marshmallow icing they are to die for…..looked as good as they tasted. Really easy recipe to follow enjoyed making them but all 16 cakes had gone within 24 hours….mmmmm will make again soon.
Have to say mine don’t look particularly good! And they only tasted mediocre. Glad you had more success though! 🙂
Banoffee pie you say? I shall put them on my to-bake list! And yes, I’ll definitely give the cookies and cream another go at some point, but I’m waiting for the horrific memories of that last batch to fully subside first! 🙂
Oh dear, im sorry you had such a disasterous experience making these cupcakes! I made them myself last week with no trouble at all. Im not sure what I did differently to you with the icing? Im assuming you whipped up the eggs whites first, then slowly bit by bit added the heated golden syrup mixture? Not to gloat, but my egg white mixture what so fluffed up it was spilling all out the bowl I was mixing in. I wish I could offer more advice on how to perfect these (by the way I am not a pro-baker or anything at all!).
Haha, glad you had a better time of it! I have no idea why mine didn’t work, but practice makes perfect so I’ll have another go at some point!
You should definitely try them again, dont let your first attempt put you off. I made them again tonight and actually my icing didnt fluff as well as it did the first time – I think it might have something to do with how much you cook the sugar syrup mixture. It fluffed up enough though and didnt melt like yours seemed to. They’re an awesome cupcake and I got 10/10 for mine, so dont let your first go put you off! Good luck…
P.S. also had rave reviews on the Banoffe Pie ones so if you havent tried them yet – get baking!