chocolate and vanilla marble cupcakes

This was my first bake in my new home in my shiny new oven a year ago. My best friend came to visit me about a week after I moved in which gave me the perfect opportunity to test my oven's baking abilities.

I went with marble cupcakes as I fancied trying two toned piped icing, something I've wanted to try for absolutely years. I absolutely love how the piped swirls turned out and intend to try the technique on a cake some time. I've actually seen some Easter versions online recently where bakers have marbled pastel coloured icing to match Cadbury Mini Eggs and it looks so pretty.

There's something very satisfying about marbled bakes. I always think they look fun, with or without icing.

As a side note I love my cooker, a cream coloured Richmond Stoves. I managed to buy a decent one as I saved a good chunk of money by sourcing second hand kitchen units (£200 from Ebay.) It has a bit of old fashioned charm as the lid makes it look like an old Aga (and handily the lid doubles up as extra worktop space) and the look suits my quirky, retro styled kitchen. I can also confirm after a year's testing that the oven bakes good cakes.

I also want to say I hope everyone is staying as safe as possible at the moment amidst the Coronovirus mayhem sweeping the world. It's all incredibly scary and unsettling on so many levels. Take care of yourselves and look after loved ones. x

Recipe was just a bog standard victoria sponge mixture divided in half with cocoa powder added to one half and 1/2tsp vanilla extract to the other. For the icings I followed the vanilla and chocolate butter icing from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. My butter icing swirls were created with a Wilton 1M piping tip.... I think!