Cinema Themed cupcakes! Banana, Pecan, Chocolate chunk, Caramel and Toffee Popcorn cakes and Chocolate and Peanutbutter Icecream Scoop cupcakes

There's nothing like a good gathering to set the cake inventing cogs in my brain in motion.

I was attending a hen do, but one with a difference. An outdoor cinema screening on one of the last summer evenings of the year!

After taking quite some time trawling the internet for the cupcake cases I envisaged in my mind I found them! Then I created these...

Banana, Pecan, milk chocolate chunk, caramel and toffee popcorn cupcakes! And also these...

Chocolate and peanutbutter cupcakes with peanutbutter buttercream and sprinkles!

I have never baked with these sort of cases before. They are like small icecream tubs and don't need to go into cake trays to hold their shape like paper cases would (although putting them in one makes it easier to put them in and out of the oven).

First I made the banana cakes. This was based on a recipe for banana and pecan cupcakes. However, when I really thought about it (this didn't take long) I thought they would be much improved with the addition of some milk chocolate chunks. Most recipes are...

Lots of chunky pieces of pecan and milk chocolate chunks to add to my banana cake mixture.

And a bit more chocolate. That's better!

Then, I carefully dolloped the banana, milk chocolate and pecan cake mixture into their cases...

It wasn't long in the oven before they came out, smelling of banana, chocolate and pecan with just a hint of cinnamon. A lovely comforting smell...

I could have scoffed the lot right there. Mmmmm... But there were more delicious additions in store for these rich, moist little cakes!

Next I dolloped caramel on top of each cake.

Then I spread it out evenly over the surface. Do not be tempted to taste any of this caramel at this point! Not even a teensy tiny little bit. PUT THE REST IN THE BIN WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED. Or you will find yourself drinking it straight out of the tin and feeling rather squiffy minutes later (whilst also, at the same time, being aware that if there was another pot of this wonderful stuff in the vicinity you would down the lot) I am like Winnie the Pooh with a pot of honey with this stuff, its VERY moreish and rather dangerous. Treat with caution, you have been warned!

Next, pile some toffee popcorn on top of the caramel.

Then, step back and marvel at how bloody brilliant they look. You might want to skip around the kitchen singing a song about popcorn.

I mean, you don't have to.

You could just eat one.

I was feeling rather smug at this point. This was just what I had imagined! Little popcorn boxes hiding delicious morsels of secret scrummy cake!

I resisted the temptation to try one just yet.

There was more cake that needed making and it was only 10.30am. If I timed this just right I could have a cake only lunch (after all, I needed to test them before taking them to the party that night surely?) and I do love a cake lunch!

So i ignored the warm banana, chocolate, pecan caramel aroma and turned my hand to making chocolate and peanutbutter cupcakes.

This was the same Mary Berry chocolate cupcake recipe I usually use but with two extremely generous dollops of crunchy peanutbutter stirred into the mixture.

And before long, they were baked. Chocolate and peanutbutter scents now enveloped the whole house. Mmmm!!

The decoration took a little longer for these.

I mixed up buttercream, added two generous tablespoons of smooth peanutbutter and then split these into three bowls. To the first I added pink dye to, the second a little cocoa powder and the third, I left as it was.

Then I set about, what I thought would be the simple task of using a sorbet scoop to create little ice cream scoops.

This picture gives the misleading impression that this was rather simple, but really the teaspoon in the background was also used along with the sorbet scoop to help create these little 'icecream balls'.

After rather longer than I'd anticipated, I had topped all of the cakes and finished them off with sprinkles!

Hooray! Now its time for lunch!

Cake testing lunch! My favourite!

First the banana, pecan, milk chocolate chunk, caramel and toffee popcorn cakes!

Just as pretty outside its little striped case as it was inside. If not, more so, with the caramel having oozed into the slightly warm cakes at the point they were decorated and also down the sides.

And the inside?

Mmmm! Moist, rich banana cake with intermittent pieces of pecan and still molten milk chocolate chunks of differing proportions in each mouthful. Delicious on its own but all the more addictive when in the same mouthful is a layer of caramel and a bite of toffee popcorn. Utterly delicious!

This cake made me think of cosy autumnal evening. A hefty wedge would be delicious with a large mug of steaming hot tea after facing the wind and rain of a blustery day outside. A hug in a cake. Or a great treat to eat instead of your usual tub of popcorn at the cinema whilst sitting back to watch your favourite film. In the same way that watching an old favourite film is comforting and relaxing, so was this cake, like a hug from your grandma when you were little. Instant relaxation that envelops you and paints a big smile on your face.

Next was the chocolate and peanutbutter cakes.

These really were delicious. The chocolate cake on its own is a very moist recipe as it uses a large amount of melted chocolate in the mix. This was made even moister with the addition of chunky peanutbutter in this recipe. Because I used chunky peanutbutter rather than smooth the peanutbutter flavour came through in texture as well as flavour. The rich cake, almost bordering on brownie-like texture was wonderful with the light peanutbutter buttercream. This topping was a delicate, sweet flavour that made the cake luxurious in flavour and texture. I really couldn't stop myself eating this one and when I took them to the party, they vanished in minutes.

So how was the cinema themed hen party?

I set out my cakes in the garden as the sun went down, along with the other snacks. Here they are...

And here is the magically decorated garden, ready for our viewing of the Labyrinth!

It may be a good time to mention at this point that this was a Labyrinth themed fancy dress party! I don't want you thinking that as standard I normally spend my Saturday evenings with human sized owls and people in big billowy white shirts and 1980s wedding dresses (not that there's anything wrong with that but it would probably make my weekends sound a tad more unusual and interesting than they actually are)

So as we sat down to watch the film on a balmy evening in early September, relishing the last of the summer weather, sipping wine and relaxing in the magical atmosphere, each taken back to the first time we watched this magical film, still believing in magic and either in awe of or repulsed by David Bowie's trousers (depending on who you asked), we indulged in our little popcorn bag cakes and icecream tub cakes. I tested a couple more as well, just to be sure that the exposure to the night air had not altered their quality, flavour or texture in any way. They were fine. Actually I had three. Just to be sure.

But most importantly of all, the beautiful Bride to be liked them! And that is true praise indeed given her appreciation for a good bit of cake (much like myself!)

Garden party cake with a difference!