It's All In The Decoration

I thought I would try out something a bit different when it comes to decorating a cupcake. The great big swirls of icing are fantastic but sometimes a little too sickly... So from having a little look on Pinterest to get some inspiration and this is what I came up with.

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream

I used a cookie cutter in as close a size to the cupcake as possible. The fondant is about 1mm thick so it's sturdy and doesn't droop once on top the cake. 

I decided it was best to decorate the disk before attaching to the cupcake. This give you a bit more flexibility in what you can do. To fix the disk to the cupcake I used a swirl of buttercream around the edge of each cupcake then placed the disk on top. Just make sure that the icing is as level as possible before affixing the disk, otherwise it will be wonky. 

Time Out

Hi Guys,

Sorry I've had a bit of time out from blogging. Sometimes, if you make too many cakes for your nearest and dearest they start worrying about their weight!!!  Anyhow, I have recently made a few pretty cakes for various occasions and I thought I might share them with you. 

60th Anniversary Fruit Cake 

Now this cake was made by the customer who also covered it in marzipan (not very evenly). It was a bit tricky to get it as even as I wanted. But the end result was pretty pleasing. She only wanted a simple design and didn't want to pay a fortune on getting the cake decorated. 

Pagan Handfasting Cake

Never one to turn down a challenge I was approached by a couple who wanted a cake for their hand fast. This ceremony is pretty much like a wedding. But don't worry there's no dancing around with no clothes on. They wanted the cake to have a natural theme and not the classic wedding cake with a bride and groom on top. They had already done that years ago! So I thought of various ideas and decided that cherry blossoms were beautiful and in keeping.

Two Tier Fruit Cake 

I hope you like these designs and maybe have caused some inspiration for your next creation. 

Over Indulgence

I don't know about you but this Christmas I have definitely over indulged in all sorts of yummy foods and snacks. I think I may have eaten my weight in mince pies or mincemeat tarts, all of which have mostly been homemade! We had two jars of homemade mincemeat left and I don't think I could face yet more mince pies and wanted something a little different. 

Through my Christmas recipe browsing I came across a recipe for Mincemeat Cupcakes. Originally I thought it would be a little, well gross! But by the time it came to use these two jars of mincemeat I decided to give it a go. 



I used my basic cupcake recipe you can find on this blog, but with a teaspoon of mixed spice added to the mixture. Once the cupcakes have been baked and cooled you use a melon baller or teaspoon or knife to scoop out the middle of the cupcake so that about a teaspoon or two of mincemeat will fill the hole. 


Now, you can either leave the cupcakes undecorated like that.... Or you can push the boat out and make a crazily alcoholic butter icing like I did. I mixed up a usual batch of butter cream but instead of adding a bit of cream i added about a tablespoon of brandy sauce (found in most supermarkets during the festive period) and added a tablespoon of Gran Marnier. To make up for the extra liquid i added a couple of extra tablespoons of icing sugar to get the right consistency. Then voila I piped on some little rosette things and added some little silver balls. My mother who is usually the chief taster in these matters said that these were possibly the best cupcakes I had ever made. So there we go! Why don't you give it a try and use up that mincemeat! 

BIRTHDAY CAKES!!!!!

A little post today as I feel like I've been neglecting this for a little while.  With the festive season in full swing I've been a bit rushed off my feet! But haven't we all? Anyway I've had two birthday cakes to contend with since my last post and thought they were worth a share.

This snowbird one took a lot of patience and planning. It was one large cake and then two smaller ones cut in half. The carving took a lot of thought as I could not get my head around all the tutorials and advice online. So, instead I just took a leap of faith and cut a little bit at a time. The icing was the standard Royal Icing.

Feeling Stormy, this cake was just your standard yogurt cake recipe with a few pretty decorations. The chocolate ribbon around the outside and the cream waves on top. Both were pretty simple to make but I did have to decipher it all from a french recipe book. Either way, a lovely simple cake that looks great.

Muffin Tops... The Good Kind!

We're always worrying about those few extra pounds and trying to shake ones muffin top. I am the same, but I still have to take something sweet to work with me. Instead of going for the processed choccy biscuits or cakes or sweets. This cinnamon and orange muffin recipe I have adapted from one of my recipe books is yummy warming and I know where all the ingredients come from.





Ingredients

125g Butter
5tbsp Golden Syrup
125g Dark Muscovado Sugar
225g Self Raising Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 Grated Orange2 Eggs
125ml Milk


Put the butter, syrup and sugar in a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the butter has melted. Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. beat the eggs and milk in a separate bowl.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, then beat in the flour mixture. Then gradually beat in the egg mixture and finally the grated orange.

I used an ice cream scoop to evenly divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases. Bake in a pre-heated oven, 160℃ for a fan oven and 180℃ for 10-15 minutes until well risen and cracked. Leave to cool in the tin for 10minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Christmas Is Coming!

I know it's early but is it really? Halloween is long gone behind us and Christmas is looming. Preserves always need a bit of time to mature I think. So I've made my mincemeat in plenty of time so all the flavours can infuse and enhance.

My recipe is from Good Housekeeping this year. On making it I have decided a few changes are needed. The following recipe is my updated version.

Ingredients

450g Bramley Apples, peeled cored and cut into 0.5cm chunks
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 an orange
200ml medium cider
150g soft brown sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
150g raisins
150g currants
75g glace cherries chopped into 1/4
2 tbspns Gran Marnier

Method

1) Prepare 4 jars. Boil water in a kettle and fill each jar with about a cm of water. Put in the microwave for 1min. Pour out the water and dry. 

2) Put the apples, zest and juice, cider and Gran Marnier in a pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10mins.

3) Take pan off the heat. Add the sugar, raisins, spice and currants. Stir and let cool slightly.

4) Spoon mixture into the jars and tap on the side to make sure there are no air bubbles. Place a round of greaseproof paper on top of each jar. 

Mini Fancies

I love miniature things. They seem a tad more quaint and have much more appeal. So I have put together a small compilation of mini treats. These are great party pieces or can be wrapped and given as token gifts.

• Marshmallow Petits Fours
• White Chocolate Cups with a Chocolate Hazelnut Filling
• Homemade Marshmallows 
• Mini Biscuit Lodge

Chocolate Marshmallow Petits Fours 

Marshmallow Petits Fours - These are so easy to make and with a little imagination an really look great. They turned out so well they were all eaten before I had a chance to take a picture of them.... So here is the picture that inspired me, click on the link below to have a peek!

White Chocolate and Nutella Cups 

These White Chocolate Nutella Cups are amazing - one of the Good Housekeeping Christmas gift ideas - click on the link below to check out the recipe. It's so simple and so cheap to do. 

The Snowy Biscuit Lodge cup topper is a real cute idea. It's a bit fiddly but really very sweet and can be decorated in so many ways. Click Here - to find a gingerbread recipe and templates.

 

Marshmallow Clouds - There are a lot of Marshmallow recipes floating around at the moment. It seems to be the latest fad in baking. Once again, I followed the Good Housekeeping recipe found here. My advice with making marshmallows: definitely use a sugar thermometer, they can be bought very cheaply, also this recipe calls for a standing mixer. One needs to be careful when working with sugar, it gets super hot and can give really bad burns if you catch it on your skin. One of the tricks with handling the marshmallow once it is in the dish and set is to make sure your hands have plenty of icing sugar on them otherwise it will stick to you! One last ingredient I would use for the outside icing sugar coating is Snow Sugar. It is basically a type of icing sugar that does not melt/go sticky. Just type in Snow Sugar to Amazon or Google and it will come up. 

Mini Marshmallow Clouds