Pirate Cupcakes

Last Wednesday was the International Talk Like a Pirate Day. We had an event at work which included dressing up and talking like a pirate, as well as a cupcake fundraising.

I made some pirate cupcake toppers during last weekend in preparation for that. The tools used were:
a) Big scone cutter for the pirate face and hat
b) Edge of piping tip for the mouth
c) Tear drop cutter for the eye patch

With lots of fun and a bit of help from D, we managed to put together 15 little pirate faces.

The cupcakes were freshly made the night before using the Lemon Cupcake Recipe. I doubled the recipe and made about 30 cupcakes. The toppers were glued on the cupcakes using buttercream. The remaining cupcakes were decorated with piped buttercream rose.

The response was wonderful and all cupcakes were sold out on the day (including cupcakes made from my other colleagues)! Thanks to all who supported, we managed to raise a substantial amount of money for the cause :)


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Strawberry Cupcake in Icecream Cone

It is Ekka week (Brisbane Exhibition) and I am craving the famous Ekka Strawberry Sundae.  I heard on 96.5fm earlier this week that Ness made strawberry icecream cupcakes. That inspired me to try it out at home.

I adapted the recipe from Woman’s Weekly Raspberry Swirl Cake.

Ingredients:

125 grams of butter
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
150 grams of castor sugar
2 eggs
185 grams of self-raising flour
80 ml milk
2 tablespoons of strawberry jam
1 teaspoon of poppy seeds
A drop of pink food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C
2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy
3. Add in 1 egg at a time and continue beating
4. Stir in sifted flour and milk in batches and continue mixing
5. Add strawberry jam, poppy seeds and pink food colouring and continue mixing until the colour is even

6. Pour the batter to the icecream cone to 2/3 full. I noticed that it will overflow if you pour it too full. The batter on the front right was too full and overflowed.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cake is cooked

I was initially sceptical about using an icecream cone to hold the batter, but it turned out very well.

I was going to cover the top with white chocolate ganache or buttercream, but didn’t have the ingredients to do so. So, my healthier option is to top it with a strawberry. Enjoy!

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Cupcake Decorating Class at Whimsical Cakehouse

For the past few years, I have always wanted to attend a cake decorating class but couldn’t find one that suits my budget and time. This year I managed to sign-up for two courses: a 2 hour cupcake decorating class and a 6 weeks cake decorating class.

Last Saturday, I went for my first ever Cupcake Decorating class at Whimsical Cakehouse.

When I walked in the classroom, the cupcakes, ganache and all other equipment were already set on the table. This class focused solely on decorating - not baking or preparing the fondant. The cupcakes were bought from a local Brisbane baker and fondant used was from a commercially available tub.

We were taken through a series of steps on how to decorate our masterpiece. First, we had to trim off the edge of the cupcakes with a small knife.

Then, fill the top of the cake with white chocolate ganache to even it out. The teacher showed us a trick to even out the ganache by dipping the icing knife in hot water and spreading it around the icing.

Next, brush the ganache with sugar syrup. This is useful for sticking the fondant to the top of the cake, as well as for adding moisture to the cake. A plastic strip is then used to smoothen the fondant on the cake.

We then moved on to the fun part of decorating the cake. We were shown a series of techniques such as bows, craft and piping before attempting it on our own.

Here are my creations:

It was a very enjoyable class. Even though it was a very basic class, I still felt that I learnt a lot from the teacher. I am now looking forward to my next class where we will decorate a whole cake!


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Wedding Cupcakes - Part 2

The day has finally arrived for the big cupcake bake. Ingredients, checked. Baking trays, checked. Containers, checked.

Cupcake Courier for transporting cupcakes

Milestone #1: Cupcakes are ready

Milestone #2: First batch with pink icing

Milestone #3: Pink cupcakes are done

Milestone #4: Purple cupcakes are ready

Dan came home with the display stand just as I was finishing the purple batch. We did a trial setup to check the alternate colour display.

We were happy with the results, so cupcakes were transferred back in the containers. 

Thanks to my wonderful cupcake courier, everything arrived intact and were soon set up for display.

Cupcake mission successful!
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Wedding Cupcakes - Part 1

I was overjoyed when WH & J announced their engagement. I have known them for many years and have witnessed how they have grown as a couple. However, the engagement news was not the only surprise from them. First, WH asked Dan to be his best man. Then, they approached me to make their wedding cake.

Honestly, I have never really thought of venturing outside of simple home-baking. I love baking simply because I love to eat the produce. However, a wedding cake is out of an amateur baker’s league.

With great reluctance, I did a few practice bake just to see if it is good enough to be presented to the couple. I found the perfect White Chocolate Mud Cake recipe from my favourite Exclusively Food site.

My confidence started to build up after several practise run. Special thanks to those who became my guinea pig in the process of perfecting the wedding cupcake: in-laws, cell members, colleagues and friends.

Decorating is another challenge for the cupcake. Not only it has to taste good, it has to look good too. After all, it’s a wedding! After several sessions of YouTube cake decorating tutorials, the rose swirl became the chosen style.

The rose paper doilies were used to add a touch of vintage look.

The bride-to-be was happy, so decision has been made.

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Baby Shower Cupcakes

This is one of my recent creations for a friend’s baby shower. Since the mum-to-be did not reveal the gender of the baby, we had to use ‘neutral’ colours. Therefore, the conventional pink for girls and blue for boys were crossed out.

There were two types of decorations:
a) Baby in pram

b) Baby under the blanket

The only problem was that the milk chocolate buttons I used was too dark for Asian baby skin tone. I should’ve used white chocolate buttons instead. Well, have to remember that for next time.
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Heart-shaped mini cake made with love

I was looking through the pictures in my cakes collection and came across this one. This sparks a special memory as it was a gift from Dan on our first Valentine’s Day.

Made with love, a dozen white chocolate heart-shaped mini cakes with pink butter cream icing, topped with a heart chocolate. And yes, it came in a pink basket too.

The taste?  Well, all I can say is that I married him a year later, so it must've been very impressive.  ^_^

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Lemon Cupcake with Pink Glaze Icing

I have been experimenting with cupcakes recipes and decorations after being approached by a friend with the possibility of making their wedding cupcake tower. Still not quite sure about the decorating part but it has been a yummy trial so far. :)

Although a lemon cake may not be suitable for a wedding, Dan & I love the citrusy taste of this.

Ingredients:
125 grams of softened butter
Rind of 1 lemon
Juice of ½ lemon
220 grams castor sugar
2 eggs
150 grams of self-raising flour
75 grams of plain flour
125 ml of milk

Glaze icing:
1 ½ cup of icing sugar
Juice of ½ lemon (remainder) – this can be replaced with milk if you want a less citrusy taste
Food colouring

1. Beat butter, lemon rind and sugar until light and fluffy

2. Add in 1 egg at a time and continue beating

3. Add milk and lemon to the mixture

4. Stir in sifted flour in batches and continue beating the mixture

5. Preheat the oven to 160°C

6. Scoop the mixture to the cupcake tray

7. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until cupcake is cooked

8. Transfer cupcakes to a cake rack to cool

9. To make the glaze icing, mix all the ingredients into a small bowl until smooth. Spread immediately on cooled cupcakes.

This recipe makes about 12 large cupcakes. I have also made sugar flowers / apples to top off.

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