Hen Do Cupcakes

I am backtracking a little bit with this blog so rewinding to February!
My cousin got married in March so for his fiance's hen do I made some cupcakes for the girls. I forgot to take a photo of them however one of the girls on the hen do managed to take a picture on her phone. The cupcakes were a plain vanilla sponge with purple buttercream topped with hen do themed rice paper. They went done well with the champagne in the limo and a great night was had by all!

Happy Easter!!

I hope you all had a restful and peaceful Easter weekend and what better a time to indulge in some delicious cupcakes than at Easter time!!

I made some Easter themed cupcakes decorated with yellow lemon buttercream icing covered with a sprinkling of shredded Flake chocolate bar, topped with either a mini creme egg or several mini eggs. Very festive and very yummy!!

They went down a treat with family and friends and were simple to make. I stuck to plain vanilla sponge as the lemon flavoured icing itself is quite sweet so I didnt want to overdo or spoil the flavour of the icing. I piped the buttercream onto the cakes beginning on the outside of the cake and worked my way into the centre then placed the easter treats in the middle.

I bought the green polka dot cupcake cases in Tesco, but was a bit disappointed with them as the colour faded after cooking in the oven so they were no longer a citrus green, but more of a dull shade of green but they did the trick!

I used lemon extract to give the icing a lemon flavour and only used two drops and it was just enough to give the icing a citrus twang without being overpowering. Use with caution as it only needs the slightest bit. The safest way is to add a little at a time to make sure you dont use too much flavouring. If you use too little, more can be added but if you use too much, its harder to fix!!

XOXO

Barbie Cake number 2...

I was asked by a friend if I would make a Barbie cake for their daughter and of course I said yes!
I made this barbie cake bigger than the first one I made as I was unsure how many people the cake needed to cater for.

Using a different technique, as well as using the pampered chef bowl to get the shape of the barbie's skirt, I added more height to the skirt by adding two sandwich cakes underneath and trimmed them to size. I used alternative fillings for each layer, either vanilla buttercream or jam.

I experimented a little more with the design of the dress but stuck to a bright pink theme, perfect for any birthday princess. I made three layers to the skirt this time with a bubblegum pink icing as the underneath layer, peach for the second layer and a glittery pink for the top layer of the skirt and the barbies bodice.

To make the icing glittery, I bought magic sprinkle edible dust and sprinkled this over the icing as I rolled it out so it was then imprinted into the icing. It added that extra girly edge and looked good! The glitter came in a pot similar to the one below and is easy to order from any cake craft store or online like on ebay!


The finishing touches to the barbie cake were adding decorative edible glitter flowers and a ribbon to give the effect of a bow around the waistline and down the back of the dress. Below is the end result.

Cake Decorating Magazine..

I spotted an advert on the TV a few weeks ago advertising a new cake decorating magazine that is being published so of course being a cake lover I went and bought it.
There is an issue each week, each with a free cake decorating gift. Its fab!

It includes ideas and tips for cake decorating as well as simple and easy recipes which are quick to whip up. The regular price is £2.99 and I would imagine it is stocked by most local newsagents.

There is a website associated with this magazine for which I have attached the link
http://www.mycakedecorating.co.uk/

I would defo recommend looking through the gallery, some of the pictures will definately get your taste buds watering! They look amazing (like the ones below!)

I am going to try a few recipes and ideas from the magazines so be on the look out for my updates to see what I have tried out!

Happy Easter Everyone, enjoy the long weekend!!

x

Rugby Cake

I made a rugby theme cake for a friend and for the first time made an icing character!
This cake was the first personalised cake I have made and I was happy with the outcome.

I made a 10 inch square sandwiched cake with a buttercream and jam filling and covered the cake with green icing. I made a rugby player out of icing and decorated him in the colours of the team; red and yellow.

I made the goal posts out of candy sticks but this wasnt the greatest success as they were not big enough so I had to join two together vertically for the left and right side of the goal post and also two for the centre bar but this kept collapsing due to the weight of the candy sticks. If I were to make the cake again I would use a different technique; practise makes perfect!

Wedding Cupcake Bouquet...

I made some cupcake bouquets for a family member to share with her bridesmaids and maid of honour on the morning of her wedding. I gathered a few ideas from the internet and started the cupcake bouquets from scratch.
To make a cupcake bouquet you will need a vase/plant pot, cocktail sticks or cupcake metal holders, tissue paper of your choice and ribbon if desired and plant foilage. You will also need polestyrene balls or blocks to fill the vase with.

I used a cheap plastic plant pot from a local store and ordered polystyrene balls, metal cupcake holders and fake plant foilage off ebay. I used the colours cream and brown for the tissue paper and ribbon as these were the colours my cousin was having for the wedding.

I wrapped the pot in cream tissue paper and sealed it with a brown ribbon. I then put the polystyrene ball in the top of the plant pot with a sheet of tissue paper under it. I spaced out the metal holders evenly and pierced them through the polystyrene ball. I then used the foilage and placed leaves and flowers in the gaps between each metal holder.

After cooking some cupcakes and decorating them with chocolate fudge frosting or pale gold buttercream, I placed them in the metal holders. If there were any more gaps, I filled them with some extra foilage.

Cupcake Bouquet

Something I really want to try out next is making a cupcake bouquet. I think they look amazing and are a great alternative to flowers. I have posted a few pictures of cupcake bouquets I like below and these have given me great ideas for an upcoming project I have.


Wish me luck!!