Mother's Day Cupcakes

It was Mother's Day here in the UK today so I was trying to find cupcakes that I could bake for my mom to mark the occasion.  I consulted my good friend, Google Images for some inspiration.  It seems that bouquet cupcakes are pretty popular so I went with the idea.

Basically, like a normal bouquet, you can make them with any flowers you wish, in any colour you can imagine.  I have little bits of fondant left over from other projects so I had pink and red and green.  I made a few fondant roses and used my cutters to make some leaves.  Each cupcake had 3 roses and 3 leaves.

To mix it up a bit I made 2 cupcakes with message toppers, which were fondant cut out with "We <3 Mom" written on them with writing gel and a heart shaped sprinkle.  I was proud of how they turned out, I thought they were pretty cute.

They were red velvet with cream cheese frosting.  The roses are still a little dusty from the cornflour I used to roll them out but over all I'm happy and, more importantly my wee mom loved them.

Here is a video I have used to learn how to make quick fondant roses, fab for when you're pressed for time or don't have petal cutters.

Valentine's Day Cake

I stumbled across the design of this cake last year when I found myself going through a load of old posts on Bakerella's website.  I decided to make it for my wee mommy for Valentine's Day since for as long as I can remember she has made me a bag of goodies every year (usually consisting of socks, a keyring, chocolate or other V-Day themed items she finds in the stores) so I figured this year I'd surprise her with a little something for her.

Basically, this can be any kind of cake, but my mother's personal favourite is red velvet.  I got myself a moderately-sized heart shaped cake tin from ebay (though this design would work in other shapes too).

To make this you'll need:

Your chosen cake tin

Another cake tin for the excess batter (or another batch of batter, depending on the size of the cake)

At least 1 batch of frosting (again, it's up to you what kind you use)

Chocolate (milk, plain or white)

Decorations for your cake balls (sprinkles/ glitter/ candy melts)

Red fondant (or white fondant and red food colouring)

Mini cupcake cases

Bake your cake as normal.  Leave to cool and then take the extra cake, crumble it into a bowl and then mix in enough frosting to bring all the cake crumbs together, but isn't too sticky.  Roll your mixture into walnut sized balls and place on greaseproof paper on a baking tray.  Once you have rolled enough, place the baking tray into your freezer to help them firm up.  This will make the coating process much easier later on.

Roll fondant out over a cake board (I use edible glue to keep it in place) and centre your cake on the board.  Spread your chosen flavour of frosting over the top and sides, any messes can be cleaned up later with some kitchen paper.  Roll out some more fondant and cover the top of your cake and trim any excess fondant off for a clean line around the top.  Roll out even more fondant in a long strip, this will form the sides of your "box".  Make sure the fondant you roll is thick enough to stand up and not flop over, it should also be slightly taller than the side of your cake.

Melt your chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan.  Take the tray of cake balls out of the freezer, and using 2 teaspoons, roll them in the melted chocolate until they are covered and place them back on the tray.  Add sprinkles or glitter now before the chocolate sets.  Once you are happy with your cake balls, place them either in the fridge or freezer so that the chocolate can set completely.

Finally, place your cake balls in some mini cupcake cases and arrange them in your box cake.

Original idea from Bakerella website 

Cake balls technique also from Bakerella website 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I had bought a couple of tins of pumpkin purée just before Christmas and instead of making pumpkin pie I decided to get a little more creative, since I liked the pumpkin bread I made a while back I thought I'd go with some pumpkin cupcakes.  The spices in the cupcakes made them super Christmasy, but they are tasty all year round!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin purée

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4.

Line a cupcake tin with cases.

In a bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar a butter until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time mixing well between each addition.  Next, add the vanilla extract.  Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the pumpkin purée, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases and bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until firm and a cake tester comes out clean when inserted.  Place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

I topped my cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting, but orange cream cheese would also work (and taste so good) or plain cream cheese is always a classic choice.

Ingredients:

115g cream cheese

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 tsp lemon extract (or orange or vanilla)

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth (don't over beat the cream cheese or your frosting will become runny).  Add the butter and mix until well incorporated.  Next add your chosen extract and icing sugar.  Pipe or spread the frosting onto your cupcakes.  Top with chopped nuts, toffee pieces or sprinkles of your choice.

Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy World Vegetarian Day!  I thought I would celebrate by baking with vegetables, so I went with a classic choice - carrot cupcakes.  I do love my carrot cake (or cupcakes) and this is the first time I've made it myself.

Ingredients:

225g peeled carrots

130g raisins

2 eggs

130g golden caster sugar

120ml corn oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Zest of 1 orange

120g plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4.

Line a cupcake tin with cases.

Finely grate the carrots and drain off any liquid.  In a large bowl combine together the grated carrot and raisins and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream together the eggs and sugar, then add in the oil, vanilla and orange zest.  Into a third bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, beating well between each addition.  Pour the batter mixture into the bowl containing the carrot and raisins using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold all the ingredients together.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted.  Allow to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

The cupcakes can be eaten plain or you could make some orange cream cheese frosting to top them with.

Ingredients:

175g cream cheese

450g icing sugar, sifted

125g unsalted butter (room temperature)

Zest of 1 orange

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well until all ingredients are combined and the frosting becomes pale - this can take a few minutes.  Top with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, sugar paste carrots, or in my case sprinkles shaped like carrots.  Yum!!!