Playing around with flowers

Last week, I spent quite a bit of  time practicing different cupcake designs in preparation for the Live PME cupcake finals which will be held at the Cake International exhibition on 4th November. I'll be there along with 8 other contestants decorating 13 cupcakes in 2 hours in front of everyone. If you're at the exhibition that day be sure to pop over and say hi.

Here are some of the cupcakes to come out of the kitchen recently....

Hope you all have a lovely week.

Happy baking xx

This week in the kitchen.....

Hi All,

I've been having so much fun this week decorating cupcakes and miniature cakes in my favourite shabby chic style. Here's a selection of what has come out of the kitchen......

 Sugarpaste cupcakes with ribbon roses

 Playing around with white

 More rose cupcakes - you can never have too many right?

 Miniature cakes

There's that ribbon rose again....as you can tell I'm enjoying making them at the moment

Lastly, a little flower cluster....

Hope you are all having as much fun in the kitchen as I am this week!

Happy baking xx

Shabby chic loveliness

I've been playing around with pastels this week and practicing flower making. Here are a few cupcakes inspired by all things shabby chic.

Love the delicate contrast of baby blue against the white flowers. Looking forward to making more soon.

Happy baking xx

Miniature Cakes

Yesterday I went on my first cake decorating course at Cakes4Fun in Putney. I had a great time with 6 other decorating enthusiasts learning how to prepare and decorate miniature cakes. It took a whole day to prepare 6 cakes, but it was worth the effort - I was really pleased with the final result and picked up some great tips which I'll be trying out on my next baking project.

The cakes were cut into cylinders from a rectangular block of madeira cake and filled with raspeberry jam and buttercream, before being covered in fondant. We were then left to decorate the cakes, and here's the end result:

Floral Fantasy Cupcakes

This week, I made a batch of white chocolate and raspberry mud cupcakes for a dinner party....it was a good excuse for me to also practice making fondant flowers, in preparation for the next iron cupcake challenge on 1 September. The cupcakes were a hit, so I thought I'd share the recipe so you can make them as well.

Here's what you will need:

Cupcakes
125g butter, softened and chopped
100g white chocolate

1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, lightly whisked
3/4cup plain flour
1/2 cup self-raising flour

Punnet of raspberries

Buttercream Icing

250g unsalted butter - softened

500g sifted icing sugar

75g white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 160°C (I used the fan forced setting also). Combine the butter, chocolate, sugar and milk in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Transfer to a medium heatproof bowl and set aside for a few minutes to cool slightly.

Next, gently whisk in the egg. Sift in the combined flours over the chocolate mixture and gently whisk until just combined. Pour mixture into cupcake cases in a muffin tray. I filled the cases up about 1/3 of the way, then added a few raspberries, before adding more mixture.

Bake for about 30 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack and set aside for 1 hour to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make up a batch of buttercream. Start by melting the white chocolate in a small bowl over simmering water, then leaving it to one side to cool. Next whip the butter with an electric beater until it is pale in colour (normally takes about 2-5 minutes depending on your setting), then sift in the icing sugar in batches, mixing well after each addition. Once all the icing sugar has been added, stir in the white chocolate. You can then colour your buttercream with food colouring or leave it plain. I tinted half of the mixture a light pink colour. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, or spread it on with a knife - whatever takes your fancy. I did a combination of both, then topped my cupcakes with fondant flowers I made while the cupcakes were baking. Here's what they look like:

There are more photos of these cupcakes in my photo gallery, if you are looking for decorating ideas.

Remember to store your cupcakes in an airtight container to keep them fresh for 3 days....Enjoy!