I cake, therefore I am: November 2013

Hard core cupcakes! (bHash dessert)

Whiskey cupcakes (adults only) & chocolate peanut butter cupcakes (for kids and non-drinkers).

My friends were the bHash hosts this week (bHash is a weekly gathering of mountain bikers… mostly an excuse to share a beer mid-week!). I offered to supply dessert.

Whisky cupcakes:

This was my third time making these cupcakes, see my previous posts for recipe details. I used a combination of single malt whiskey (for a proper whiskey flavour) and a dash of honey bourbon for sweetness (ditto for the frosting). These cakes went down really well. Unfortunately the weather (very humid) and lack of facilities (this week was held in the Humpty Doo Pine Forest) meant that the honey bourbon syrup didn't make it, but the cakes were sweet enough without it.

Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes:

I love peanut butter and I love chocolate so I couldn't wait to try making these cupcakes as the non-alcoholic dessert option for bHash. I used my usual chocolate cupcake recipe for the bases but added some of this delicious Reese's Peanut Butter Topping to the batter:

Reese's Peanut Butter Topping

For the frosting I made a classic butter cream frosting, adding about two tablespoons of the peanut butter topping.

I piped the frosting onto the cakes using a plain round nozzle, adding a chocolate covered peanut as a finishing touch.

chocolate peanut butter cupcakes

All up I made 24 cupcakes. There we no leftovers.

Mountain bikers eating cupcakes - hard core!

Princess cupcakes (happy birthday Zoe!)

Chocolate cupcakes with pink butter cream frosting and sugar paste princess crowns and butterflies

We were invited to dinner at a friend's house a few days before her daughter's 4th birthday. For dessert I wanted to make something her litttle girl would like.

Cake and frosting:

I used my usual chocolate cupcake recipe and found this delicious butter cream frosting recipe. This is the first time I have used salt in my butter cream and it really enhanced the flavour. To make the pink I added just a few drops of natural pink food colouring.

Decoration:

I am still very much a beginner when it comes to fondants/sugar pastes. I used a pink pre-made paste. After softening the past by kneading it in my hands, I rolled it out (as evenly as possible).

To make the crowns I cut the rolled out paste into a long thin strip and used the edge of a star shaped cookie cutter to make the crown tips. I then rolled the strip onto a a small round (made from kitchen foil) to help hold the shape. I also added rainbow coloured soft sugar pearls to the tip of each crown point.After hardening in the fridge I removed the foil.

To make the butterflies I used a small and a large butterfly cookie cutter to cut the butterfly shapes out of the rolled paste. Using a thick folded piece of cardboard (covered in kitchen foil to stop the paste from sticking) I then placed the butterflies in the centre of the fold (so the wings are held up in shape). After hardening in the fridge I removed the cardboard and brushed a little edible glitter onto the wings. I drew the butterfly bodies on using chocolate writing icing.

For the large cupcakes (even though I used princess themed cupcake cases) I added a princess crown cupcake wrap for extra effect. The mini cupcakes are just in a pink case. I piped pink butter cream frosting onto each cake and added crowns/butterflies as required. I used pink and blue cachous and some pink butterfly sprinkles to finish them off.

Vanilla cream cakes (Happy birthday Liz, Ben and Alister!)

Vanilla cupcakes with whipped cream frosting

I wanted something simple, tasty and easy to transport to the combined birthday dinner for three friends. These cupcakes were quick to make and tasty without being too sweet, perfect for grown ups!

Making the cakes and frosting:

I used my usual vanilla cupcake recipe. I wanted to use whipped cream for the frosting, but was worried about it holding its shape so I used this recipe (with a little less sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract) which added gelatine to stabilise the cream. It worked perfectly, the cakes held their shape easily.

Decoration:

Keeping with the simple theme I piped a small amount of the stabilised whipped cream on all the cakes. I then decorated half of the cakes with these cute 'happy birthday' chocolates I found at Woolworth's:

The other half of the cakes are decorated with a slice of fresh strawberry.

Chocolate strawberry overload (happy (belated) birthday Tessa)

Chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting and a mound of strawberries!

I have been wanting to try this cake out since I saw Lorraine Pascal make on TV. Making a delicious birthday cake for my sister seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

Making the cake and frosting:

My mum assisted by making the cake base ahead of time (as I was arriving on an afternoon flight). She followed Lorraine's 'I can't believe you made that' cake recipe and it worked out perfectly!