Farm Party toppers tutorial

One of my customers loves these farm party toppers, and asked me to do a batch cupcakes with them on for her little angels. The kids were so happy!

Follow this picture tutorial to get your own farm party started!

Donkey

Cow

Sheep

Piggy

Voila! 

My Candid Journal: Tutorial of Halloween Cupcake Fondant - Rolo Pumpk...

My Candid Journal: Tutorial of Halloween Cupcake Fondant - Rolo Pumpk...: Let's get ready for this Halloween! I really had great fun creating this Halloween theme fondant for my cupcakes. I knew I want the...

My Candid Journal: Halloween Witch Broomstick fondant tutorial

My Candid Journal: Halloween Witch Broomstick fondant tutorial: This Halloween Witch Broomstick is made from the Chocolate Flute I found in my cupboard, Originally I was going to just use melt chocol...

Halloween Witch Broomstick fondant tutorial

This Halloween Witch Broomstick is made from the Chocolate Flute I found in my cupboard, Originally I was going to just use melt chocolate, but they are really fragile and looks... too plain and flat, so I thought this would be a good idea！

You will need :

• Brown and pink colour fondant CMC treated;
• two sizes rectangle cutters;
• leaf model tool;
• fondant wheel cutter;
• Chocolate Flute or biscuit sticks
• edible glue
• corn flour to dust

1. Cut your chocolate flute the size you want for your broomstick, I divide into 3 pieces with each flute

2. use the bigger rectangle cutter to cut the roll-out brown fondant, the fondant should be around 3mm

3. divide the rectangle shaped fondant evenly and roll-out with your rolling pin as thin as possible. Don't worry about the shape too much, you can trim off the excess later on

4.dust plenty of corn flour on each thin piece, then use the wheel cutter to run along the edge to get the strips, around 1cm long for the strips but no need to be accurate at all, since you really want the broom looks realistic

5. At the point, you can trim off the excess fondant at the non-strip side

6. Brush on some edible glue on the non-strip side, stick one end of the chocolate flute on, then slowly roll up

7. use the leaf model tool to press down along the edge so they stick together

8.use the smaller rectangle to cut out the pink fondant, then divide into two

9.cover around the edge to give a clean finish

10.leave to dry on the sponge pad to hold the shape

Enjoy! 

Tutorial of Halloween Cupcake Fondant - Rolo Pumpkin

Let's get ready for this Halloween!

I really had great fun creating this Halloween theme fondant for my cupcakes. I knew I want the pumpkin face and the whole witch staff, but I don't really fancy the whole set to be completely fondant   throughout, after all, it is suppose to be a treat for the kids, so I had a look in my cupboard and found a pack of rolos and box of orange chocolate flute, and that is where I got inspired...

How to make the Rolo Pumpkin face:

You will need:

• Orange, leaf green, light brown and dark brown fondant with CMC treated;
• rolling pin
• Rolos 
• leaf tool 
• tooth-stick
• sharp tip scissors

Let's get started:

1.take a ball of orange fondant, slightly bigger than the rolo;

2.roll out the fondant with rolling pin, try to thin the edge as much as you can;

3. fold the edge as you go around, and then press down with the leaf tool to close up

4. Use the leaf tool run along the side to show the curve 

5. Now move on to the stem. Roll out tiny cone shape with light brown fondant;

6. Cut a cross shape with the sharp scissors at the wide end;

7. Flat open the cross a bit with your finger

8. Use the green fondant to roll out a thin piece same size with the tooth-stick
9.Twist it round the tooth-stick to hold the shape, here is your leaf
10. Stick the leaf and stem on top of the pumpkin with edible glue
11. Glue on the scary face if you want , it looks pretty cute just as the pumpkin itself!

Enjoy! 

fondant daisy flower

I love daisy, they are such simple and elegant flowers. Either you choose to arrange your cake with assorted size of daisies or, top your cupcake with a giant one, they just look so cute!

Right, let's make this very simple daisy flower

 you will need:

•  pale blue and light yellow colour fondant with CMC treated
• large daisy fondant cutter
• rolling pin
• sieve
• corn flour 
• cupcake baking tray
• small brush
• edible highlight dust 
• CMC powder (mix tiny bit with 1 tsp water to make edible glue) 
• Flower leaf shape tool (sorry I forgot it in the pic, will be shown in the following pics)
• round shape cutter similiar size with the flower stamen 
• Foam for shaping the flower petal

Dust some corn flour on the work surface to avoid sticking;

Roll your pale blue fondant to around 3mm thick;

Cut out the daisy flower with the flower cutter, press down gently to achieve the vein imprints;

Carefully pick it up without tort the shape, and place it on a foam, use flower leaf shaping tool, gently press down along each petal to get a natural curl up

Dust your cupcake baking tray with corn flour before placing your flowers in it to dry out. 

Now move on to the stamen

Roll out the yellow fondant to around 7mm thick;

Use a round cutter which is the similar size with the stamen, I use a nozzle tip here, don't worry too much with the cut-out shape at this point, as it will lose some of the thickness later

Press the round dough shape against sieve. You can use the rolling pin to help you pushing down, the thick here is, you don't want to press too hard, so that you squeeze away too much fondant, ends up losing the height of the stamen. However, you need to firm enough to get the imprints from the sieve to achieve a mimic feel of the real daisy stamen.

Cut the shape again with the round cutter 

Dust it with edible highlight powder

Stick it onto the flower with edible glue made from CMC powder

Leave it dry overnight

   Enjoy!

Simply beautiful fondant butterflies

These fondant butterflies are so easy to make yet beautiful. They are gorgeous on cakes, cupcakes or even on top of a cake pop!

Just follow some simple steps...

You will need:

• CMC treated fondant (in various colours if you prefer)
• Rolling pin
• butterfly shape fondant cutter
• different shapes of piping tips (here I use wilton no.4 round tip and no.103 petal tip)
• foil folded in zigzag shape to hold the butterfly wings when drying out
• corn flour to dust the surface ( I forgot to add in the pic)

Roll your fondant out, around 3mm thickness

Dust some Corn flour underneath if it is too sticky

Cut out your butterflies with the cutter, do press down evenly to get the vein imprints

Use wilton no. 4 tip to carve some round shapes along the wing

then use no. 103 for some tear drop shape. 

To this point, you can use any shapes you want to create this hollow lace style

Dust some corn flour on the foil holder before you rest your butterfly on.

Position it well, so the wings are holding upwards

If you want to make it fancier, use a tooth stick to frill the side of the wing, rolling it along the wing

Be very gentle, it easily gets torn up

Here you get these colourful butterflies ready to deco your cakes!

My first Vintage cupcake creation!

I've got an email from the girls from Ladybug jewellery & handbags asking if I could donate some cakes for the coming Macmillan Cancer Support coffee morning, so I thought why not make something really special for the raffle prize. 

And here we go, my first vintage style cupcakes have born! 

And people loved it! Isn't that the best feeling, create something that makes other people happy!

Italian Buttercream & How To Frost

Italian Buttercream & How To Frost

Make Your Own Marshmallow Fondant

I didn't try the ready-to roll fondant before. And after trying making this fondant myself, I think I will never attempt to buy them.

It will make some mess, but it will all worth it. The fondant tastes nice, and has good level of elastic and pliable.

The recipe again is from Cake Journal.

Italian Meringue Buttercream frosting

I've never been a big fan as to the flavour of the buttercream frosting, it is much too heavy for me. However, the creamy, shiny effects combined with its stiff, easy-to-shape texture is perfect for creating the best looking cupcakes. So, I found the best alternative-- the Italian Meringue Buttercream.

The recipe I'm using is from Cake Journal. Although cooking sugar syrup is quite a delicate job, you will finally get there after few trials! Here is some tips I found very useful:

• Whisk to dissolve the sugar over low heat at beginning before boiling, to stop any sugar crystallize;
•  After boiling, do not whisk the sugar, and turn on the heat to medium high, keep it boiling at constant speed to  maintain the clear colour;
• Use a sugar thermometer is necessary, but it should normally take 5-7 minutes, and during this time, you can whisk your egg white.

Here is a video tutorial from YouTube on how to make IMBC which is step-by-step explaining the process, slightly different recipe, but same principle.

Let's get started

Right, let's start with the plain cupcakes! 

When I began with my research, I was really drowned in the 'ocean of cupcake recipes'! After days of scanning through hundreds of recipes, you do find the similarities among all. And that is where, I believe, the essence of making the best plain cupcakes lies in. 

A good plain cupcake should not just taste wonderful, more importantly the recipe must work for you. It must have the consistency to achieve the perfect size, perfect shape each time; it must have the adaptability to variable adding flavours; it must also work with the frosting.


So the recipe I' going to post here today is so far I know, perfectly works for me. It tastes wonderful on its own. I also find it very easy to add other flavours in. So far I made chocolate, coffee, banana, carrot and lemon flavours out of it, very little modification needed.


However, I will introduce two methods here as to achieve different textures and shapes

Plain Vanilla Cupcakes -- 12 

160g      Self- raising flour         

160g      Unsalted butter   (room temperature)         
160g      Caster Sugar          
2           medium size eggs
2 tbs      Soured Cream          
1tsb       vanilla extract
             pinch of salt


Method One:

• Preheat oven to 180 degree / fan oven 170 degree
• Cream butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until fluffy and the colour paled
• Beat eggs, salt and vanilla extract, and pour very slowly into the butter mixture while whisking with the hand mixer, it will turn more creamy
• Sift half of the flour on the mixure and add 1 tbs souredd cream, then fold the mixture gently, until well mixed. Then add the rest of sifted flour and soured cream, fold again.
• Put the batter into a piping bag, and pipe into 12 cup cases 3/4 full
• Place in the oven for around 20-25 mins ( do not open the oven door at least the first 15 mins). (Check if the cake is ready-- stick in a wooden skewer in the middle, if it takes out clean without flour dough stick to it, then the cake is ready)
• After taking out of the oven, cool the cupcakes on wire rack

This method will achieve a relatively flat top shape of the cakes. And the texture is more creamy and moist. I'd like to use the more light and fluffy textured topping, such as buttercream or meringue frosting.




Method Two:

• Preheat oven to 180 degree / fan oven 170 degree
• Melt butter, then well combine with soured cream
• Cream sugar, egg, vanilla extract and salt together with a hand mixer until creamy, not for too long as it will create too many air bubbles
• Pour butter mixture into the sugar mixture, combine well
• Sift half of flour in, fold well; then the rest, fold again
• Put the batter into a piping bag, and pipe into 12 cup cases 3/4 full
• Place in the oven for around 20-25 mins ( do not open the oven door at least the first 15 mins). (Check if the cake is ready-- stick in a wooden skewer in the middle, if it takes out clean without flour dough stick to it, then the cake is ready)
• After taking out of the oven, cool the cupcakes on wire rack

This method will achieve a nice dome shape. The texture is more fluffy and airy. Some people may find it a bit too dry. I personally think, it will work well with banana flavour, since people often add fresh banana purée, and that might be too heavy with the first method. And because of the shape, it will be perfect for the pour fondant topping.

On my way to sweet world...

I've been wondering around for too long, not knowing what I really wanted to do or to be. Well, not any more. I have found my great passion in cupcakes and sugar craft. I believe that was my version of 'love at first sight'. I cannot wait another second to head on my way to this wonderful sweet world...