Cupcake Taste Off - Frosting vrs Buttercream

cupcakes boxed up ready for a helpful taste tester

Sometimes I sit around wondering about cupcakes.

Is that normal, I'm not sure, but still I wonder. Do people prefer frosting or buttercream, chocolate or vanilla, pink or purple?

Hmmmmm........ there's really only one way to know for sure - a cupcake taste off.

So yesterday I baked up a batch of cupcakes, iced them and today have been handing them out to some very helpful testers.

Buttercream vrs Frosting

Now all the hard work is up to the testers. It's not all just eating delicious cupcakes. These dedicated testers have to try both types and then let me know which they prefer.

Italian Meringue Buttercream - Vanilla on Vanilla

Italian Meringue Buttercream vrs Old Fashioned Frosting.

Old Fashioned Frosting - Vanilla on Vanilla

I'm looking forward to hearing the results from my team of testers. Stay tuned I'll let you know the result.

M (mmmmm) is for macaroon - Rose Macaron

When I was young I used to love those really sweet Macarons made with coconut and lots of sugar.

These French Macarons are like a grown up more sophisticated version, both in looks and in the preparation. No quick one bowl mixing here.

They are melt in the mouth delicious with a crisp outside, soft center and delicious smooth creamy filling.

I have made french style macarons a few times before with excellent results using this recipe which I believe is originally based on a Pierre Herme recipe.

Recipe requires a stand mixer (Kitchen Aid type mixer), a candy thermometer, food processor, piping bags and a bit of planning and patience.


Rose Macarons

Ingredients
300g (10  5/8 ounce) ground almonds
300g (10  5/8 ounce) Icing (confectioners) Sugar
220g Egg Whites, (7 3/4ounce) aged at least 3 days, separated into 2 lots of 110g (3 7/8 ounce)
5g / dash  Red/Pink Food Colouring - (I used Gel food colour but you are supposed to use powdered)
300g (10  5/8 ounce) Granulated Sugar
75g (2 5/8 ounce) Water
a little crushed crystallised rose (optional for decoration)
1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add colour and 110g (3 7/8ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

Icing sugar and almond meal processed and sieved

2. Place remaining 110g (3 7/8 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118C. Brush down the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water as required to avoid the sugar crystallizing. Once the mixture reaches 115C start mixing the egg whites on high. Once the sugar syrup reaches 118C remove from heat and immediately pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on high.

Meringue cooled and ready to mix into almond meal mixture

3. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C.
4. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms a ribbon that stays visible for about 30 seconds.

5. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one. If you like you can sprinkle a little crushed crystallised rose onto the top of half of the macarons for decoration but its not essential.

Macarons piped and resting before baking (note these are a little too puffy)

6. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin that doesn't stick to your finger.

7. Meanwhile preheat oven to 140C (285 F). Once ready bake the macaroons for around 13 to 15 minutes depending on size, they should not be browned. Remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

Macarons baked and cooling on the bench still on parchment paper

8. Once cooled match disks into like sizes and sandwich together using the rose ganache.

Rose White Chocolate Ganache

100ml cream
200 gm (7 ounces) white chocolate
3 tsp rose water
pink food colouring - I used Wilton gel colours

Bring cream to boil, pour over finely chopped white chocolate and stand 5 mins. Stir until all chocolate has melted and mixture is glossy mix in rosewater and food colour. Chill approx 45 mins and use as required.

Mothers Day idea - Old Fashioned Rose Cordial

Rose would have to be one of my all time favourite flavours.

This is a lovely old fashioned recipe I have had for years to make a rose cordial which can be mixed with water, sparkling mineral water or lemonade (US readers insert 7up or other clear soda type drink here).

Just perfect for a Mother's Day afternoon tea refresher. Or if you have young kids it makes a lovely 'Rosey Tea' just right for a Wiggles inspired Dorothy tea party.


Rose 'Cordial' Recipe

Take 4 pesticide free red roses (roses from your garden which have not been sprayed are suitable) and remove the petals. Try to use fragrant roses. One of my roses was apricot not red, but try to use as many red as possible as this makes the best coloured syrup.


My roses made approx 3 loosely packed cups. Carefully wash petals and add to a small saucepan with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar.


Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to steep for 20 minutes until cool.



Strain through a fine sieve and then mix in 1 tablespoon (US 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp) of rosewater. Rosewater available through deli's or specialty food stores.



When ready to use add to 2 litres of water, sparkling mineral water or lemonade (clear soda) or to taste.

This drink looks pretty served in a jug with ice cubes that have been frozen with petals, small edible flowers or berries.

We Heart Cookie Pops

It's official I ♥ cookie pops.

What's not to love about these super sweet pops.

Once again I took some basic sugar cookie recipe and cut out the shape I wanted. I didn't have a heart cutter large enough so I made a template out of some cardboard just drawing a freehand heart the size I wanted.

Insert the stick before cooking (these are specialty sticks I purchased at a kitchen supply store), bake and wait until cool.


These ones were covered in Marshmallow Fondant, which I rolled out with a rolling pin and then cut using the same Heart Template as the cookies. I stuck my fondant to the cookies using a tiny bit of water.

I mixed up my royal icing a little wet to pipe the way I intended. So with these it's just an outline and then I popped on some of that Donna Hay cake bling (the little coloured balls).

OK now the bit I'm not the best with - the writing. I used an edible writing pen to write my cute phrases with. These are available from cake decorating specialty stores.

I have a set of Wilton letters which you press in to make an impression. Next time I would use them and then ink over the impressions which I think would look way more authentic (and neater)


Then I made simple ribbon roses out of the marshmallow fondant and some matching leaves and adhered them with royal icing. Finally I finished off with a ribbon.

I really need one that says I'M SWEET don't you think?



Once again all the lovely photos with the kids are from the lovely Terri Vandermeer Photography and the gorgeous outfit at the top of the page is from http://www.latoriana.com.au/

Monogram cakes

Cute little monogram cakes for a couple of cute girls.


These cakes were inspired by the Cameo cakes I made. As gorgeous as they were, they were not suitable for everyday eating. Just a bit too much fondant.

.....and I do need to eat cake everyday, so this is something I can easily manage.



These cakes are ovals cut from a large slab of Whimsical Bakehouse chocolate cake.

Cover the cakes with a thin layer of Italian Butter cream as a crumb coat and refrigerate until firm. Cover with a second layer ensuring that it is as smooth as possible. An offset spatula is good to use.

Cut out a fondant oval and place on the cake.

Decorate with royal icing. Now if I am decorating something small like this I don't want to mix up a big batch of icing. So I use the powdered premix and just mix up a small quantity, you just mix it with water - so easy! You can pick it up from cake decorating supply shops and sometimes my local spotlight has it in stock.

Pop into a piping bag and decorate with small dots around the fondant oval and write the name onto the oval (eeek how awful is that writing - must practice more)

Finally I used a little Donna Hay cake bling (white dots) around the edge and finished with a black satin ribbon.


There you have it cute monogram cakes just the right size to share.

Cookies and Cream cheesecakes from Martha Stewart Cupcakes

I promised to share my triumphs and disasters here and although not quite a disaster this one has been a bit of a lesson in paying better attention to the recipe.

Ok first mistake, not writing a shopping list resulting in me buying cream instead of sour cream. Come on, the recipe is for cookies and cream it's an easy mistake to make. I decided to risk using the cream rather than return to the shop and the result was good, although I think that the original sour cream recipe would be less sweet and have a firmer texture.

Mistake number 2. Fill the cakes almost to the top the recipe states. I make a lot of cupcakes. Cupcakes need room to rise so you only fill them about 1/2 to 3/4 full. I got a bit confused.

Cheesecake cupcake reality - they do not rise - so listen to the recipe and fill them nearly to the top.

So what was the verdict with these cheesecake cupcakes...........

Yum - and yum again. Would make them again for sure making sure next time I followed the recipe a little better.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcake cake book

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes
makes 30

Ingredients
42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies such as Oreos or Delta Cream. 30 whole and 12 coarsely chopped.
910 g (2 pounds) cream cheese room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs room temperature lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to C (275 F). Line standard muffin tins with cupcake papers. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each liner.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. Beat in sour cream and salt. Fold in chopped cookies by hand gently.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups filling each almost to the top. Bake until filling is set, approx 22 mins. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate in tins at least 4 hours (or overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

I've gone Cameo Crazy - April decorated cake

I've gone Cameo crazy.

All of a sudden it seems everywhere I look there are cute cameo things just begging me to take them or make them and I can't resist.

For Christmas I got myself the gorgeous Peggy Porschen's Cake Chic "stylish cookies and cakes for all occasions" with instructions on these amazing cakes (well hers are a little bit more polished than mine). I got myself the cameo moulds required and yesterday made the cakes and covered them with fondant.

......then today I was having a quick shop at Appletree Grove in Springwood and I came across Robert Gordon's cameo spoon set. Serendipitous shopping or what.

It was a no brainer, those spoons were mine. Although I do feel a bit sorry for the set of bluebird spoons I left behind, those poor little birdies looked like they needed a nice warm home.

Anyway back to the cakes, I am trying to make at least one decorated cake a month whether I need to or not to improve my skills.

This is Whimsical Bakehouse chocolate cake recipe baked in a 30cm X 22cm rectangle tin then cut with oval cutters to make the necessary shapes.

The cutter in this pic is round. just pretend its an oval one for this tutorial

Cover the ovals in buttercream, then rolled fondant (can you believe it I made my own from scratch it actually tastes really good) and then decorate with a black oval and the cameo which is made with a mould and gumpaste.


Now I had trouble finding the moulds in Australia so I had them sent from England from the following site http://www.design-a-cake.co.uk/


Finally a bit of royal icing, some Donna Hay cake bling and a black ribbon.

Viola cameo cakes, just the thing for your next afternoon tea.

Now I just need an excuse to get those darn cute bluebird spoons.