Please Cupcakes

Fat elvis cupcakes (aka heart attacks)

2013-09-06T17:26:00.002+02:00

Wow, is all I can say…

No wait, these cupcakes actually have an interesting tale. It was my birthday on the 20 July (happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me…) lame, I know. And my dear friend ordered cupcakes. I thought ugh, really? You gonna make me work on my birthday? But I also had a wedding order for the weekend so I thought what the hell!

She loves banana, so I tempted her into the Fat Elvis regime. Elvis Presley had a sweet disposition for peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwiches, mmm maybe that’s why he succumbed to a heart attack? Who knows? Anyway I did some research and found these delicious fat Elvis cupcakes (I nicknamed them heart attacks). They are wickedly sweet, with a salty crisp, a boost from the banana and has a delicate creamy nuttiness.

So I made these cupcakes hurriedly, and off we sped to my friend, as my parents still wanted to do lunch…and low and behold, these cupcakes were actually part of my surprise party! Ha, I made my own birthday cupcakes, awesome. So putting my feet up, and enjoying these nutty puppies, I had a lovely birthday, filled with great friends!

Thanks all!

Crème brûlée mmmm!

2013-09-06T17:14:00.001+02:00

Oh boy an old favourite. One friend,who is a crème brulee freak fan, seriously want e me to make a cupcakes. But I am not a fan, its just to milky and the consistency of crème brulee is just so wrong. A challenges has never scared me before, so I took the cow by the udders (not literally) and made this creamy, milky cupcake. All in all it tasted really nice…mmmm and everyone loved it!

Spot the dots!

2013-09-06T16:33:00.001+02:00

I have been gone for a loooooong time fellow bloggers. Well the cupcakes never stopped, which is seriously good, if you ask me! Life has been hectic, up’s. down’s and everything in between, new job, new house, new everything…but I returned with these pretty little ones.

These spot the dots are just fabulous red velvetines,with a lekker squashy marshmallow inside. The frosting was flavoured, yellow – lemon, pink – cherry and purple – bubblegum. Mmmmm I made these for a friends sisters little girl. She celebrated her first year on earth, with a big smile and delicious cupcakes in her hand! There was a gigantic cupcake for little Izzy and many small ones for the other youngsters to enjoy!

Enjoy the pics, and remember life to short, lick the bowl!

Stripedy, toppedy, red and blue!

2013-05-08T11:53:00.002+02:00

" The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the house all that cold,

cold wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat here we two and we said How we wish

we had something to do. "

Dr Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

I saw these little delights in http://thedomesticrebel.com/2012/02/27/cat-in-the-hat-cupcakes/ and new I had to make them. I could not wait, and a friend’s hubby’s bday came up, and guess what. They are crazy about Dr Seuss!!! Jipeeeee! Marshmellows, oreo’s, lots of white chocolate and candy strips filled my shopping list. I could not wait. I must say, the white chocolate was on its worst behavior that night. But in the end I think I did pretty good. And yes, a red velvet cupcake, topped with blue cream cheese frosting, was just what the good old dr. ordered! Yummy!

Space odyssey...let’s take flight!

2013-05-08T11:43:00.000+02:00

Babies surly are my third favourite thing in the world, at this point. Next to number two, my animals, and number one, CUPCAKES!

So getting the opportunity to make baby shower cupcakes for a little man, coming into the world soon, was a great opportunity. My mind took flight, wondering what to make. I saw these cute stars on twirled wire. I loved it, so I knew I had to make them. Space rockets were also in the queue (his room would be space inspired). And lots of blue...and silver. Oh boy was painting the fondant silver fun. My fingers were covered, my kitchen a silver explosion. It looked like some or other fairy with silver dust got loose in there. I baked perfect vanilla cupcakes, decorating them with all my fondant goodies I made. Delivered them in their bountiful boxes and one pregnant mommy to be was very happy :-)

Monkey trouble

2013-03-28T08:15:00.001+02:00

So March has been a busy month, requests left, right and center. And me, I really enjoy cupcakes, more then cakes, but a friend of a friends little boy turned 1. I know first birthdays are a big deal. Firstly I said lets do banana cupcakes, with monkey faces on top. And then I saw this super cute monkey cake. I showed it to the friend and she was sold. Oopsie, so there I was, freaking out completely, I have to make a monkey cake!!!

So going bananas and making bananas, which I must say was so much fun. I made peeled ones, upside down ones, closed ones and a bunch of bananas. The baking started, 4 cakes down I thought ok, now for the decorating. Chocolate and caramel frosting, green leaves, glitter, bananas, smiles, eyes... all checked.

The result, perfect! A monkey for a little monkey!

Bright-eyed & busy-tailed!

2013-03-27T16:29:00.001+02:00

Oh how I love colours. The rainbow is close to my heart. I could full my life with colours all day long. So you can imagine how excited I was, when a colourful kitchen tea came along and asked for ice cream cone cupcakes in bright, bold and beautiful colours, The order of the day, green, blue, purple and pink!

Then I thought, OMG, how am I gonna pull this off? These colours are extremely bright, bold and beautiful. So I got the baking book out, made some baking sums, bought some covering paper and beautiful flowing ribbons. All in all separating the colours into pairs of blue & pink and green & purple, worked perfectly. These were such a delight. Stuffed with mini coloured marshmallows in the middle, these were a real hit.

Two Oceans Aquarium Wedding!

2013-03-27T16:25:00.001+02:00

A colleague of mine tied the knot on 16 March 2013, and asked me to make her wedding cake and cupcakes. Oh boy, was I excited, and a themed wedding with that to. Finally my skills can be put to the test.

Lene and Gareth decided to do everything a bit different, and the venue WOW! Their reception was held in front of the big shark tank. Lene being the animal, critter and creature lover that she is, I accepted nothing else.

We uhmed and aahed about what to make? We deiced on a whole sea/beach experience. The first set of cupcakes would be water and shark fins, then starfish on half sea, half beach. The last set would be a the beach with flip flips and a cocktail umbrella. Wow I had my worked cut out for me.

The cake would be in the ever popular ombre style, even the inside matched the outside. It was amazing how this style reflected the water beautifully. She also asked for penguin cake toppers. I was nervous, stressed and thought you’re in over your head. But knew in the end the masterpiece would come together.

She looked beautiful in a fishtail dress, everything so well thought through. Congratulations Lene and Gareth, may you share many more wonderful years together. And thank you for this amazing opportunity...

http://www.aquarium.co.za/

Get up & go...

2013-03-27T16:02:00.001+02:00

I have attempted the coffee cupcake before, and failed miserably. Yes I had to throw a whole batch away :-( So one day returning from work, I smell a lovely cupcake, coffee smell coming from the house. Surprise, the love of my life made cupcakes! And damn good ones to, delicious coffee chocolate cupcakes. I helped a bit with the decoration in the end, but all in all, they came out perfect, and oh so good!

Email signature!

2013-03-11T09:50:00.001+02:00

Ice cream cupcake hearts! Feel like a kid again...

2013-02-28T07:17:00.001+02:00

Valentines day has come and gone. February the month filled with love, gifts and cupcakes has always been my favourite. This year I thought to myself, why not try something different. So I trolled the isles and the baking shop, looking for ideas, the world wide web also lent some inspiration, naturally. Now, cupcakes is, and always will be the number one in my life, but there is another love in my life, ice cream. Be it 3 o’clock in the morning, temperatures below freezing, soaring heats and sandy beach filled days, ice cream it is.

The cogs starting turning, the batter got stirred, the hearts made, the sprinkles sprinkled. And tada, these little beauties appeared.t Ice cream cupcakes! Now they are not made outa of ice cream, I still need to figure that one out? But a delightful red velvet cupcake, baked in colourful cones, 100’s and 1000’s sprinkled like a kid and beautiful little hearts, made these cupcakes the cherry on top.

The most daunting thing was to bake this cupcake in a cone. I was very nervous, never attempting this feat before. Reading endless other blogs on: how to make them stand while baking? how much to fill them? How long to bake them? And the last, most daunting question, transporting them. But all in all, they took about 5-10 min extra on my normal red velvet cupcake recipe, the stood fine in the oven and filling them about ¾ of the cone was perfect! The only problematic thing, transporting. So the problem was solved by just taking an old shoe box, tip it over, cover it with beautiful paper and then cut holes at the bottom, to place you beautiful cupcakes in!

So bakers, be brave, love your kitchen and most of all, keep being creative.

LIFE IS CUPCAKES!

Some inspirational posters for today

2012-12-06T08:01:00.001+02:00

Champagne cupcake recipe time!

2012-11-05T07:03:00.000+02:00

STRAWBERRY CHAMPAGNE

Candied Strawberries:

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 500g strawberries, hulled

Champagne Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 125g unsalted butter

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3 egg whites

• 1 cup rose Champagne

Strawberry Filling:

• Leftover simple syrup from candied strawberries

• About 1/2 cup rose champagne

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

• 500g strawberries, hulled

Champagne Buttercream:

• 250g butter, room temperature

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• Pinch of salt

• 1/4 cup rose champagne

Make the candied strawberries:

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring sugar and 1/2 cup water to boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool completely. Preheat oven to 90 degrees C. Slice strawberries lengthwise as thinly as possible. Dip slices in cooled syrup; place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Reserve syrup. Bake until dry but still bright red, about 3 hours. Immediately transfer chips to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bake the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 176 degrees C. Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat in egg whites one at a time. Beat in flour mixture and champagne in three alternating additions, starting and ending with dry mixture. Pour batter into tins and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Make the strawberry filling:

Take the remaining simple syrup and pour it into a measuring cup. Add enough champagne to get to 1 cup (you’ll need about 1/2 cup). Pour mixture back into the pan and cook over medium-high heat until the mixture is reduced by about half. Whisk in cornstarch and allow the mixture to thicken. Pour into food processor bowl and allow to cool. Add strawberries and pulse until combined.

Make the champagne buttercream frosting:

Beat butter in bowl of stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla, salt, and champagne; beat until frosting is creamy.

Assemble the cupcakes:

Using a small paring knife, cut a small cone from the top of each cupcake. Fill with a heaping teaspoon of filling. Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake, swirling decoratively. Finish them off with a couple of candied strawberry chips, and serve.

Makes 18 cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE CHAMPAGNE

Champagne Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 125g unsalted butter

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3 egg whites

• 1 cup fruity white Champagne

•

Chocolate Filling:

• Lindt chocolate ball

• Lindt chocolate squares

Champagne Buttercream:

• 250g butter, room temperature

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• Pinch of salt

• 1/4 cup fruity white champagne

Bake the cupcakes:

Make the champagne buttercream frosting:

Beat butter in bowl of stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla, salt, and champagne; beat until frosting is creamy.

Assemble the cupcakes:

Using a small paring knife, cut a small cone from the top of each cupcake. Fill with a Lindt ball. Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake, swirling decoratively. Finish them off with chocolate squares, and serve.

Makes 18 cupcakes.

These are really the best cupcakes i have tasted in a long time. Give them a go.

Recipes adapted from http://www.20somethingcupcakes.com/2012/02/strawberries-and-champagne-cupcakes/

Death by chocolate flop?

2012-11-01T07:34:00.000+02:00

Being over worked and very tired, getting home a bit late and realizing I still have to bake about 24 cupcakes, my body kicked into over drive mode. It was almost as if my body was just moving, but my mind was already asleep. So it was a friends last day at work and she wanted something chocolate, she loves chocolate, so the baking cogs starting turning and my mind went on a whirl wind of ideas.

Naturally I make a killer chocolate icing, so that has to top this cupcake, and in the middle a creamy chocolate filled ball, and little chocolate chips inside this beauty and I thought, bob’s you’re uncle. But being so tired I totally forgot to add baking soda to a very trusted chocolate cupcake recipe. And to top it off I added twice the amount of baking powder. And as I put these beauties in the oven I realize this crucial fact. Oh boy now I start stressing, thinking my word am I going to stand here the whole night? Now I have to remake and re-bake more cupcakes. So I pour myself a glass of wine and wait for 20 minutes to be over.

With bated breath I pull them out of the oven, they look perfect, almost oozing chocolaty goodness. This being form the chocolate chips in the batter which created little pockets of chocolate. I let them cool, and immediately try one...surprise surprise, they are thick, moist and crunchy on the outside. My word it tasted like a love affair between a cupcake and a chocolate brownie! YES it’s a brownie cupcake, pure perfection, from what was supposed to be a complete flop...

Champagne celebrations!

2012-10-26T13:19:00.001+02:00

It’s been a while cupcake lovers! Things have been hectically busy, with Christmas looming around the corner...eeek! So much planning to do, so little time. And not to speak of all the red velvet I have been making. Please can this fad pass, I have red velvet coming outa my ears!

Well I have been dying to make champagne cupcakes for ions and finally got the opportunity to try. I found a lovely recipe and all I can say these are indeed scrumptious, bubbly filled cupcakes that are worth a try. I opted for white and pink champagne, going into a strawberry filled cupcake and a chocolate stuffed vanilla cupcake. The recipe calls for lots’ champagne so get your bottles ready, and I found it said you will have one glass left after all the cooking is done...mmm I had a few more, hiccup! I tried to make a strawberry chip for the top of my one cupcake, but it takes 3 hours in the oven to dry ;-(. And I had a lot of champagne and was feeling incredibly sleepy twelve o'clock at night. So mine was slightly floppy and very sticky, but still nice ;-)

Remember to always borrow a bit here, create a new cupcake and love what you do! Recipes to follow soon!

The cookie madness continues...

2012-08-20T09:24:00.001+02:00

Crazy crazy times, work is so hectic that I have little to no time to get ito the kitchen and bake :-( But I prevailed and with a tired body, I ventured into my kitchen and set the baking fires alight.

It seems that the cookie monster has taken over my life. Oh boy…he is every where I go, on tv, on radio, in the office! Eeeeekkk, so I decided it is high time I created a cupcake for the cookie monster. My friends daughters birthday is coming up soon, so these blue gems where a perfect idea. And ideally her daughter is also obsessed with the cookie monster. BONUS!

So I baked yummy choc chip cookies, made electric blue icing, got some chocolate disks and made these adorable looking cookie monsters! Everyone enjoy!

Marshmallow mumbles

2012-07-26T08:32:00.000+02:00

Work work work has been so busy, so blogging has been left behind :-( but I'm back again and with these lovely little babies…so appropriate for a baby shower. A dear friend contacted me asked she wanted chocolate and pink, and whala, marshmallow mumbles appeared. These delectable treat is one of my trusted chocolate cupcakes recipes, stuffed in the middle with a soft and squishy marshmallow, and topped it off with lovely marshmallow flavoured meringue icing. I added a lovely pink daisy and a few pink crystals…yes it is for a beautiful little baby girl!

I made a nice pink icing as well a lighter pink icing, I actually ate a lot of icing…mmm meringue is my favourite icing in the world.

C is for cookie...2!

2012-06-15T11:23:00.000+02:00

So the cookie addiction has not ended! These cupcakes, where also to die for. And the chocolate chip cookie recipe, well lets just day I have been making cookies almost every night this week. Tiny little mini goodness that are oh so crispy, crunchy and chocolaty all at the same time. And the cookie dough frosting, fists will fly when you whip out this batch! So the recipe will follow next week meanwhile, feel free to drool over the photos so long, and as usual there is always a surprise inside this little gem :-)

Sticky Chocolate Brownies

2012-06-08T15:47:00.002+02:00

Yummy is all I can say about the recipe that follows. I am actually as you all know a cupcake makers, but I believe I’m not to shabby in other areas in the kitchen. These brownies are very renowned in my circle of friends, so I decided to share them with you all.

The only warning I give with these brownies...is that you must love chocolate, and lots of it, and butter, sugar.

8 big brownies/ 12-15 smaller brownies

170g butter

280g castor sugar

200g brown sugar

125g plain chocolate

125g dark chocolate

2tbsp golden syrup

4 eggs

2tsp vanilla extract

200g flour

2tbsp cocoa powder

1tsp baking powder

250g pecan nuts (chopped)

pinch of salt

Pre heat oven to 180 °C.

Place butter and both chocolates in pan and melt.

Slowly add sugars and the syrup until the mixture become s smooth.

Remove form heat and allow to cool.

Beat eggs and vanilla together.

Whisk into cooled chocolate, sugar and butter mixture.

Sift flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder.

Fold carefully into the chocolate, sugar, butter, egg and vanilla mixture.

Fold the pecan nuts into the mixtures

Spoon mixture into a lined/greased pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is crispy and the edges start to shrink away from the sides.

The inside of the cake will be soft and gooey and soft to touch.

Place extra chopped pecan nuts on top of the brownies.

Leave the brownies to cool completely. Cut into squares.

Dreamy Oreo Cupcakes

2012-06-08T15:07:00.002+02:00

Cupcakes (12-15 medium sized)

Ingredients:

1 cup buttercream

½ cup cocoa

1 ½ cup flour

1tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

125 g butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate chips

12-15 oreo cookies

pinch of salt

Pre heat oven to 180 °C.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy in a separate bowl.

Add vanilla extract and eggs (one at a time) mixing well after each addition.

Add the flour mixture slowly.

Beat on medium until the batter appears light and fluffy.

Fold in dark chocolate chips.

Place a oreo cookie at the bottom of each cupcake liner.

Scoop mixture into cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Check with a toothpick/stick at 18 minutes. If it comes out clean, remove cupcakes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

250g cream cheese

125 g white butter

2 cups icing sugar (sifted)

8-12 oreo cookies

In a food processor, puree strawberries.

Beat the salt, butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

Slowly add icing sugar.

Beat until well combined.

Crush the oreo cookies, fold into the cream cheese icing.

Decorations:

12-15 mini oreo cookies

oreo cookies

Place each small oreo cookies ontop of cupcakes. If you can’t find mini one’s just cut large ones in half and place them ontop.

C is for cookie...

2012-06-08T14:30:00.001+02:00

For a while I have just been filling my cupcakes with exciting surprises. Mmm these were definitely a hit, but I wanted to move on, go on another adventure. And I thought to myself, cookies have always been the second love in my eating world...hehehe! And who can forget the cookie monster...nom nom nom! And the there are sooooo many different cookies out there, chocolate chip, strawberry creams, wafers...the list goes on and on.

Anyway so the cookie cupcake fad has started. And to kick it off, the most delicious, creamiest, dreamiest, always enjoyed with a glass of milk cookies I can think of, OREOS! My word, I think the only way to describe these cupcakes are: orgasmic! (Someone actually said that...hehehe!) I have made numerous cupcakes and these are really standing out for me at this point. And to play with a different food type that you wouldn’t expect in a cupcake was great. That why I always say: have some fun, create, make, bake! So keep to those words, and get baking in those kitchens of yours.

Kid cupcakes #1

2012-06-01T08:32:00.000+02:00

One of my friends gave me the opportunity to make some interesting kiddy cupcakes for her son. He was turning six. I was so excited, never have I even attempted kiddy cupcakes, so I put my creative 6 year old cap on and away I went into the kitchen.

And here is the end result, beautiful piggy’s and froggies. I had so much fun, playing with different sweets and biscuits. I just made a plain chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, with yummy frosting on top and all the extra little goodies. And oh don’t forget the all important glitter J

All I can say is again have some fun, let your imagination run wild and get back into that sandpit, on those monkey bars and never forget that there is a 6 year old in all of us.

Coffee addictions...

2012-05-14T16:20:00.001+02:00

I am one of those people who really love a good cup of coffee. So I thought to myself, why not add it to the other thing I love so much...cupcakes!!! So I plotted and planned, brewed some coffee, added here and there and had a major disaster as well.

I tried this awesome new recipe, and low and behold it failed two times in a row. I was devastated, never have I failed at this cupcake making adventure. So I said to myself, never give up and tried once again. Third time was a charm, I used a different recipe that called for sugar instead of castor sugar and I also used another batch of eggs. With these two factors corrected, my cupcakes looked and smelled perfect! I was so excited to taste these delicious cupcakes. I added a filling of caramel and chocolate bits...mmmm...this was the cherry in top...hehehe!

Topped with delicious coffee frosting and a dollop of fresh cream, these coffee chocolate cupcakes were to die for. Blue mountain peaks is definitely a full bodied, mouth watering and after dinner snack.

Cupcake inspiration for the week...

2012-05-08T17:12:00.001+02:00

Double treat!

2012-05-04T10:46:00.001+02:00

Its been hectically busy here in cupcake land... been working like a dag, having little time to bake (sad face) so I decided to treat my nagging mother (love her to bits). YES she has been saying: “When are we going to taste your cupcakes? When is it our turn? PLEASE make us some of your delicious cupcakes!”A double whammy was in order, so I started baking away hectically on which was suppose to be a public holiday.

Firstly I made my mothers favourite cake, and I think everybody else’s favourite in the world Red velvet. I put a little surprise for her inside, a rose Turkish delight. What a nice combination, the red velvet taste, with the cream cheese icing and then this little sweet rose flavoured treat in the middle! Mmm we devoured them all!

Then my obsession at the moment is elephants of coarse, and then the thought of amarula cream popped into my head. So I headed to the local store, grabbed some amarula and started the baking craze. And yes the little treat in the middle was this amazing amarula chocolate I found in the store, its so creamy and chocolaty. WOW... and the icing, infused with amarula, tasted delicious, I think I ate more of the icing then anything else.