Sugar Roses

 

 I made a sugar rose for the top of a cupcake after seeing a excellent new way of making them, goodbye cutters and ball tools!

I think the best way for me to explain how you make these is to show you a video of the excellent Mitch Turner from the Little Venice Cake Company Making them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fczCtymCSc

These can then be used as cupcake toppers or as an spray for a larger cake.

Happy Flower making!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Mini Flower Topper

Been baking lots of lovely things lately but haven't had a chance to put anything up, been so busy with revision...fun times!

SO this afternoon I decided to make some yummy chocolate cupcakes for my friends tomorrow for after the maths exam.

if you fancy having a go at these deliciously rich chocolate cupcakes then here's the recipe:

(makes 12)

6oz un-salted butter

6oz caster sugar

3 eggs

6oz self-raising flour

1oz coco powder

Pre-heat your oven to Gas5 / 190oc and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, mixing after each.

  Sift in the flour and coco powder and fold in.

Spoon evenly into muffin cases and bake for 15mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Butter Cream:

8oz icing sugar

1oz coco powder

4oz un-salted butter

using a hand electric whisk, whisk the butter until pale, add in the icing sugar and coco powder in spoonfuls, whisking in between each spoonful. Pipe onto cupcakes once they've cooled.

Flower Topper:

Fondant icing

2-4cm Flower cutter

Egg Cup

Roll out the fondant icing until thin, cut out 12 flowers. Place each flower in the bottom of an egg cup and use the end of a clean paint brush to push a dimple in the middle of the flower. Tip out onto grease proof paper. Once dried add onto cupcakes.

Sugar Flowers

After being asked to make a small arrangement for a family friend I began thinking about how flowers play a big part in cake decorating, and how there are such a variety of flower shapes, moulds and cutters to choose from.

My favourite flower to make is a Lilly. By using a veined cutter and the moulding them before they have set you can create very realistic petals. I then used a light pink dust through the middle of the petal and wired pink ribbon loops to carry the theme through.

The best way to cover up wire in a sugar arrangement is to use green florist tape (preferably a narrow one) to group all the wire together.

You can also add in curled wire, in this case I have used a darker pink, as well as two different coloured leaves to break up the 'pinkness' and create a more stand out arrangement. 

Although some flowers need slightly more effort they can really make a cake stand out so go out and play around with you favourite flowers and see what you can create!