New Giant Cupcake!

I know these aren’t new to the market as such, but I have never made them before. I was never sure that it was worth investing in the tin, but seeing as I have taken a few recent orders for them, I decided I may as well buy the tin!

So this was my first giant cupcake, made for a 21st birthday this weekend.

The sponge was a chocolate chip cake – I used an American recipe, which was possibly a bit sweeter than standard English recipes, but hopefully yummy nonetheless.

They requested pink roses, so here they are with tiny blossoms dotted amongst them on palest pink vanilla frosting.

And here is the specially made giant cupcake box. It’s very enticing to look through the windows!

And below are the cupcakes made to go with it. Brown cases to look like the base of the cake, pale pink vanilla frosting and more roses.

And finally a look at my new gift packaging for cupcakes with a cellophane window on top so you can easily see the contents.

 Hope you like!

Glittery Wedding Cupcakes

Summer Celebration Cupcakes

Second time lucky hopefully – I’ve been and taken some more photos of the cakes, so I hope these will show up the glitter better. 

Pink Glitter Vanilla Cupcake

 These would look pretty for a wedding or any celebration. 

Green Glitter Vanilla Cupcakes

 I have an order for these for a teenage girl’s birthday this week – I’m sure any girl would be delighted with them! 

Yellow Glitter Vanilla Cupcake

 The cupcake wrappers are an optional extra. They are quite pricey, but really add to the overall effect. As with any extra decorations, you can keep the costs down by just using them on some of the cupcakes, for instance have a third to half the order with wrappers and roses and the rest in plain white cases with little blossom flowers. They would be equally pretty. 

Blue Glitter Vanilla Cupcakes

Wedding Cupcakes at Just Desserts Event, Cambridge

I spent all day baking on Friday, until at least 9.30pm. On Saturday I got up at the crack of dawn to decorate and individually bag all the cupcakes. They were tied with my pink and white ribbon and had cards with photos of all my different cakes attached. It was incredibly time-consuming, but it was worth it in the end. We loaded up the car and set off to Cambridge at 8.30am. I was really pleased to find I had been given a very good spot. I piled up the bagged cupcakes on my 7 bier wedding stand and everyone said they looked amazing! Unfortunately the photos we took are not really good enough to put on here! My friend Denise helped me, than goodness, or I don’t think I would have managed on my own. People were so complimentary and we were very lucky to sell out 2 hours before the end of the event!

I had a display of very pretty wedding cupcakes, which weren’t for sale, they were just there to show people what I could do. I had lots of enquiries about weddings – cupcakes still seem to be the in-thing for weddings around here!

Each one was in a daisy cupcake wrapper and had various pastel coloured frostings and roses. I matched up a glitter to each of the frostings, which went down a storm!

The glitter still doesn’t show up too well on the blog, so I will put photos on my website where I can use a larger photograph.

Another Chocolate Rose Cake…

This cake went out today to an American lady who comes back to me on a regular basis for birthday cakes. This is an 8 inch version of the cake shown yesterday – identical in every way apart from size and number of roses!

I spent the rest of the day getting ready for Saturday, but not feeling like I’ve made much progress. Tomorrow is the big baking day. My Mum is around for the day, so I will get her working on labels, ribbons, helping to pack all the sundries for Saturday etc! Nobody is idle for long in this house!

More Chocolate Cakes….

Today I’ve made another 10 inch chocolate cake with red roses, using some of the roses I made yesterday.

Chocolate is always a crowd-pleaser, so popular for a birthday cake.

This beauty contains a huge amount of Green and Black’s Cocoa, but two 10 ich tins do take a big mix!

I’m making an 8 inch version of this cake tomorrow as well, after a client saw it on the blog. If you are interested, the roses can be in any colour, of course.

Getting Ready For ‘Just Desserts’

I spent hours yesterday making various coloured sugar pastes and today I’ve been turning them into hundreds of roses and rose leaves.

There are pale, medium and deep rose pinks:

Pale yellow and pale mauve:

And lastly bright red, orange and yellow:

I am planning on selling 5 or 6 different flavours of cupcakes on Saturday at Just Desserts (the list keeps growing and changing!) and I might assign  each flavour a coloured rose. I have some nice packaging ideas in mind and will be selling cupcakes individually and in 4′s and 12′s too. I am taking some wedding designs with me with new cupcake wrappers and hopefully some individual pies and celebration cakes. Phew – we will have to see how much I can get  made in time!

As I was photographing the roses, I remembered I had bought some pretty spotted and check ribbons to make cakes with, so thought I would show you a few photos of them together. They would all look really pretty and summery on an iced cake.

The colours match quite well, considering I hadn’t even looked at them when I was colouring the sugar paste!

Hope to see you on 24th April, 10am-4pm at The Lion Yard Shopping Centre.

Glittery Rose Cakes

This order went out yesterday for a birthday. Whenever I show this glitter to people, they love it and immediately want it on their cakes! This order was having a mixture of pink blossoms and daisies and one pink rose with glitter for the birthday girl. The photos don’t really capture how sparkly the glitter is, as the light early this morning was not so good for photographing the cakes. 

Pink glitter rose

 

This edible glitter comes in all sorts of colours, although I’ve used a pale pink here to match the rose. 

 

 The glitter is especially popular for weddings, birthdays, christenings and special events. Another benefit is that one tiny pot of glitter goes a very long way, so it’s not an expensive option. 

I will make some more of these glittery cakes and take some better photos!

Lisa’s Pink & Yellow Rose Cupcakes

These have been made for a birthday dinner tonight – they are Vanilla Cupcakes with Pink Vanilla Frosting. I was asked for something pretty, so I hope the pink and yellow roses fit the bill!

Vanilla Cupcakes with pink vanilla frosting

I’ve run out of rose leaves again, so I will have to have a concentrated rose and leaf making day before the big day on 24th April.

These cases are pink checked cases, in case you would like to order them.

Lamyah’s Birthday Cupcakes

These cupcakes were ordered for a birthday today. The customer wanted a pretty brown, pink, white and green theme with roses and the recipient’s name spelt out – hope she was pleased with the result!

 I’ve been using spare minutes here and there to make lots of roses for the Lion Yard Just Desserts event mentioned below. If you’re going to do these events, you may as well go all out to make everything look as good as possible! I have some ideas for very pretty celebration cakes, which I’m hoping to take along and launch at the event – come along to get a sneak preview of them before they go on the website! I’ve also come up with an idea for a third cupcake flavour – something new and delicious, so get there early to try that one out too.

Large Red Rose Chocolate Cake

I am often asked to make a larger cake than my usual 8 inch layer cake, so I am now offering a 10 inch cake, which should feed at least 20 people. Here is one which has gone out today for a young lady’s birthday!

This one is a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting. Unlike the 8 inch layer cake which is frosted just on top, this larger cake is covered in frosting. I can make this larger size in any flavour combination and can even make a triple layer cake to feed even more people!

Imagine a vanilla sponge cake with natural or very pale pink frosting with pink or yellow roses… the combinations are endless and can be matched to any colour scheme you have. You could have the cake covered in soft roll-out icing in any colour and have flowers or roses attached to the top and sides, maybe picking up the colour of a ribbon around the base. I don’t put the roses on the sides of a frosted cake, in case they decide to slip down! All of these larger cakes are priced on request.

Victoria’s Red Rose Red Velvet Cupcakes

These Red Velvet Cupcakes were made today – half with piped vanilla frosting and half with vanilla cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting is the classic topping for Red Velvet cakes. I do like it with the Union Jack napkin, I must say!

The others I decorated with a simple red blossom and red heart chocolate dragees on the cream cheese frosting, as they have to be stored in the fridge. One of the great things about any oil based cake such as carrot cake or red velvet cake (apart from the taste, of course!) is that they keep very well in the fridge, unlike a butter-based sponge, which really hates to be refrigerated.

Very Pretty Rose Cupcakes

So many people ask me about these roses! I thought I should put some more details up about them. They are not included in my standard priced cupcakes, but can be added on for £0.40 each or £0.50 each with the leaves. The roses can be in any colour you like – just tell me and I will make them to order. I can also make them to match any colour scheme you are following. These are moulded roses, which makes them more economical to produce than making rose petals individually by hand. If you are interested,  just let me know.

Springtime Retro Cupcakes in The Cambridgeshire Journal!

‘The Cambridgeshire Journal’ visited me at home to-day to interview me about ‘the sweet kitchen’ and take lots of photos, so it’s been an exciting day! They requested cupcakes in pretty Spring colours. I think they have turned out rather well and those yellow, mauve and bright pink roses add a real vintage touch. I set up a table using vintage pressed glass and modern glass cake stands, a vintage embroidered cloth, pretty napkins, a posy of Spring flowers and a retro-looking tea cosy.

Kate , my-sister-in-law, lent me a lovely old embroidered tablecloth and check napkins in pink and mauve, which set everything off very well. Considering  I only collected the parcel of cloths from the Post Office yesterday, it’s amazing how all the colours matched so well! Her business, called Lavender Sugar in Farnham, Surrey, offers an afternoon tea service. They bring all the tablecloths, china and afternoon tea and set it up for you. Their website is coming soon…

 

It took me rather a long time to get used to having my photo taken – I am not that happy in front of a camera, so I hope the photographer managed to get some good ones of me and the cupcakes! Well, at least the cupcakes are photogenic!Look out for the April issue of The Cambridgeshire Journal on sale 1st April to read all about it!

Red Rose Cupcakes

Red roses are always popular, so I chose them when I made these surprise cupcakes for my nieces 18th and 21st birthdays. These are the moulded roses on chocolate cupcakes, by the way.

Red Rose Cupcakes

I had horrible problems making these cakes in someone else’s kitchen – peeling papers and frosting that wouldn’t pipe, but we got there in the end! Just shows how you get used to the foibles of your own equipment. Talking of which I have a brand new Kenwood mixer, which is great – no problems there, as yet! It has replaced lots of my other machines, as it comes with a food processor and liqidizer, so I have been able to throw a few old things away and make room in the cupboards for it.

Tomorrow I start baking for my magazine photo shoot – lots of Spring colours and pretty cakes are planned…

Cupcake paper cases and decorations

I am always asked what I can decorate cupcakes and cakes with and the answer is almost anything! I thought I’d put together this post to give you an idea of what’s available, although it’s not exhaustive by any means.

Firstly Sprinkles:

Sprinkles

Starting top left and going clockwise we have mimosa balls, silver balls, red chocolate heart dragees, shaped sprinkles (in all sorts of colours and shapes), blue, green, gold and pink balls, Magic Sparkles and edible glitter (in all colours) and in the centre non-pareils (in all sorts of colours) and sanding sugar (in lots of colours).

Then we move on to cut-out sugar paste flowers:

Cut-out sugar paste flowers

 

I usually use the daisies or blossoms shown above, although they can be made in any colour. These are included in the price of my standard cakes. There are also gerberas, butterflies and all sorts of shapes to suit any interest, occupation, past-time or age group. I can also include initials or ages.

Then we move on to moulded roses, which I can make in sugar paste, Belgian chocolate paste or petal paste.

Moulded Roses

 

The sugar paste roses are on the left and petal paste roses on the right. They look almost identical, but the petal paste is more expensive and sets hard.

Chocolate paste moulded roses

 

Here are the Belgian chocolate paste moulded roses, available in dark and white chocolate paste.

Then come the handmade rosebuds and chocolate roses. The chocolate roses are the only decorations I buy in – everything else I make myself:

Chocolate roses

 

The red and chocolate roses in the centre (with leaves) are my handmade roses and can be made in any colour or in dark or white Belgian chocolate paste. The white and deeper red roses top and bottom are the 30mm chocolate roses I buy in and these are available in white, milk, dark, red and pink chocolate.

Please contact me to enquire about prices.

Cupcake paper cases are available in all sorts of colours and patterns, but the quality varies hugely. Some which say they are made from quality greaseproof, are obviously not, when you come to use them! My favourite make of cases are big, really sturdy, never peel off the cakes and are truly greaseproof. I try to stick to this make whenever possible, but if you want a particular colour or pattern, I can easily source these for you.

Just a few of the paper cases available

The plain and patterned cases shown above are included in my standard prices.

The foil cases below are available in silver, gold, red, turquoise, pink and black. There is an extra charge for these foil cases:

Foil cases in red and sliver

 

I hope this gives you an idea of what’s available, but don’t forget that almost any shape can be cut out or made. For instance, I have an order coming up for someone who loves fishing. The cupcakes are going to have gold and silver lustred fish leaping put of the tops of the cakes, which will have watery coloured glitters sprinkled on the frosting – all in emerald, silver, turquoise and gold!

Crystallised Rose Petals for Weddings

Here’s an idea for topping wedding cupcakes instead of sugar paste flowers or roses. How about crystallised rose petals?  They are shown here on a Lemon Drizzle Cake, but they could be very pretty on cupcakes. Pink or peach petals with pastel pink, cream, yellow or peach frosting or deep reds and pinks with vanilla or deep pink frosting – the combinations are endless. The roses could be chosen to tie in with the colour theme of the wedding from pastels, to mid-pinks and peaches to the darkest reds and pinks. The cakes could even be flavoured with rose water to carry the ‘rose’ theme through!

Crystallised Rose Petals

Petal Paste Roses

I have tried out my new rose mould today, after a couple of weeks of putting it off. I thought it might be tricky to use, but it was actually a very simple and quick way to produce very pretty roses. This colour is called Poinsettia, but of course the roses could be made in any colour and because it is quicker than making rose buds by hand, I can sell them at a much more favourable price.

Poinsettia roses

These could be used to top cupcakes for special occasions or weddings, or they could be used all over on an iced layer cake or on the mini cakes below. Roses are so popular and I have been looking for a way to offer a better deal to customers who want them. The chocolate roses I offer are lovely, but expensive, and making rosebuds by hand is quite time-consuming and therefore expensive, so I am pleased to find a new and more cost-effective way of doing it!

Mini cakes with roses

Valentine’s Day Corsage

Red Rose Corsage

I have linked up with some friends locally who run a garden design and flower arranging business called Paperwhite Flower Design. As you will know, if you follow my blog and website, I am offering ‘Red Velvet’ and ‘Vintage’ cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. I can now offer a beautiful handmade rose corsage to attach to your box of cupcakes. Helen and Annick, who own Paperwhite Flower Design, have selected the red roses to tone with the Red Velvet Cupcakes. I can’t think of a nicer gift on Valentine’s Day, personally speaking!  Although I don’t have room for the photo on my website, they are also offering a gorgeous posy of pink roses and mixed foliage, which would be beautiful with the Vintage cupcakes. 

Mixed Posy Pink

 

I have lots more to write about today, but it will have to wait until later, as I have ducks and bunnies to make in sugar paste and cakes to bake! I’m also in the process of adding RSS, subscriptions to my blog and adding tags (which I didn’t do from the start) and it’s a time-consuming business, so if some posts are tagged and some not, it’s because I haven’t had time to do them all yet! Hopefully I should sort it all in the next couple of days.

Roses Are Red Cupcakes

Today I’ve been making some cupcakes for a customer who has completely proved me wrong! She requested red frosting with red chocolate roses and my first reaction was (a) I’m not sure that it will look very good being red on red, not enough contrast (b) I’m not even sure I can get the red frosting to match the red roses! I think, reading between the lines, she was a little disappointed that I was trying to steer her down the safe route of red roses on natural frosting, so I said I would give it a go. I coloured a tiny amount of frosting first and found that I could get close to the colour by mixing a couple of different reds, so took the plunge and coloured the whole lot. Here is the result:

Roses Are Red Cupcakes

I think they would be an excellent choice for all sorts of occasions such as Valentine’s Day, a birthday, anniversary, wedding or you might even say they are a bit Bollywood! So a lesson learnt – the customer is always right! Just a quick note of advice – if you would like to order these, I need 2 weeks notice to order in the roses.

18th Birthday Rosebud Cupcakes

I have made these rosebud cupcakes today for an 18th birthday – the recipient has a silver and pink theme at her party, so she opted for silver foil cupcake papers, vanilla sponge, pink vanilla frosting, pink chocolate rosebuds and sugar paste leaves. One of the cakes has a  sugar paste cut-out ’18′ perched on the top and the rest are going to have silver candles pushed into the frosting. When they are all piled up, it should all look very pretty! I hope she’s pleased with them anyway.

18th Birthday Rosebud Cupcakes

The rosebuds are very popular at the moment, probably because they are on special offer until 30th November. I have now sold out of the pink though. I have the red roses on offer still (probably enough for another couple of boxes of cupcakes).

Our boiler problem has not been fixed – they want to try a third spare part and all in all it would cost about £400 with still no guarantee that it will fix the actual problem! We are so cross with the manufacturers that we sent an email of complaint last night, hoping they might offer to come and do something about this boiler,which is after all only 3 1/2 years old! They are going to send out their lead engineer on Monday, but we face chilly weekend ahead… I was going to say it pays to complain, but I will bite my tongue and see if we get anywhere on Monday. Thank goodness we have a woodburner and immersion heater to fall back on! I’m off to my Knit-Lit group tonight, after delivering the above cupcakes to Cambridge, so I’ll go and get warm there!