Cupcake Bouquet

How fun is this? A friend found this on Pinterest one day and asked if I would make it for her grandmother's birthday. It takes some time, but the results are SO worth it!

Start with cupcakes that have been decorated using a middle-to-outside swirl so that they resemble a flower. 

Insert a Styrofoam ball into a flower pot. There are several different sizes so I suggest taking your pot with you to test out which size works best. 

Insert toothpicks into the ball wherever you want the cupcakes to go. Here is a tip: leave your toothpicks pretty high. If you insert them too far, they will be too short and the cupcakes will slowly fall off. For some of the cupcakes I used three toothpicks.

Close up view of how the toothpicks should stand.

Once you have the cupcakes secure, cut strips of green tissue paper...

...then fold them accordion style at one end and insert between the cupcakes.

After the tissue paper was between all the cupcakes and all empty spaces were filled,  I then used a glue gun to secure some pieces around the outside edges to hide any of the ball that might be showing. Then I glued a white ribbon around the base of the ball in order to have a clean edge.  (I apologize I did not get any action or close up shots of this.)

What's better than flowers and cake? Both! This cupcake bouquet is sure to make anyone's day over-the-top special.

How to: Flag Cupcake Toppers

If you're a regular around these parts you have seen various cupcakes with flags on top of them, like the ones up there and the ones over here. I once saw plastic versions of sports pendants on some cupcakes and realized, "Hey, I can make those cheaper than buying them, plus I can get the image I want!" 

These flags are a simple, yet fun and attractive addition to a cupcake. I am going to show you how I make them! Here's what you need:

~images printed in color
~scissors
~glue stick
~toothpicks, with pointed tips trimmed off

So, the first step is to find an image you like. (Google Images is where I search.) Copy and paste it into a Word document. Once you have pasted it, click on the image to enable size editing and drag it down to the size you want. I usually print it out just to make sure it is the size I need before I go any further. 

Once you have the size you want, copy that image, then space 7 times. (That white space in between each image will be wrapped around the toothpick and I have found that 7 spaces between them works perfectly.) Now, paste the image. Space 7 more times and paste another image. Repeat once more until you have a row of four. 

You are going to be folding two of these images around a toothpick to form the front and back of the flag. So if you have 12 cupcakes, you need 24 images. (I usually do a few extra though. Just in case I mess one up.) 

When you get your first row of images, copy that whole row and keep pasting it down the page until you get your desired number of images. (See my finished page above.) Copying and pasting by rows is much easier and less time consuming that doing one image at a time to fill the page.

Next, cut the images into pairs.

Trim the top and bottom of the images but leave the white space on the sides. Flip over and apply the glue. 

Then wrap around the toothpick, line up the images and press the white edge around the toothpick well. I use my fingernail to get it nice and tight. Also, I like to trim the pointed part off the toothpicks with scissors. I find that pointed tip makes it hard for the paper to adhere and fit as well as I like for it to. With it gone, the paper is flush with the top of the toothpick.

Finally, cut off the excess white space on the right of the flag.

And there you have it! A finished cupcake topper! These are my go-to when I just can't find the right embellishment. They are perfect for sports themed cupcakes, but would work for just about any theme. Have fun! And feel free to leave questions in the comments!

P.S. Tomorrow I will feature these in action!

How to Pipe Carrots

I believe in cake mix.

I believe in store bought icing.

I believe in short cuts, as long as they don't skimp on taste or quality.

Some bakers would consider these statements blasphemy. That if you don't make a cake or icing from scratch you are breaking some kind of unspoken baker's code. 

I almost always use cake mixes. And every now and then, if a project doesn't call for a sturdy icing*, I use store bought. I work full time and have a toddler and husband to take care of, so some days I don't have time to make something totally from scratch. (I am sure you can relate.) It doesn't make the baking any less special. It still comes from the heart and it still has homemade touches. And I get just as many oooo's and ahhhh's in the end.

A friend of mine had a very special birthday and when I asked what kind of cake he would like, he requested carrot in a simple sheet form. I used Duncan Hines Decadent Classic Carrot Cake Mix.  It's not your normal bland carrot cake boxed mix. It comes with actual shredded carrots and raisins. It's most excellent.

Store bought icing can be a little thin, but for a sheet cake it works great. We all know cream cheese icing and carrot cake go together like Kathy Lee and Hoda. I am a fan of Pillsbury cream cheese icing. In fact, when I buy icing it's usually the one I choose. I have even had people request it saying, "Remember that cream cheese icing you used that time? I want that kind." (Take that, baker's code.)

Here's a trick when using store bought icing: whip it with an electric mixer for about a minute. It adds air to the icing which lightens it up, plus it almost doubles what you start with. It's a win win.

Since the cake and icing did not take as long as my usual endeavors, I wanted to do a bit of decorating. I had a carrot cupcake from Caramanda's a while back and there was a tiny carrot piped onto the top of it. It was adorable. I decided to try it out on this cake. 

I used two containers of icing for this cake, but reserved about a fourth of it for decorating. I tinted half of that reserved icing orange and the other half green.  I put a Wilton 67 leaf tip on the bag of green icing and a 12 tip on the orange. 

Wilton 67 Leaf Tip

Wilton 12 Round Tip

Let me preface all of this by saying, it is TREMENDOUSLY hard to photograph with one hand and pipe with the other. That is why there are not photographs of the whole process in action, AND why the pictures are not the best quality. My next step is to get a tripod and figure out the timer on my camera. I have a whole new appreciation for all my favorite food bloggers after this. You gals must have a third hand you're keeping under wraps.

So first, take the leaf tip and hold it at a 45 degree angle. Squeeze pretty hard and drag slowly so that you get a wide section of icing. Then, slow down the pressure to almost nothing and pull so that the icing forms into a point at the bottom.

Next, using the orange icing with the round tip, place the tip directly over the bottom pointed end of the leaf you just made. Again, apply a good amount of pressure and drag.

Once you get about that much orange icing, slow the pressure to almost nothing and slowly pull away to form the pointed end of the carrot.

It's that easy!! And what a cute addition to a carrot cake.

I piped that carrot at the wrong end of the leafy greens. The other carrots better not make fun of him.

Anyone on the receiving end of baked goods is going to feel extra special. He or she is not thinking about whether it took you 3 hours or  45 minutes to make that gift of food. They are simply thrilled that they were thought enough of for someone to go out of their way to cook for them. It really is the thought that counts. When you take the time to mix a batter, bake it and cover it with icing, you are telling someone that they are important and special to you. Ya know, cooking for others just may be the answer to world peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Because store bought icing is a bit on the creamier side, I usually make my own icing for cupcakes or goods where the icing needs to stand up and stay in place. However, I have had luck with pre-made icing for frosting cupcakes by mixing in some powdered sugar to stiffen up the icing a bit.

White Cake with Strawberries

Who doesn't love the phrase "Free Cake?"

I have been hankering to make and decorate a cake lately since I finally have all the tips and equipment. I really just wanted to get some creativity out of my system and also get in some practice. My plan was to take the cake to work. Since I know several people are watching their figures these days, I went with something a bit more light.

I used a boxed mix for a white cake and followed the directions using eggs whites. I moistened the layers with a lemon simple syrup, layered strawberries in between and put icing only on the outside of the cake. It really made for a lighter but tasty recipe. My coworkers loved it!

While the cake was baking, I made the lemon simple syrup. It is a recipe from Martha Stewart and it is SO "simple" and delicious. Simple syrup is used for many things and bakers often use it to lightly dampen the layers of a cake before assembling it. (I used some of the leftover syrup to sweeten my tea.) It gives great flavor and keeps the cake super moist.

Lemon Simple Syrup


 Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• Zest from 1 lemon, plus 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

 Directions:

1. Heat sugar, zest, and 2 cups water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil. Pour through a fine sieve* into a medium bowl; discard solids. Let cool completely. Stir in lemon juice. Syrup can be refrigerated, airtight, up to 1 month.

*I don't own a fine sieve, so I laid a clean dish towel in my strainer and poured the mixture through it. 

Once the cake cooled, I leveled off the layers with a serrated knife and used a pastry brush to apply the syrup. I was afraid I would use too much syrup and as a result used too little. I would have liked a stronger flavor of lemon in the finished cake. I will have to research using simple syrup for cakes a bit more and, of course, practice will help.

Next, one layer at a time, I piped a ring of buttercream around the edge to act as a sort of dam for the strawberries. I didn't want the juices from the strawberries to seep out into the icing on the sides of the cake. I sliced the strawberries super thin and arranged them all pretty like. I love the contrast of colors in the picture above. It calms me. Ahhhhh.......

Okay, side note. If you ever have to slice a lot of strawberries, I have a handy tool for you. I am a creature of consistency and the old-school thought that if something worked for my grandmother it will work for me, so I often laugh at modern day shortcuts. Ha, Ha, I say! But this, kids, is plenty worth it. 

Joie Simply Slice Strawberry Slicer

I found mine at Kroger on clearance for 2 bucks and bought it because I thought it was so cool, but was sure it would be one of those things that either wouldn't work or I would never use. I'm glad I was wrong. Click on the caption in the picture to order it from Amazon.

So back to the cake...

Once I had all the layers assembled, I iced the cake with a thin crumb coat of buttercream. I have said it before and will say it again: a crumb coat is necessary for a clean and finished looking cake. Plus, it causes me to swear less when I'm putting on the final coat of icing so it's good for everyone else around, too.

Since it was cold outside, I sat the cake (covered in my cake keeper) on our picnic table to set up for an hour or so.

Next, I put the thicker final coat of buttercream onto the cake and smoothed it out. This was tough. Again, I am pretty new to cake decorating AND I am an extreme perfectionist. Those two things sometimes work against each other. I wanted the icing the be incredibly smooth with no imperfections. Needless to say, that single coat of icing took me about an hour to get the way I wanted. Don't be like me. 

Finally, I piped the accents on with white and blue icing. Remember how I mentioned before that you don't necessarily need a coupler for piping? Simply use a disposable piping bag (the only ones I ever use), snip off the end of the bag and slide in your piping tip. If you know you will not need to change out your tip for any reason, this is the way to go.

A small icing spatula was used to create the detail on the sides.

And here's a look inside:

If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments!

Cupcake Swirls

I had some leftover batter from the mini cupcakes  so I made 6 standard ones to practice piping on later. Specifically, I wanted to try swirls with an extra large star tip. I LOVE the results from a large tip. So exaggerated and pretty.

I just got some new tips from Amazon, as well as some disposable pastry bags which I HIGHLY recommend.

I didn't even need a coupler to attach the tip since I wasn't planning on switching it out for another one later.  I just snipped off about two inches of the pastry bag, dropped the tip inside and slid it down into the end nice and snug. (I'll share more on this in a future post.)

Large closed star tip

It is really quite easy to pipe a swirl. My aunt Joanna had filled me in on some tips, no pun intended, and I thought I would show you the results. I used a closed star tip (shown above) this time around.

The first is your typical swirl design. Remember those curly Q doodles you used to draw as a kid? It's basically the same thing. 

To start, place your tip at the edge of the cupcake. 

Squeeze the bag and swirl around until you get to the center. 

Stop applying pressure and lift your piping bag straight up in the air to get that small decorative star of icing.

 

Starting from the outside and working in.

The second one is a rose type of swirl. It's done in a reverse fashion. 

This time, start right in the middle and swirl  around until you reach the outer edge. 

So simple with such pretty results!

Starting from the inside and working out.

With just the right tip, a disposable bag and some icing, you can turn out some very pretty cupcakes with little effort!