Buttercream Bakery Royal Wedding Cupcakes

I hope you are all having a wonderful long weekend and enjoyed all the festivities yesterday.  I had a lovely day, the Royal Wedding was beautiful, the dress, the carriages, the bridesmaids dress!!!!! I could go on but I won't, instead I will get to talking about all the beautiful Royal Wedding themed cupcakes we made.

Afternoon Tea Party Cupcakes

Mmmm good old Vicky sponge....

I loved this batch, in British themed colours, red and royal blue are lovely the toppers are covered in perfect afternoon tea party goodies.  I wasn't happy with these until I added the rose buds though, they were the perfect final touch.

Beautiful Bows

Darling Daisies

Check out the brilliant Union Jack cupcake cases! I loved these and they held their colour really well, even in chocolate (as you will see below), they are still pretty bold.

Union Jacks Galore

Cute & Colourful Lollipop Cupcakes with Ice Cream Sprinkles

I loved this batch and I imagine the kids loved them too, a cupcake AND a lollipop? What more could a child ask for.

Right Royal British Bulldog Cupcakes 

Probably my favourites, I love the tiny bulldogs and their little crowns, they are too cute.

Ah bless, what a sweetie.

Mini Cupcakes

Royal Blue Bows.

I thought these mini chocolate cupcakes with royal blue bows were utterly gorgeous and I would like to do a whole range of colours pink, blue, yellow, purple, white, all would be adorable.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

The strawberry shortcake cupcake is a vanilla cupcake, filled with strawberry whipped cream, frosted with cream cheese icing and topped with crushed shortbread sprinkles and a whole strawberry. So yummy!

Union Jack Love Hearts

I love that we had something to celebrate yesterday, in the U.S you have 4th July, Thanksgiving and Independence Day, all days to celebrate your country and here we don't have any of that.  There is no day in our calender to celebrate being British and I felt like the Royal Wedding gave us a chance to do just that.

Also I must just say that I love that so many Americans joined in with the celebrations! The papers are full of pictures of American 'English' tea parties and I love it, it looks like everyone (including the Royals of course) had a great time and that is the main thing. 

x x x

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Buttercream Bakery Royal Wedding Cupcakes

Tea For Two Biscuit Cake

I am having such a lovely week, I've been pretty busy making loads of Royal Wedding cupcake toppers and have some gorgeous designs on order.  I'm really excited about Friday, not because of the Royal Wedding but because it is mine and Mr. P. 6 year anniversary.  In honour of the Royal Wedding, which I know not everyone is into, I have decided to make us a glorious afternoon tea and I'm really looking forward to spending the day with my hubby, especially since Thursday is going to be pretty manic at the bakery.

Since it is nearly our anniversary I decided hubby and I deserved a mid-week treat so  I made this cute miniature vanilla layer cake (10cm), with coffee buttercream and covered it in biscuits.  I used Custard Creams, Mini Jammy Dodgers, Fox's Creams, Shortbread, Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Fingers. It is such a simple idea but the cake looks lovely and it was so fun to put together.

I am totally getting into the spirit of the Royal Wedding, it is probably due to all the cute cupcake toppers I'm getting to make but I think it is great to have something to celebrate.  I'm loving all the themed cakes, bakes and cupcakes I'm seeing on the blogs I follow and even if you hate the whole thing I hope you all get to have a lovely day on Friday.

x x x

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Tea For Two Biscuit Cake

Happy Easter From Buttercream Bakery

 I hope you are all having a fantastic Easter weekend, the weather was perfect here so after a very busy few days at the bakery I had a lovely day at the beach with Mr. P.  I ate my weight in doughnuts and chocolate and felt thoroughly sick, just as it should be at Easter.

I wanted to post the Easter cupcake before Easter weekend was over and I have just about managed to do so.  We had some gorgeous cupcakes on order, traditional and not so traditional, lots of chocolate and eggs and bunny rabbits, flowers and er...koala bears... 

Vanilla Cupcakes

I love the bunny butts (giggles), they are adorable and I think they will definitely become and Easter staple at Buttercream Bakery.

It wouldn't be Easter without Speckled Mini Eggs would it?

Chocolate Cupcakes

More adorable bunny butts and sweet wafer paper Daisies.

Chocolate overload, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting and chocolate toppers. Well it is Easter after all.



Lemon Cupcakes

More wafer paper flowers, I adore these Orchid toppers and will be ordering some more for the bakery, the colours are stunning.

So pretty.

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon & Strawberry Buttercream

This batch is just too cute! Not only was the frosting slap yourself silly delicious but the adorable Strawberry filled koala bears are as yummy as they are adorable. 

The Koala cookies are Japanese and these aren't really an Easter design but I made them on Good Friday so they still count.

Happy Easter everyone.

 x x x



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Happy Easter From Buttercream Bakery

A Creation Story - The Panda Gummy Bear

You know you are truly crazy when you see a picture of a Panda Gummy Bear online and literally cannot rest until you make one of your very own.

At first I figured turning a Gummy Bear into a Panda would be relatively simple, I grabbed some Gummy Bears, a paintbrush and a little pot of black food colouring paste and set about trying to create a Panda.  It didn't work. The food colouring wouldn't adhere to the Gummy Bear at all...it was on to plan B, a black food colouring pen.  This was ever so slightly more effect but still wouldn't adhere to the bear properly and the colour was very wishy washy.

At this point it was time for a cup of tea...I absolutely had to find a way to turn this Gummy Bear into a Panda, I was a little obsessed and extremely determined.  I pondered for a while...

What I needed was a thick glaze. All of a sudden it came to me, I mixed a little black food colouring paste with some Gum Arabic .  I held my breath as I made the first brush stroke and hallelujah it worked! Bold, black solid colour.  The mixture was a little gloopy and was a little difficult to paint with but I got my Panda in the end.

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A Creation Story - The Panda Gummy Bear

Eton Mess Cake Recipe

It feels like summer is finally here and although I'm sweltering and cursing the heat in the bakery, at home I'm fully embracing the season and baking all sorts of beautiful summery cakes.

This Eton Mess cake was gorgeous, it is massive and would serve an entire garden party of people, this is a great recipe if you're having friends over for the Royal Wedding.  It is simple to make but as impressive as it is delicious. 

I left the tops on the strawberries so that my cake appears exactly as pictured in the original recipe but I may remove them next time, I like the look but for ease when eating I think the cake would be better without.

I also adapted the topping a little, whipping the cream with the sugar and port, before spreading on the cake and sprinkling with crushed meringues and decorating with strawberries.  I have provided the original 'mess' method below.

Eton Mess Cake - Cakes to Celebrate Love and Life

3 cups (420g) flour

1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

170g butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar

3 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 cups (375ml) buttermilk

Pre heat the oven to 180C.  Grease a large 24 x 32 cm sheet cake pan.

Into a medium bowl, sift the flour, bicarbonate soda, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until creamy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Mix in the vanilla essence.

Add the flour and buttermilk alternately to the butter mixture, ending with the flour. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and then bake for 50-60 minutes.  Rest for 10 minutes before turning out.  Once completely cool, spoon the mess over the cake.

'Mess'

The volume of the mess is all up to you, so no exact measurements here.

3 cups (450g) strawberries

a dash of sugar

a dash of port

meringues, broken up

cream, softly whipped (I used about 500ml)

Mash half the strawberries with a little sugar and port, fold in the broken meringues and whipped cream.  Use remaining strawberries to decorate.

Meringues

4 large egg whites

1 cup (200g) caster sugar

Pre heat the oven to 140C.  Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until soft peak stage.  Gradually add the caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time, making sure to incorporate completely.

Whisk until stiff peak stage and very shiny.

Pipe desired shapes onto the baking trays and bake for 1 hour, and the switch of the stove and let the meringues dry out in the oven.

x x x

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Eton Mess Cake Recipe

Strawberry Milk

I have had a bottle of Monin Strawberry Syrup lurking in my kitchen for ages now and I decided it was high time I did something with it.  Monin syrups are used in most coffee shops, bars and restaurants, Cafe Nero's strawberry milkshake is made using this syrup and I like it because it doesn't have that horrid artificial taste you often get with such things.

There is no recipe as such, I just filled the bottle nearly to the top with milk and added about 2 tbsp of syrup.  I'm not a huge milk drinker so after marveling at the utter adorableness of my gorgeous glass bottled strawberry milk and tasting a little to check the strawberry flavour was OK, I popped it in the fridge till Mr. P. came home.

I was amazed at the joy in Mr. P. eyes when I presented him with his strawberry milk, he was like a little boy and it did make me giggle.  He drank the entire bottle in one go and said the strength of the strawberry flavour was perfect.  I will definitely make this again and since the weather is getting nicer now I may make some thick milkshakes too.

I just love my gorgeous glass bottle and it looks so cute in pink.

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Strawberry Milk

Mac Attack #18 - Oreo Easter Macarons

This months Mac Attack Challenge is all about chocolate, a theme that is always OK by me and great for Easter. 

 I decided to make Oreo Macarons, a flavour I have been meaning to try for a while, the shells are a simple dark chocolate Macaron but I used a recipe I hadn't tried yet.  For the filling I have taken the yummy middle out of two whole packets of double stuffed Oreos and added a little butter, milk and icing sugar to make a very simple buttercream.

Once my Macs were sandwiched together with filling I used a paintbrush to brush a ring of melted chocolate on the top of each Macaron.  I crushed Oreos to ruble and using the chocolate as an adhesive sprinkled the rubble over my Macarons to create a yummy ring of mud.  I love that Oreos make such great mud!

I made little fondant carrot tops and affixed these to the centre of each Macaron using more melted chocolate. 

If you love Oreos you will love these and although I doubt the French would approve of my creation they really are delicious. 

These cute Macarons are great for Easter and children and adults alike will love the novelty of them but as the shells are plain chocolate you could easily make half a batch with Oreo filling and the rest with something slightly more adult and less sweet so that everyone is happy.

Oreo Macarons 

Basic Macaron Recipe adapted from Mad About Macarons

150g organic egg whites

100g fine caster sugar

180g ground almonds

260g icing sugar

20g unsweetened cocoa powder

2 x packets double stuffed Oreos

1 tbsp softened butter

4 tsp milk

6 tbsp icing sugar

Preheat oven to 150 C. Sift together the icing sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder.

Whisk the egg whites until half stiff, sprinkle the sugar over and whisk until very stiff but not dry. Gradually fold in the sifted ingredients.

Pipe small rounds, a couple of cm apart onto your lined baking sheet, using a plain 1 cm nozzle. Rap the baking sheet hard on the counter top to flatten the batter before baking.

Let them sit for 30 minutes to form a skin.

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes: you want them dry on top but, but still chewy underneath. Remove from the oven and let cool on their sheets for a few minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack.

For the filling:

Using a knife remove the filling from your double stuffed Oreos, reserving the cookies to decorate if you wish.  In a medium bowl combine the Oreo filling, milk and butter, beating until well combined.  Add the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time until you reach piping consistency.

For the decoration you will need:

30g dark chocolate, melted

a handful of Oreo cookie shells, crushed

orange and green fondant.

Simple paint a ring of chocolate onto the top of each sandwiched Macaron using a paint brush, sprinkle with crushed Oreos and affix small fondant carrot tops to the centres.

I'm so glad to get back into the Mac Tweets challenges after a few missed months and can't wait to get stuck into some summery Macaron flavours, I've been meaning to make lemon Macarons for months.

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Mac Attack #18 - Oreo Easter Macarons

Random Recipe Challenge 3 - My First Cookbook

For the 3rd Random Recipe Challenge, Dom asked us all to go back to our first ever cookbook, for many I'm sure this will mean retro recipes galore but since I didn't start cooking until about 4 1/2 years ago, none of my cookbooks are that old.

I thought my first cookbook was this funny little cookie book but I wasn't sure so thought I'd better check with Mr. P. who immediately told me Jamie's Italy was in fact my first cookbook.  He was right, I remember now when he bought it for me, I love Italian food so I was pleased, I love this book and that funny little cookie book isn't the best.

I always aim for somewhere near the middle of the book for these recipe challenges, mainly because I know the cakes and desserts are always at the back of a cookbook and aiming for that bit would be cheating.

 I was so chuffed to land on this gorgeous sausage carbonara, I love carbonara but hubby isn't a fan so I very rarely make it, this was a fantastic excuse and even hubby admitted it was really good, the sausage meatballs are a lovely variation on a beautiful classic. 

Sausage Carbonara - Jamie's Italy

4 good-quality organic Italian sausages

 olive oil

4 slices of thickly cut pancetta, chopped

 sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 500g dried linguine

4 large free-range or organic egg yolks

 100ml double cream

 100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

 zest of 1 lemon

a sprig of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

extra virgin olive oil

With a sharp knife, slit the sausage skins lengthways and pop all the meat out. Using wet hands, roll little balls of sausage meat about the size of large marbles and place them to one side.

Heat a large frying pan and add a good splash of olive oil. Gently fry the sausage meatballs until golden brown all over, then add the pancetta and continue cooking for a couple of minutes, until it’s golden. While this is cooking, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the linguine, and cook according to the packet instructions.

In a large bowl, whip up the egg yolks, cream, half the Parmesan, the lemon zest and parsley. When the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water, and immediately toss it quickly with the egg mixture back in the pasta pan. Add the hot sausage meatballs and toss everything together. The egg will cook delicately from the heat of the linguine, just enough for it to thicken and not scramble. The sauce should be smooth and silky. If the pasta becomes a little claggy, add a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water to loosen it slightly. Sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan, season if necessary, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Eat immediately!

This months challenge really made me look back to a time I couldn't cook at all, just so you all know the full extent of my lack of culinary skill when I was given Jamie's Italy I will tell you this...

I couldn't even cook rice! I couldn't cook anything but my first few attempts at rice were bad, really bad.  I didn't realise you had to let the water absorb and kept topping up the pan with more water as the rice was cooking.  Such a fool!

  I decided to learn to cook because Mr. P. and I had been living together for a couple of years and eating rather badly.  Once I started I couldn't stop and I became completely obsessed with baking and cooking.  I was always amazed and astounded when I created something delicious in the kitchen and every tiny little triumph was like gold dust to me.  I have had so much fun on my culinary journey so far and can't imagine what life would have been like had I not learnt to cook.

I'm going to dig out my first ever cupcake book and bake something form that soon, just for nostalgia's sake really but I can't wait.

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Random Recipe Challenge 3 - My First Cookbook

Buttercream Bakery A Day In Cupcakes

Yesterday was a fun day at the bakery so I've decided to post the whole days worth of cupcakes at once. 

 I mentioned last week that I was making samples for a local group of hotels, so I was making those cupcakes, we also had a gorgeous Chocolate Vanilla 'Spring has Sprung'  batch and a bridal shower batch full of mini bow topped cupcakes for the guests and a special Calla Lily cupcake for the bride.

I was happy to be back to cupcakes as I have been focusing on another area of the bakery of late and have slowed down orders until the beginning of May.   I have some gorgeous Easter and Royal Wedding cupcakes on the books in the next couple of weeks though, two brilliant themes that I cannot wait to get stuck into.  The 2nd week of May means big changes for Buttercream Bakery. I haven't told you all yet because I'm stupidly superstitious but you will know soon enough.

I love these 'Night Night' and 'Sweet Dreams' mini cupcakes, I made these as part of the sample batch, the idea is that guests at the hotel would be given bespoke mini cupcakes instead of a chocolate on the pillow before bed.  I think they would be lovely with black or red roses too, in fact yellow would also be lovely.  Wouldn't it be nice if I could match the cupcake colours to the colour scheme in the rooms? 

The banners can obviously be personalised with names and messages, they're really cute and I think the rosebud design is great for this time of year.

Mini Animal Print Cupcakes

I made zebra stripe ones too but don't have a picture, you get the idea anyway, very stylish little cuppies.

I hand painted the toppers using edible food colouring.

Calla Lilies and Bows...

Such a lovely design, I made some of these mini bow cupcakes for the sample batch too, always popular with brides.

Colourful Spring Cupcakes

I love the use of colour in this batch, it was beautifully sunny whilst I made these, shame the weather didn't last.

I don't often get to use cutters as most of my toppers are modelled by hand, so it was a nice change making these.  The flowers and butterflies were a breeze and I'm a big fan of these PME embossing cutters, they really are brilliant and so easy to use.

x x x



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Buttercream Bakery A Day In Cupcakes