Cute Little Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream and 5 minute miniature puppy.

Super Sweet Vanilla Cupcake with French Vanilla Buttercream in pink with mini love heart sprinkles.

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with French Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Cake Crumb.

Pretty Pink Vanilla Cupcakes with Love Hearts and lilac flowers.

Pretty Pink Vanilla Cupcake with Love Heart.

Vanilla Cupcake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream and 'drowning in frosting' teddy bears.

Help Me! Help Me!

Vanilla Cupcake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream and tiny teddy.

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Cute Little Cupcakes

Teddy Bear Milk Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Not only are these delicious chocolate mousse teddy bears utterly adorable but they may actually be one of the most scrumptious desserts of all time. 

The mousse is beautifully light, rich, smooth & decadent and the addition of white, milk and dark chocolate details just amp up the unbelievable chocolatey deliciousness even more.

The mousse recipe itself is wonderfully simple, the only difficult part was figuring out how to get them out of the spherical moulds!

After many trials and tribulations, in the end I froze the bears overnight and used a palette knife to push one side of the base and as I did the mousse round began to slide out of the other side.  As the mousse is frozen solid this causes no damage to the shape and trust me no amount of shaking, banging or slamming will get that bad boy out.

If you are not using moulds, rather than freezing the mousse overnight simply place the mousse in a suitable container and refrigerate for a few hours to set. 

If you would like to try teddy bears but do not have any half sphere moulds, be inventive! Small round bowls will work just as well.

Milk Chocolate Mousse

Serves 4 hungry chocolate lovers or makes 3 large bears

For the Milk Chocolate Mousse:

10 oz milk chocolate

1/2 tsp gelatin powder

125ml milk

250ml double cream

To Decorate:

cocoa powder

giant milk chocolate buttons - 2 per bear

giant white chocolate buttons - 1 per bear

semi sweet chocolate chips 3 per bear

If using, grease moulds with non stick baking spray, wiping off any excess with a paper towel.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl resting over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring constantly until completely melted. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the milk in a small saucepan and stir the gelatin powder, place over a low heat, warming until the milk reaches the same temperature as the chocolate.

Gradually whisk the milk into the chocolate and set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a separate bowl whip the cream until it reaches soft peak.

Gently fold the cream into the chocolate mixture until fully combined. 

Fill the moulds with mousse, cover with cling film and place in the freezer overnight.

Once the mousse is frozen solid, remove from the freezer one at a time and use a spoon or palette knife to push down on one side of the base.  The round will begin to slide out of the opposite side of the mould..

 Dust the rounds with cocoa powder and add chocolate chips for the eyes, two large chocolate buttons for the ears and a white chocolate button with a chocolate chip attached for the nose. Attach the chocolate chip by melting the top slightly and pressing it on to the giant white chocolate button.

Store the mousse in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

 

I will definitely be making these again very soon, Mr.P. absolutely loved the mousse and I'd like to try adding a base to the bears, I'm thinking biscuit, brownie or even a chocolate macaron. I also have some really cute ideas for Strawberry Mousse and Lemon Mousse.

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Teddy Bear Milk Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Plants vs Zombies - Team Plants Cupcakes

Who knew angry vegetables would make such adorable cupcake toppers!

I wasn't familiar with the computer game Plants vs Zombies until I was asked to make these adorable Team Plants cupcakes.

The toppers were all really simple to make but each of the goofy, grumpy little guys have so much personality, it is impossible not to fall in love with them!

The cupcakes are Red Velvet with Creamy Vanilla Frosting.

I didn't want to use green frosting (arguably a more appropriate colour for the theme) because I though the green would look pretty horrible against the Red Velvet, instead I opted to add just a few neon green sprinkles.

I honestly don't have a favourite vegetable/plant, they are all so cute!

 I must admit to not really knowing what half of them actually are though...I mean is that a potato? Is the green one a grumpy pear?

Perhaps a Plants vs Zombies fan can enlighten me....



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Plants vs Zombies - Team Plants Cupcakes

Buttercream Bakery On Facebook!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick post to let you all know that Buttercream Bakery is now on Facebook. 

Buttercream Bakery Facebook Page

So please pop over, say hello and give us a Like!

 

Chocolate teaspoon for your frosting anyone?

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Buttercream Bakery On Facebook!

Animal Print Swiss Roll Recipe

I have been meaning to attempt one of these amazing deco paste Swiss rolls for sometime now. 

Unfortunately for me my recreational baking time is pretty limited these days and it has taken forever for me to actually find the time to try this awesomeness out!

To make this type of patterned Swiss roll you make one batter and pipe your design onto a parchment lined Swiss roll tin. You bake this very briefly, building up the design in layers and baking for around a minute each time.  You then make a second egg white batter and mix this with the remainder of the first batter. This batter makes the actual cake, you pour it on top of the pre-baked design and bake as normal.

My first attempt was a little less perfect then I would like, despite my best efforts the parchment beneath my cake wrinkled and these creases can be seen on my Swiss roll.  Also despite my Leopard spots looking quite close together when piped on the tray, the finished cake could have done with quite a few more spots. I also think the texture of the cake was a little too open and I may try using Type '00 flour next time instead of a mixture of plain and corn flour.

I decorated my Swiss roll with extra whipped cream and leftover handmade chocolate decorations from the bakery.

I have adapted the basic recipe from Honey Bee Sweets who adapted it from an adorable Japanese book, which you can find here.  I have to say a huge thank you to Honey Bee Sweets because I would never of managed to translate the recipe from Japanese myself! French I can manage, Japanese...not so much.

Animal Print Swiss Roll Recipe

For the Egg Yolk Batter:

4 egg yolks

40g vanilla sugar (or caster sugar)

75ml water

50ml vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla paste

75g plain flour

25g corn flour

25g cocoa powder

1 egg white

pinch cream of tartar

10g caster sugar

For the Egg White Batter:

5 egg whites

40g vanilla sugar (or caster sugar)

1/4tsp cream of tartar

whipped cream, to fill and decorate

Grease and line a Swiss roll tin with parchment paper and set aside

Pre heat your oven to 165C.

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, water, vegetable oil, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.  Sift together the plain flour and corn flour and add to the egg yolk mixture. Whisking until combined.

Take two small bowls and place 1 tbsp of the egg yolk mixture into each. 

In a separate bowl beat the egg white, cream of tartar and sugar on the high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks.  Add 1 rounded tbsp of egg white to each of your small bowls (not into the main egg yolk mixture) and fold through to combine.

Add brown or black food colouring to one of the bowls, until this mixture is significantly darker than the original mixture.

Fill a piping bag with the darker mixture and pipe the first part of the leopard print design as seen in the image below.

Place the tray in your preheated oven for 1 minute.

Remove from the oven.

Take the second bowl and fill a piping bag with this lighter brown mixture and fill the wonky circles you have just piped as shown below.

Once again place the tray into the oven and bake for a further minute before removing and setting aside.

Now make the egg white batter:

Beat the egg whites until foamy, add the cream of tartar and continue to whip. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat at a high speed until stiff peaks.

Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter in three portions, until completely incorporated and no streaks of white remain.

Pour the batter over the baked decoration, into the Swiss roll tray. Level the mixture and place in the preheated oven.

Bake for around 12-14 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool completely before turning out and gently peeling off the parchment.

Place the Swiss roll on a flat surface and with the patterned side facing down spread whipped cream across the top of the cake.  Roll the Swiss roll tightly starting from the longer side of the rectangle.

I love this method it really is so much fun and I have seen some amazing designs around, I honestly cannot wait to try another one. 

The recipe may seem a little complicated on reading but honestly it is all actually very simple once your actually making it.  I have some adorable ideas up my sleeve so expect another Swiss roll soon!

x x x

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Animal Print Swiss Roll Recipe

Gingerbread Biscotti Recipe

I simply cannot recommend this Gingerbread Biscotti recipe enough.

Not only does it have that wonderful gingerbread flavour and aroma but this biscotti also has the most fantastic crisp texture, it is not remotely hard, just incredibly light and has the most beautiful crisp bite that just crumbles in your mouth.

With this Gingerbread Biscotti there is no dunking required and even if you think you are not a fan of biscotti I recommend making this one.  It is guaranteed to change your mind.

Gingerbread Biscotti

115g unsalted butter, room temperature

75g vanilla sugar (or caster sugar), plus extra for rolling

95g dark brown muscovado sugar

2 large eggs

250g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground gloves

1/4 tsp salt

50g almonds, finely chopped

Preheat your oven to 190C (375F).

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer on a medium speed until creamy. Gradually add both sugars beating continuously until completely combined.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt and add to the butter mixture, beating at a low speed just until blended.  Fold in the chopped almonds.

Sprinkle a clean work surface with vanilla sugar (or caster sugar). Divide the dough in half and roll each portion into a log around 3 inches wide and 1 inch high.

Place both logs onto a lightly greased baking tray, leaving space for the logs to expand and bake for 25 minutes.

Remove the biscotti logs from the oven and cut each log on a slight diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. 

 Place the biscotti slices onto a clean, ungreased baking tray and bake for around 7 minutes; turn all the biscotti over and bake for another 7 minutes.

Remove the biscotti to a wire rack to cool completely.

I decorated half of my biscotti with melted white chocolate, which tasted lovely but wasn't totally necessary, this biscotti is unbelievably scrumptious as is. 

I will definitely be including bags of Gingerbread Biscotti in this years Christmas hampers, it will make a fantastic gift, especially as it keeps so well. Pop your biscotti in an airtight jar and it will keep for up to a month.

x x x

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Gingerbread Biscotti Recipe

Double Sided Macaron Mat Review & My Macaron Mat Diary

First of all I feel I should apologise for taking so long to post this review!

So many things have cropped up in the last couple of weeks and everything has had to be put on hold for a while but fear not, I'm back! Back at work, back to blogging and hopefully back on form.

So without further ado lets talk Macaron Mats!

The fabulous Sarah-Jane of siliconemoulds.com spent months locked away in her top secret silicone laboratory, working tirelessly to develop the The Revolutionary Double Sided Macaron Mat.

The idea behind the macaron mat is to make it far simpler for the baker to produce a batch of perfectly uniform macarons. It has very low retaining walls to help keep the mixture in the correct shape.

This is where it differs from other macaron mats I have seen, such as this Squires Kitchen version. As you can see this mat is purely a template and does not have 'retaining walls'.

Sarah -Jane's Macaron Mat is also unique because it is the first ever double sided macaron mat. Oh yes, she's very clever that Sarah-Jane.

One side of the mat has 25 x 50mm diameter cells and the reverse has 48 x smaller 30mm cells.

I decided in order to review my macaron mats as thoroughly as possible I would keep a little diary of all the batches I have made using it.  So here it goes...

Macaron Mat Macarons Batch #1 - Rice Pudding Macarons

These macarons were made at the bakery and baked in an industrial oven.

I knew before my macaron mat arrived that the size of the cells differed from my usual macaron sizes.  My standard or large macarons are 1.5 inches in diameter as apposed to 2 inches on the large side of the mat and my mini macarons are ever so slightly larger than the cells on the mini side.

 This isn't the hugest problem but it does mean, for the time being at least I cannot use the macaron mat's large side to make macarons at the bakery.  Our sizes and prices are set and we would have to review this at a later date before we could make the switch.  I have however baked these batches both at home in a conventional oven and at work in an industrial oven.

I was of course dying to try the mini side of the mat, I am the hugest fan of bite-size mini macarons.

My piping was totally off on my first batch, you need to pipe quite far inside the cells to allow the batter to spread and this takes some practise.

I had more than a few macarons overspilling their cells and consequently I had a few macarons of different sizes.  I baked the mini rice pudding macarons for 10 minutes at 150C.  I usually slide the baking parchment off of the baking tray as soon as my macarons are out of the oven, allow them to cool for 5 minutes or so and then remove the shells and place on a wire rack.

I do not recommend trying to slide the mat off of the baking tray, I broke a few macarons attempting this and decided to leave well alone.  I let the macarons cool for 10 minutes before trying to remove them from the mat.  The macarons did stick and were quite difficult to remove and I broke a few feet in the process.

Minus a few casualties though the finished macarons did look pretty great, I love the size and despite my dodgy piping they really did look rather uniform.

Macaron Mat Macarons #2 - Salted Butter Caramel & Apple Mini Macarons

These macarons were also made at the bakery in an industrial oven.

For batch #2 I decided to use a French Meringue macaron recipe and the mat really came up trumps.  My piping had far improved, I used a smaller round piping tip than normal, this helped a lot and the batter had room to spread within the cells.

 Sarah Jane also told me to leave the macarons to cool for 15-20 minutes depending on their size. I left these macarons to cool for 18 minutes after baking and they came off of the mat beautifully. Not a single casualty.

Macaron Mat Macarons #3 - Caramel Macarons

These macarons were made at home and baked in a conventional oven.

I found using the mat at home was brilliant and quite a space saver too.

This was the first batch of macarons I made using the large side of the mat and they are certainly easier to pipe than the mini macarons which I find are very close together and there is little room for error.

 

This batch was also French Meringue and I think the mat and the French Meringue method love each other.  The whole process was a breeze, the macarons came out beautifully, there was not a single wonky shell, which can be far more common with French Meringue than Italian. There was no change in texture at all either. 

 

The only real difference between the macarons I bake on a parchment lined baking sheet and the macarons baked on the mat is the height.  The macaron mat macarons have perfectly flat tops and rise far less than usual. Here is a picture of some of my macarons baked on a parchment lined sheet so you can compare the difference.

I don't think this is either good or bad thing but more a personal preference, the macaron mat macarons stack really easily and would therefore package up beautifully but I do also like a slightly puffy macaron.

Macaron Mat Macarons #4 - Raspberry Cheesecake Macarons

On to batch #4 and possibly the most delicious macarons in the universe!  I made the teddy bear macaron from the same batter and baked it on a parchment lined baking sheet. I baked both the bear and the round macaron mat macarons at my usual 150C but think the temp may need to be adjusted for the macaron mat macarons. The foot was very small on this batch, particularly in comparison to the the foot on the teddy bear macaron.

Macaron Mat Macarons #5 - Miniature Macaron Pearls

I was so taken with this batch, I used the same recipe I used for batch #4 because I wasn't 100% happy with that batch and wanted to solve that small foot issue.  I baked these mini macarons at a lower temperature of 130C for a slightly longer time and they definitely had a better foot and were the puffiest of all my Italian Meringue batches.

Sarah-Jane has since suggested baking at 120C for more height and I will definitely try that asap.

I'm definitely getting the hang of the piping although it is worth remembering that not all macaron batters spread the same distance and you will need to get to know your mixture really well. 

The macaron mat really out did it's self with these mini macaron pearls and I don't think they would have looked so dinky and identical if I had baked them without the mat.

My Verdict:

This macaron mat is a really nifty tool but it is not fool proof.  You will need to practise the piping and you will need to play around with your recipe, trying different temperatures and cooling times. 

 For someone like me who makes a lot of macarons I think it would actually be harder to adapt to than for a macaron novice.

 I'm so used to making my macarons a certain way and could probably whip up a batch in my sleep but  when using the mat I have to come off autopilot and alter my usual process.  If you are somebody who hasn't made macarons before or haven't made many however then you won't have any habits to break and once you have made a few batches will find this mat so easy to use. 

Any one obsessed with the uniformity of their macarons will love this mat and even in my 1st batch, where my piping was all over the place the macarons still came out pretty blooming uniform!

I love the mini side! I really really love the mini side.  I have so many ideas for awesome mini macarons using this mat and do wish I had had it when I made my popcorn macarons or miniature blueberry macarons.

Many bloggers and bakers comment on my macaron posts saying they're a bit too scared to try macarons and I think this macaron mat would be the perfect way to eliminate much of the fear. In my entire time testing the mat I had not one single disaster, not one bad batch or disappointment and I think that's the clincher isn't it.

The only thing I think the mat could possibly do with is an inner template ring, by that I mean a non raised ring inside the cell that suggest where you should pipe up to, this would take the guess work out and make it much easier for a total novice.

Apart from that I have no criticism, as long as you make the appropriate adjustments to baking time and temperature this mat makes perfect macarons.

Sarah-Jane has also made a video tutorial - Macaron Mat Tutorial 

The tutorial will give you all Sarah-Jane's tips and tricks to baking with this mat.

You can purchase the Double-Sided Macaron Mat here and at £13 I think it is an absolutely fantastic price.

The mat really does work and all of the macarons I produced tasted and looked brilliant but it is very different to baking on parchment lined sheets so be prepared for a learning curve if you already bake macarons.

If you haven't made macarons before I highly recommend getting yourself a mat, watching the tutorial video and I can almost guarantee you a batch of perfect macarons.  It's even easier to clean than I expected.

I have plans to make whoopie pies on my mat both big and mini! I was thinking you could use it for meringues too.

I hope you have found this rather long review helpful and I'd love to know your thoughts.

x x x

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Double Sided Macaron Mat Review & My Macaron Mat Diary