Coco Pops Bear Cake

 

This is a fun and easy cake to make for a child's birthday cake, for a party or just for the family at home. My son helped me put this together for his 3rd birthday. That's right I've pulled this one out of the archives, but I really loved how cute it was. We had the cake for a teddy bears picnic themed party which is so easy to create.

Enjoy xxx
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Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Fresh strawberries make a beautiful summer cupcake. The strawberry shaped lollies on top of my cupcakes are from a lolly shop in Carlton and when I spotted them I just had to use them. They made an easy cupcake topper and were very popular with children and adults alike.

So what makes this cupcake so amazing? Two very important elements: An incredibly moist and light cake that’s loaded with tons of chopped fresh strawberries, and a strawberry buttercream that balances the cupcake perfectly . But don't just stop with strawberry cupcakes by starting with a light and moist vanilla cupcake and tweaking it with different seasonal fruits you can produce some amazing results.


Enjoy xxx
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Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes with Choc-Peppermint Twist Buttercream Frosting

 

 

Its a winning combination every time. Whether its a slice, a biscuit or a cake,  chocolate and peppermint are always a hit.

The cupcake itself looks intensely rich but when bitten in to is light and fluffy due to the butter milk and not overly chocolatey either (is that a word?)

 

The icing is choc- peppermint twist. The effect is created by taking a piping bag and half filling it with chocolate buttercream and then taking a second piping bag and half filling it with peppermint buttercream. The 2 bags are then placed in a larger piping bag fitted with a pipping nozzle and piped together, creating the twist. To finish it all off I placed a mini chocolate mint biscuit on top.



Enjoy xxx
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My Favourite Chocolate Buttercream for Cupcakes

 

I know that I'm saying that this is my favourite chocolate buttercream for cupcakes and it has been for quite sometime, but that doesn't mean I'm not open to other recipes.

There’s just something about the buttery, satiny smooth and sublime taste of this frosting. The combination of butter that is whipped, just enough icing sugar, and a moderate amount of chocolate makes this positively dreamy. It makes me want to lick the frosting off of the cupcakes and pass on the cupcakes themselves. It’s really that good.

You can easily play around with this basic recipe to make a milk  or white chocolate frosting. I just love everything about the texture and flavour ratios of this frosting. The key is giving the butter a good whipping before adding any other ingredients – it creates a fabulously soft and melt-in-your-mouth frosting.

Enjoy xxx
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Basic Buttercream Frosting

A great frosting for cakes and cupcakes alike is buttercream frosting.

I find that the secret to a light buttercream frosting is in the whipping. I'm sorry but a good buttercream requires a mixer. When making my buttercream frostings I whip the butter with the paddle attachment for a good 6 minutes before adding the sugar and flavourings. I mix them for a minute or 2 on low speed to combine the frosting and then I whip it all again for another 6 minutes to get a light texture to my buttercream.

Buttercream is a great frosting as it lends itself to any type of flavouring, be it essences, fresh fruit, crushed cookies or liqueurs. All you may need to adjust is the amount of icing sugar to get the consistency you need.

You can store any unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container; let it come to room temperature and then give it a quick whip in the mixer before using.

Enjoy xxx
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Orange and Poppy Seed Cupcakes

Cupcakes are perfect for every celebration. This particular celebration was my nephews 18th birthday in October.

My nephew Brandon is a an enthusiastic and talented cook and excels in baking. He made his own 18th birthday cake under the guidance of his bakery teacher at school and presented a delicious Ferrero Rocher mud cake complete with lashings of ganache and chocolate curls.....now I'm making myself hungry.

Anyway back to cupcakes, the beauty of cupcakes is that they can be plain or embellished to suit any occasion and theme. Yon only have to google cupcakes to see that you are only limited by your imagination when decorating these delicious morsels. From bite size to giant cupcakes, you decide the scale and intricacy of what is presented.

Enjoy xxx
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Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting

This easy and irresistible Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect topper for everything from carrot cake to red velvet. It not only tastes delicious but is perfect for piping and decorating your cakes or just dolloping on. Depending on the weather in your area you can always add a little more sifted icing sugar to stiffen it up if necessary.


Enjoy xxx
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Citrus Orange Whoopies

What a glorious Melbourne afternoon. Its so nice when spring arrives and you can once again open the windows and let the air flow through the house.

A perfect afternoon treat on a day such as this is a whoopie pie. Not quite a cake, not quite a biscuit. and definitely not a pie.  A whoopie is in a category all its own, however it delivers everything I need in a baked treat.  It has ample amounts of frosting like our beloved cakes and cupcakes; and it's small and compact enough to eat with our hands like a cookie.

Enjoy xxx
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