Baking Bonanza!

It's been one week since the wedding baking bonanza began!  For those of you who are curious, it was a great success and a total of four flavours were made because the three way tie was never broken.  In total 60 regular sized  cupcakes and 98 baby cupcakes were enjoyed by all. Big thanks to Scott Thieu for taking some lovely pics of my tasty little treats. 

Although I made four kinds, the winner of the cupcake flavour vote was the White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake by a landslide!  So of course I made WAY more of those than anything else and I think they were first to disappear from the stands and trays. And for all you wedding guests who wanted the recipe for my White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake, stay tuned, it's the next to be featured.

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White Chocolate, Passion Fruit and Peach Cupcake

Well, it looks like we have a three way tie for second in the cupcake flavour voting for my friends' wedding.  Right now it's between the Berry-Lemony Cupcake, the Lemon Coconut Cupcake, and the White Chocolate, Passion Fruit, and Peach Cupcake flavours.  To help with the decision making, here's the recipe for the White Chocolate, Passion Fruit, and Peach Cupcake. But first, to make this sunshine, summer delight you'll need ...

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water)
• Store bought Vanilla Icing
• 4 ounces White Chocolate
• 1 cup of Passion Fruit and Peach Curd (some for the batter and some for the top of your cupcake - I bought this at the grocery store)
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional) 

And now the recipe...

Step 1: Follow the directions of your White Cake Mix - from preheating your oven through to adding the eggs, oil, water, etc.  You'll notice that White Cake Mixes call for egg whites only and not the whole egg.  I usually don't bother with that and add the whole egg.  Mix together the batter until smooth. 

Step 2: Now it's time to add some sunshine flavour.  Add 1/2 cup of Passion Fruit and Peach Curd and mix it into the batter until fully incorporated. Melt 4 ounces of White Chocolate and slowly mix it into your batter.  Be careful not to burn your White Chocolate.  I would recommend melting it in a double boiler.  Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake as directed on the package.  Once they are done baking, let them cool completely.

Step 3: While the cupcakes are cooling, why not make the icing?  Using you mixer, mix your vanilla icing and butter on high until smooth.  Give your icing a taste and if it's too buttery for your liking, add in some icing sugar.

Step 4: To assemble your cupcakes with the icing and Passion Fruit and Peach Curd you can be as creative as you like.  I decided to make my Passion Fruit and Peach Curd the hero by piping my vanilla icing on in the shape of a bowl.  Then I filled the centre with the Passion Fruit and Peach Curd - TA DA! 


Happy Faking!

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Vote for Wedding Cupcake Flavour

This summer I will be baking for two FAB weddings!  Before I type anymore details, let me clarify that I do not typically bake for weddings, or any events for that matter, only for friends. So thank you for thinking of me for your lovely celebration, but I'm not in the business of baking for a living. Now with that out of the way...

My first wedding is only two weekends away.  I've been asked to make a white or vanilla based cupcake, but other than that, they're good with what ever.  I have a few ideas that I thought I'd put to a vote. So if you're invited to "said" wedding, you may want to weigh in. And if you're not, feel free to vote anyways.  Some of the recipes I've made before, others will be new experiments...oh the fun of it all!

To vote, simply look to the far right of this site and click up to two flavours.  I'm planning on making two kinds...maybe three.  If you have another idea for a favour, just post a comment and I'll add it to the voting list.  In the mean time, I'll share my recipe for the White Chocolate, Passion Fruit and Peach Cupcake next.

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Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcake

I LOVE Nutella!  It's delicious!  I also LOVE cream cheese icing.  So of course I had to combine my two loves into a cupcake!  If you're like me, you'll want to double the icing recipe so that you can add as much as possible on top of you cupcake and maybe even have some extra icing left over for later...mmmmm.  For this yummy recipe you'll need...   

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water
• 1 cup of Nutella split between the batter AND Cream Cheese Icing (PLUS more for the top of your cupcake cuz you can never have too much Nutella)
• 1 - 8oz package of Cream Cheese (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup of Butter (room temperature)
• 2 teaspoons of Vanilla
• Icing Sugar 
• Garnish: Whole Hazelnut

On to the recipe...

Step 1: Follow the directions of your White Cake Mix - from preheating your oven through to adding the eggs, oil, water, etc.  You'll notice that your White Cake Mix (most likely) calls for egg whites only and not the whole egg.  I don't bother with that and add the whole egg.  Mix together the batter until smooth. 

Step 2: Now let's add the best creation ever to go on your sliced bread - or what ever really.  Add 1/2 cup of Nutella and mix it into the batter until fully incorporated. Spoon your batter into the cupcake liners and bake as directed on the package.  Once they are done baking, let them cool completely.

Step 3: Time to make my FAVOURITE  icing...cream cheese!  Beat the Cream Cheese, 1/2 cup of Nutella, and Butter together until fully incorporated.  Add in the vanilla and slowly add in icing sugar until it tastes the way you like it.  Make sure that your icing is mixed well and is smooth.  You may want to double this depending on how much icing you want to top your cupcakes with.   

Step 4: Take your cooled cupcakes and spread some Nutella over the top.  Place you icing into a piping bag.  You could spoon or spread it on, but it's tricky with the layer of Nutella.  Pipe on as much icing as you want!  I garnished my cupcake with a whole hazelnut, but you really don't need anything to top this yummy cupcake off.  Remember, you should refrigerate these if you don't plan to eat them that day or if it's really warm out.

Happy Faking!

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Cupcake Stands Stand Trial

Sure, you've got a cake stand, but how do you fit all those delicious little cupcakes on one tiny little cake stand.  Fear not, there are lots of cupcake stands - also known as cupcake trees - out there to display your tiny little pieces of tasty art!  But you should be careful when choosing the perfect stand for your cupcake. 

Wire Cupcake Stand
The wire cupcake stand comes in all different styles, sizes and designs.  Depending on just how many cupcakes you want to display, look for something that doesn't require too many to fill the tree or it will look pretty bare.  But that's the no brainer in your decision making.  The three biggest things to watch for are: 1) how much room is between the levels, 2) how much overlap each layer has, and 3) how level and sturdy each holder is.  Why are these three things so important?  One sugar filled reason - ICING.  Depending on how high you like to pile on your icing, you may not be able to perfectly display your cupcake without loosing some of your icing.  Whether it's interferences form the wire stand, a cupcake layered too close above, or a slanted tier that results in the cupcake toppling over, you have to be careful to choose the right wire stand for your icing style.   

Full Bottom Tiered Cupcake Stand
The full tiered cupcake stand is quite handy because it will display mini cupcakes and regular sized cupcakes without looking odd and off balance.  But, like the wire cupcake rack, there are some similar watch outs. When looking to buy this stand look at: 1) how much display room each layer has, 2) how much space is between each tier and, 3) how much overlap each layer has. Why are these three things so important to look at?  Well, just like the wire rack, if you like to pile your icing high, your tiers may interfere with your icing.  But, more importantly, you may not be able to fit many cupcakes on each level if you buy a stand that has a very shallow display space making for a sparse spread.

Disposable Cupcake Stand

Not looking to buy a stand just yet?  Don't worry, you have a few options.  The first is the cardboard disposable cupcake stand.  You can't really be too choosy with this stand, but it will let you display your cupcakes in tiers.  Your second option is to rent a stand.  Lots of catering shops and bakeries will actually rent you a cupcake stand!  The third option to getting your hands on a cupcake stand is to beg or borrow off of a friend or colleague.  But no matter what stand you use or where you get it, be sure to see just how high you can pile that icing before you start to layer it on.  If you're anything like me, you like to add a lot...especially when it's cream cheese icing like in my Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcake.

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