Easter Cupcakes

Luckily for me, I've been off work this week so I've had time to relax and do things I love that I may not have time to do normally.  This isn't at all cake related (and I like to gush about things I love in general) but I have watched four cycles of America's Next Top Model and loved it.  It always raises my spirits and I like the process of witnessing the models improve and blossom. It's interesting to watch if you have a love of fashion photography as you see how to move/place your body and play with the light to achieve the best results.  I do have the biggest girl crush on Tyra Banks though, she's inspirational and absolutely stunning and I think it's important to have positive role models.

Anyway, back to cake... ! I've had time to really sit down and play with the cake toys I've accumulated and found it very therapeutic.  I have OCD (obsessive cupcake disorder!) so I typically buy a lot of cake tools, some of which will take a lot of practise to master, but I like to aim high! My confidence has grown since starting the cake decorating and sugar craft course, so I dip my toe in the water that bit more as it grows. America's Next Top Model and Bruce Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball have been my soundtrack this week whilst baking and creating my Easter cupcakes.  I think it's made me more creative!  I ended up making three different designs.

Design 1:

The rabbit family

I think these are incredibly sweet and capture the essence of how I characterise Easter - spring time, flowers, Easter bunnies, family.

I embossed the letters with the typewriter effect set from Pretty Witty Cakes.

Design 2:

 Chocolate nests

 The humble Shredded Wheat nest! - a staple to all Easter baking.  

Nestled on top of a french swirl achieved by the Wilton 8B nozzle

 Design 3:

Easter egg hunt

 I adore the idea of an Easter egg hunt out in the country and the eternal child in me would love to take part in one - I tried to embody this by creating a garden, with a mystical toadstool, daisies and the beautifully domineering petunias.

Valentines Goodies

Last weekend was manic as I had my Valentines Day stall on the 13^th.  I spent the best part of two days baking cupcakes and cutting out pretty sugarpaste shapes. It was definitely the right time to test the array of cutters I'd bought over the last few months. The amount of cupcake goodies available is immense. Everything I've bought recently has been online – Pretty Witty Cakes and Purple Cupcakes. Brilliant products, service and delivery.  Got the odd goody from TK Maxx though as you can imagine! (that place is a treasure trove)  The best product from TK are the PME dove cutters. They're so beautiful and elegant.  However, my favourite buy of all has to be the silicone button mould.  Extremely easy to use and you can just pop the buttons out and they're perfectly formed.  

This is the end product - the buttons are made out of white chocolate and so tempting to nibble on!

So here is a sample picture of the cupcakes made for the Valentines stall.

Starting at the top left – Chocolate Orange, The Malt Teaser, Vanilla and Strawberry, Almond, Lemon, Chocolate and Vanilla and finally Raspberry Fluff and White Chocolate in the middle.

I love the contrast of the white dove against the purple buttercream. 

And then the stall set up

As you can see, I don't have many lemon cupcakes remaining in this picture! I wish I'd made more as they were the fastest seller. It's beneficial to hold these stalls regularly as you start to recognise what sells and what to do next time.

It was a fabulous event again and I'm very proud of myself.  Especially considering that this was the first time I've ever used sugarpaste too.  I will continue to use sugarpaste decorations in this way because of the lovely comments from my customers.  It definitely adds the wow factor.

P.S.  I'm starting a cake decorating and sugarcraft course on Monday! I'm really looking forward to learning more and spending time with fellow cake lovers.