I've been playing with my new toys!

As posted previously I went wild and bought some new cupcake adoring ephemera...
Here are my first experiments with what I bought.  Everything is white as I didn't want to buy or dye icing just for having a play - although I do think there is something quite sleek about the plain white...

First of all, the plain domed cupcake - this is fondant icing over the top of buttercream icing - a la small things iced.

Next, the plained domed cupcake with a cut out butterfly.

Then I tried out the fondant imprinting sheets to see how they worked - first the stars, and then the butterflies, and I was very pleased with the effect!

 

 

Then I did some cupcakes iced Hummingbird Bakery stylee and topped with a flower (from my flowers cutter) and with pink chocolate roses made in my new chocolate rose mold! (the chocolate was white choc which I dyed with food colouring).

 

 

The Giant has landed...

I went wild and in a crazy moment of inspiration for what to make for my birthday cake (coming soon) I bought a giant cupcake cake mould...  This was ok, it was from Ebay, but new and was very reasonably priced.  What did the damage was the trip to the specialist baking accessories shop to buy 'just a few bits and pieces' and coming out significantly lighter in the purse, but with some essentials (flower cutters, butterfly cutters, cupcake cases, fondant imprint sheets etc)...
Here is my first attempt - cake only.  I have since bought some 'cake release' to ensure the cakes come out smoothly from the mold AND I need to fill the cake mold a little higher to ensure the cake is the full size.

Just to note - the top is vanilla and the bottom is chocolate (not burned!!).

Look what I've been made!!!

My very talented knitting vicar friend spotted a knitting pattern for a cupcake baby hat and mittens, and so set about re-creating the items!  I think the hat is fabulous!

Some cakes...

Here are some I have made this week.  First of all, some cupcakes for a birthday cake for my friends 4 year old who was in the area visiting at the time of his birthday.

After this I had to try a recipe for a Nigel Slater apple and marmalade cake that I was given by a friend - it was lovely... so lovely that I forgot to take a picture of the cake before we had sampled it and shared it with other people - hence the photo of rather less than a whole cake...

And... in a bid to make up for lost time (!) and to say thank you to some friends for a whole load of baby stuff that they gave us, I also made a chocolate cake.  This was my trusty bero recipe rich chocolate cake, which I iced with the chocolate frosting recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.  The photo below is of cake to exactly the same recipe and iced with the icing that I made, but made by my mum, as I forgot to take a picture of the one that I made and we have always made some cakes to the same recipes... and again, I had forgotten to take a photo before dashing out with the cake (and helping to eat it).

Small things iced...

Just a little note to point out the beauty and creativity that is the examples on small things iced - I am in love, and very envious of the beautiful rounded tops on the cupcakes!  Small things iced

The bun in the oven was a little cupcake!

The reason I have been so lax in both the blogging and the cooking recently is due to the arrival of a little girl in the cupcake fest household.  This has had the result that our world is turning pink... and we are loving every minute.  Normal service will be resumed shortly, although I am already having thoughts about what to make for a christening cake!....