Info: Cupcakes
Cupcakes are just muffins covered in icing and that you could decorate them.
Cupcakes are so sweet and delicious.
Cupcakes are just so delicious and sometimes you just can't live without them.
Recipe for Twinkling Star Cupcakes (Picture of cupcakes below)
Ingredients
For the decorations
- 250 g ready-to-roll white icing
- claret and mint green edible paste food colouring
- small silver coloured dragees
- edible glitter, such as Disco white hologram by Edable Art
For the cupcakes
- 115 g softened butter, cubed
- 115 g golden caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 125 g self-raising flour
- 25 g ground almonds
- ½ tsp almond extract
For the icing
- 250 g fondant icing sugar
- claret and mint green edible paste food colouring
Method 1. For the decorations: slice off a quarter of the ready-to-roll icing (wrap the rest to prevent it drying out) then colour one half of it pastel pink and one half pastel green. Wrap both colours in cling film.
2. On a work surface lightly sprinkled with icing sugar, roll out the reserved white icing. Cut out 12 white stars using an 8cm diameter star cutter. (You will need to re-roll the trimmings.) Place a 3.5-4cm star cutter in the centre of one star and cut out a smaller star, so you have a large cut-out star and a smaller star. Repeat to give 12 cut-out and 12 smaller white stars. Keep re-rolling the trimmings to give you enough white stars.
3. Press a few silver dragees into the smallest white stars and lay all the stars on a large board lined with baking parchment.
4. Using a 5-5.5cm star cutter, roll out the pink and green icings and cut out 6 stars from each colour. Lay them by the white stars, brush each one with a little edible glitter, then leave them all to dry and firm up, about 1½-2 hrs.
5. For the cupcakes: preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole bun tin with silver paper cases.
6. Tip the butter, sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat together with an electric hand mixer for 1½-2 minutes until the mixture is light and well mixed. Using a large metal spoon, lightly fold in the ground almonds and almond extract.
7. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and bake for 20 minutes until risen. Leave in the tin for a couple of minutes, then lift the cakes onto a wire rack and leave until cold.
8. For the icing: stir about 2 tablespoons water into the fondant icing sugar to give a smooth, thickish icing. Remove half to a second bowl and colour one batch pastel pink and the other pastel green, using the edible food colourings. Spoon the icings over the cooled cakes so that the tops are almost covered and leave to set for a few minutes.
9. Arrange one large white star, one medium coloured star (using pink stars on the green iced cakes, and green stars on the pink iced ones) then one small white star on top of each cupcake, securing with a little of the fondant icing if necessary.
2. On a work surface lightly sprinkled with icing sugar, roll out the reserved white icing. Cut out 12 white stars using an 8cm diameter star cutter. (You will need to re-roll the trimmings.) Place a 3.5-4cm star cutter in the centre of one star and cut out a smaller star, so you have a large cut-out star and a smaller star. Repeat to give 12 cut-out and 12 smaller white stars. Keep re-rolling the trimmings to give you enough white stars.
3. Press a few silver dragees into the smallest white stars and lay all the stars on a large board lined with baking parchment.
4. Using a 5-5.5cm star cutter, roll out the pink and green icings and cut out 6 stars from each colour. Lay them by the white stars, brush each one with a little edible glitter, then leave them all to dry and firm up, about 1½-2 hrs.
5. For the cupcakes: preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole bun tin with silver paper cases.
6. Tip the butter, sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat together with an electric hand mixer for 1½-2 minutes until the mixture is light and well mixed. Using a large metal spoon, lightly fold in the ground almonds and almond extract.
7. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and bake for 20 minutes until risen. Leave in the tin for a couple of minutes, then lift the cakes onto a wire rack and leave until cold.
8. For the icing: stir about 2 tablespoons water into the fondant icing sugar to give a smooth, thickish icing. Remove half to a second bowl and colour one batch pastel pink and the other pastel green, using the edible food colourings. Spoon the icings over the cooled cakes so that the tops are almost covered and leave to set for a few minutes.
9. Arrange one large white star, one medium coloured star (using pink stars on the green iced cakes, and green stars on the pink iced ones) then one small white star on top of each cupcake, securing with a little of the fondant icing if necessary.
