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Beautiful Cupcakes for Beautiful Women

Nov10

Thanks to Wendy, my funky friend and blogging guru, I have learned how to have separate galleries for my cupcakes so it is easier to look for a cupcake for a particular theme or occasion.  I have divided the main gallery into cupcakes for boys, for girls and others.  I can’t wait to experiment and expand on my Taste Sensations Gallery so look out for some interesting cupcakes in this gallery in the future.  Another new gallery is the Cupcakes for the Beautiful Woman in Your Life and thanks to orders this weekend I have some lovely pics for this gallery.

Small Bright Flower Cupcakes

Small Bright Flower Cupcakes

I had an order for a birthday clebration from one of the beautiful women I have met recently who was so excited about my cupcakes she ordered a variety for her birthday celebration at work.  These are my vanilla cupcakes looking quite pretty with 3 small bright flowers on them.

Lime Green & Yellow Flower Cupcakes

Lime Green & Yellow Flower Cupcakes

I made these for another birthday celebration and tried a new technique I learned on you tube.  The technique is used to grade the colour of clay for clay modelling and I gave it a bash with the sugar paste – not as easy as clay dries less quickly but I was pleased with the result and know that with practise I will be able to come up with some lovely creations.  I’ll have to get back to you on the name of the technique as it is well worth having a look at and quite simple to do.  I chose lime green and yellow and graded these 2 colours together for the rose and flowers on these cupcakes and I thought the result was different, beautiful and funky at the same time!

Dusty Rose Cupcakes

Dusty Rose Cupcakes

All I was told about the lady whose birthday these cupcakes were for was that she loves flowers and vintage colours.  I chose a dusty pink colouring to colour the sugarpaste for these roses and butterflies and combined them with an ivory rose for effect.  The food colourings available are amazing and almost any colour can be matched to suit the theme or decor of the day.  I ended off the weekend with some beautiful rock rose cupcakes but will blog these at a later stage.

So to all those Beautiful Women in my Life who are a constant source of inspiration, friendship, fun and support a huge thank you to you all!

Ghoulish Halloween Cupcakes

Oct31

Everyone always seems to be more organised for events than I am.  I have had plenty of forewarning for halloween with black, orange and green halloween sweets, drinks and decorations in all the shops and plenty of planned ‘ Trick or Treating’ over the weekend in the neighbourhood.  Even with all the lead up to the day I only had some strips of Woolworths ghoulish dracula sweet teeth and I wanted to make some ghoulish halloween cupcakes for tonight.

Here was my plate of ingredients for my cupcakes: chocolate cupcakes, raspberry syrup and dracula sweet teeth. These  sweets from Woolworths are particularly yummy.

Halloween Cupcake Ingredients

Halloween Cupcake Ingredients

I spooned the delicious raspberry syrup over the cupcakes fresh and hot from the oven.  I wanted an extra texture to the halloween cupcake hence my idea to try the syrup as a thick layer on top of the cupcake.  The syrup was another one of the new products I found at the Good Food and Wine Show.   This particular syrup is thick and really fruity and not too sweet.  It formed a beautiful glaze over the cupcakes.

Halloween Cupcakes
Halloween Cupcakes

The final act for this halloween drama was to ice the cupcakes with vanilla icing and decorate them with the dracula sweet teeth and a few drops of sugarpaste blood.  Here are my completed ghoulish halloween cupcakes.  My family loved them and the raspberry syrup just gave them the edge to my traditional chocolate cupcakes.  I was really scared after eating the first one…….really scared that I would eat too many they were that gorgeous!

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween Cupcakes

Bite into these cupcakes if you dare!

Breast Cancer Awareness Breakfast at Benvenuto

Oct25
Breast Cancer Awareness Cupcakes

Breast Cancer Awareness Cupcakes

Benvenuto hosted another breakfast last Friday and the theme this time was Breast Cancer Awareness.  The function room was once again beautifully decorated by Belinda from Giani’s Function Decor and the guests were invited to a delicious breakfast and informational talks by different guests.  The money raised for CANSA amounted to R 4190.00 and once again the morning was a huge success.

Breast Cancer Awareness Cupcakes

Breast Cancer Awareness Cupcakes

I was invited to display my cupcakes and for the morning I decided on pink sugar paste Cancer Awareness ribbons and roses  for some of the cupcakes.  To add something different to my sugar paste decorated cupcakes I made cupcake toppers using scrapbook paper and embellishments to make flowers and tags for the toppers.  I finished off each topper with a ribbon and wording and stuck them onto a white lollipop stick.  The cupcake toppers added a pretty visual height to the display.

Only In South Africa

Oct24

We have finally come to the end of the Rugby World Cup and well done to New Zealand on Sunday – a close score but delighted they won.   The Springboks did us proud even though it was sad to see them come home too early.  How will we all know what to wear on Fridays now?  It was during the Rugby World Cup mania that Kerry asked me to do cupcakes for her 21st birthday.  The theme was Only in South Africa and she wanted South African themed cupcakes to celebrate her special day.

I made sugar paste rugby balls and painted them the Springbok colours as Kerry is an ardent Springbok supporter.  I made soccer shirts and scarves and added soccer balls and flags to some of the cupcakes. 

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

 What would South African cupcakes be without the famous Vuvuzela?  I made some vuvuzelas from sugar paste and added them to the cupcakes with a soccer ball to complete the South African Bafana Bafana theme cupcakes.  The rugby shirts and scarves I made with green sugar paste and added the yellow stripe detail with Rolkem edible colouring.

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

We certainly have one of the brightest and most colourful flags in the world and to show off these colours I took the idea from my mexican cupcakes where I painted mexican scarves and I painted South African scarves for these cupcakes.  They came out so brilliantly colourful.  They brought back memories of 2010 and all the supporters in their South African hats and scarves.

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

 I always love an excuse to pay a visit to my favourite chocolate shop – Geldhof and it was there I found these chocolate kruger rands covered in gold foil.  I know they are not strictly sugar art but what is a girl’s party without a bit of bling?

Cupcakes with South African Kruger Rands

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Just for a bit more bling and some laughs, Kerry suggested Zapiro shower heads on some of the cupcakes.  Not an easy call as to get them to look like shower heads and to stand in the cupcakes was not easy.  I made sugar paste shower heads and painted them silver and atttached a thin piece of wire into them to stand them into the cupcakes.  Finished off with the SA flag I am sure they added a few giggles to the party!  Thanks Kerry for trusting me with your 21st birthday cupcake order I loved the challenge of your Only in South Africa theme.

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Zapiro Shower Head Cupcakes


 

Home Sweet Home for Michelle’s Birthday

Oct6

Michelle is a very good friend of mine (not only because she loves my cupcakes) but also because she is such a generous and genuine person.  She has all the character traits of a fantastic friend as she is kind, helpful, a great listener, loads of fun and a great wife and mother too.  When I was going through ideas for a surprise birthday cake for her there were so many different ideas I came up with as Michelle loves nature and beautiful and creative things.  I decided on this Little House and Flower Garden cake as I found a delightful pan to bake the cake in and it was appropriate for her with her doing renovations to her home at the moment.  Maybe we can do another one for the house-warming Michelle!

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

I baked a square cake and iced it with Michelle’s favourite coffee icing.  I iced the 2 house cakes together with the same icing and then placed them on the cake with lolly stickers in for extra support.  The roof I iced with the same coffee icing and then used green icing for the grass and caramel sweets for stepping stones.  I added a sugarpaste door and shutters for the windows and then added sugarpaste window boxes with red flowers and ‘planted’ pink and white roses and flowers in the garden.

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

We celebrated Michelle’s birthday at the Memory Shed and once again it was the perfect setting and perfect group of scrapbookers for Michelle to celebrate another year being wiser.

Little House & Flower Garden Cake (Michelle & Lisa)

Little House & Flower Garden Cake (Michelle & Lisa)

 

 

 

Rose Petal Syrup Cupcakes

Sep26

Friday morning was a brilliant morning for me at the Good Food and Wine show at the Dome.  It was brilliant to visit each of the stands and see, smell and taste the beautiful food and drink on display at the show.  I sampled everything from olives to champagne and have to admit it was great fun.  As usual I was more excited to taste the sweeter samples including fudge,  chocolate and toffee but it was while sampling camembert cheese that I found this delicious Rose Petal Syrup.  La Petite France Rose Petal Syrup comes in a beautiful little jar but what a delight to sample something so fragrantly delicious.

Rose Petal Syrup (La Petite France)

Rose Petal Syrup (La Petite France)

This syrup was devine on the camembert but for me the challenge was to try the syrup on my cupcakes.  I made vanilla cupcakes  and then a cream and cream cheese icing to which I added a little of the syrup.  After I iced the cupcake with this icing I then drizzled a little of the syrup over the cupcakes.  The result as you will see is a beautiful looking cupcake with a gorgeous aroma of rose petals and they tasted as brilliant as they looked.  The petals in the syrup have a wonderful soft texture and are a real surprise to the taste buds when you bite into the icing.  

Rose Petal Syrup Cupcakes)

Rose Petal Syrup Cupcakes