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Sun in my Pocket/Locnville Cupcakes

Nov19

A perfect sequel to my last post Hot Hot Hot Cupcakes – here is the inspiration behind my Sun in my Pocket/Locnville cupcakes.  I delivered the Ice-cream cupcakes to Lisa at the Memory Shed on Wednesday.  While I was diligently and noisily scrapbooking a young girl, Carmen, came up to me and asked me if I had made the cupcakes as she needed some for her birthday party.  She new exactly how many she needed and I agreed and then asked her what the theme of her party was to which she replied – Locnville.  At 43 I am pleased to say yes I know who they are but it was difficult to come up with any immediate idea for cupcakes for Carmen.  I said I would do music notes for her as she was so excited about her cupcake order and her party.  Carmen I must say is definitely the most delightful client I have had so far and I was inspired to do something a little bit out of the box for this very confident 10 year old.  My trusty research technique is google so off I went into cyberspace and you might have guessed it I was reminded that Locnville’s first song was “Sun in my Pocket” .  I was so excited to translate this into sugar art and thought that these decorations would appeal to the joyful spirit in Carmen.

Sun in my Pocket Cupcake Sugar Art

Sun in my Pocket Cupcake Sugar Art

I made the suns using sugar paste which I coloured yellow and orange and used a sculpey clay flexible push mold to mold them.  For the pockets I coloured sugar paste a denim blue and cut out squares which I then shaped into pockets.  I added the stitching detail and popped them over the suns while they were still soft.  By then I was so impressed with myself I was actually humming the song to myself – not sure if I should be admitting this to you all!  I iced chocolate cupcakes with my delicious vanilla icing and added a Locnville pocket to each cupcake along with a music note.

Sun in my Pocket Cupcakes/Locnville Cupcakes

Sun in my Pocket Cupcakes/Locnville Cupcakes

I didn”t see Carmen when I delivered these cupcakes but I am sure her and her friends loved them today and knowing her she had a brilliant birthday celebration with her friends and was proud to give each friend a cupcake to take home.  If by now you are humming this catchy Locnville tune to yourself then I will know that Carmen’s spirit has touched not only me but you guys too.  To a delightful young client it was a pleasure to meet you and do business with you and thank you for the inspiration behind these Sun in my Pocket Cupcakes and I am certain that you are a  pocket full of sunshine in the lives of all around you.

Sun in my Pocket Cupcakes/Locnville Cupcakes

Sun in my Pocket Cupcakes/Locnville Cupcakes

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!

70th Birthday Cupcakes

Oct28

It was a privilege to make these cupcakes for Allison’s mom’s 70th birthday on Saturday evening.  Allison is a trained chef and makes the most gorgeous cakes so it is a really compliment from her to have her recommend my cupcakes and then to trust me to do them for her mom’s special day.   We have been friends since our boys were still small and cute – around 15 years now.  I like to remember the good old days when I would just pop in for tea with Allison and there was always something delectable to sample in her kitchen.  Thanks Al for all the laughs then and it is always great to meet up with you for more laughs and stories.  Al is now General Manager at Benvenuto and it has been great fun to display my cupcakes at their breakfast functions.  The function room is always so beautifully and professionally decorated and Allison as always is such a fun and organized host to her guests.

Lime Green & Pink Pistachio Cupcakes

Lime Green & Pink Pistachio Cupcakes

Ada wanted a variety of cupcakes for her guests and it was great as she gave me carte blanche with flavours and decorations.  With this in mind I made pistachio and rosewater cupcakes which have turned out to be a hit whenever I do them.  As Ada loves beautiful things I decorated these, in keeping with the flavours, with hand made sugar paste roses and lime green butterflies.

Lime Green & Pink Pistachio Cupcakes

Lime Green & Pink Pistachio Cupcakes

I didn’t have to match colours for the cupcake display so the 2nd flavour I decide on was dark chocolate and strawberry.  I made chocolate cupcakes and to the icing I added a bar of melted dark chocolate which gave the icing a rich chocolate colour and a delectable chocolate taste.  The topping for these cupcakes were strawberries just to celebrate summer finally being here.  I drizzled melted dark chocolate over some of the strawberries.

Strawberry & Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Strawberry & Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

One of my favourites to make are cappucino cupcakes.  I think it is because the icing with the espresso in is just so moreish.  I made these for the coffee lovers and topped them with a chuckle each.

Cappucino Chuckle Cupcakes

Cappucino Chuckle Cupcakes

The last flavour I chose was Amarula.  I made vanilla cupcakes to which I added Amarula and then iced them with icing which I had also laced with Amarula.  The colour of the icing changes as you add the Amarula and looks so delightfully creamy on the cupcake.  I added a small yellow flower to these cupcakes and my usual sprinkling of a bit of bling (edible glitter) to finish them off.  They looked really funky in these new yellow with white polka dot cupcake holders I found at Baking Bitz in Randburg.

Amarula Cupcakes

Amarula Cupcakes

Thanks Al and Ada for allowing me to do these cupcakes for such a special occasion and I was so pleased to hear that your friends and family all loved the cupcakes.

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