Dora The Explorer Cupcakes!

Dec4

I was asked to do cupcakes for a little girl’s birthday party this week.  An easy task, I thought, as I know all the little girl themes, Barbie, Hello Kitty etc but when the mom asked me to do Dora the Explorer for her little girl I said Dora the who……?  After recovering from the shock of having aged so much that I have lost track of all the new kids shows I had a look at pictures on google of this little Dora character.  I am pleased to say that I have obviously not aged too drastically as I found her to be quite a delightful and fun character and I will definitely be catching up on some of her shows once my baking for the silly season is over.  Dora herself was not easy to recreate in sugar paste at short notice but I noticed she had some friends who are stars so I decided to make these for the cupcakes.

Dora the Explorer Cupcakes

Dora the Explorer Cupcakes

I made different coloured stars with little eyes and drew a smile on each one with my edible pen.  I put the stars on the cupcakes with coloured sprinkles and glitter and then added a ‘snowglobe’ over each cupcake.  These were simple to do as I painted the inside of each dome with tylose and then sprinkled them with white hundreds and thousands.  They looked really cute and I hope I was able to do this delightful character justice with these cupcakes.  Right what number is Disney channel again…..?

Dora the Explorer Cupcakes

Dora the Explorer Cupcakes

Jazzy Cupcakes for Julia

Nov27
Blue, Lime green, Purple Flower Cupcakes

Blue, Lime green, Purple Flower Cupcakes

Julia had her 15th birthday party in a delightful Christmas garden setting on Friday night.  I made these cupcakes a little different and jazzy to suit her personality.  I cut out flowers using 3 different size cutters of the same shape flower.  I embossed all the flowers with a spiral embossing sheet just for some added funky texture and then placed a smaller flower onto a larger one completing them with a centre of pearl beads and a sparkle of glitter.

Blue, Lime green, Purple Flower Cupcakes

Blue, Lime green, Purple Flower Cupcakes

I iced the chocolate cupcakes with a lime green icing to match the green of some of the flowers and pearls and the vanilla I iced with a white vanilla icing so there was a contrast of colours in the cupcake display.  Congratulations Julia and thank you for trusting me to do these cupcakes for your party.

Teaching is an Art!

Nov24

As my daughter, Ceire, nears the end of her primary school years I was thinking of the best way to acknowledge the teachers who have been such a vital and integral part of her life for the last 7 years.  The word primary has so many different meanings but I have looked at it as usual in the context of colour.  An artist takes 3 primary colours and mixes them in different ways to create a palette of colours with which to create his masterpiece.  A primary school teacher takes 3 primary ingredients, their students, their knowledge and the school setting and combines these to create the unique child who is ready to say goodbye to their primary school years and move readily into their high school years.

At Trinityhouse School 7 years ago the teachers met a new colour called Ceire and managed to allow her colourful and vibrant, often mischievous personality to develop and flourish. She was a canvas that was not a quiet one, a canvas they probably tore their hair out over often and at the same time a canvas that brought a smile to their faces.  They all persevered and with their energy, dedication and enthusiasm in teaching Ceire and her class mates they have completed their works of art for 2011.  As these children move forward into the next episode of their lives they will take the artistic spirit inherited from their teachers and hopefully create gorgeous splashes of colour and creativity in their respective High Schools.  Thank you to all the Trinityhouse Primary School teachers, you know who you are who cared and made a difference in the lives of your students.  

Now you are saying that is great but where are the cupcakes?  Here are the thank you boxes of cupcakes I made for the teachers.  Half vanilla and half chocolate in case any of them are fussy, and decorated with Christmas coloured decorations!  

Christmas Cupcakes for Teachers

Christmas Cupcakes for Teachers

“What a teacher writes on the blackboard of life can never be erased”- Author Unknown.

Christmas Cupcakes for Teachers

Christmas Cupcakes for Teachers

Snowglobe Christmas Cupcakes

Nov23

The Cake Boss is nearly a household name after having been aired on South African Television for a while now and I am sure I am not the only baker to have been inspired by his creations and to have picked up  a few ideas from his programmes.  One episode in particular grabbed my attention when he was designing a cake with a polar bear theme. He used crushed mint humbugs in his icing to compliment the theme of the icy polar bear cake and I thought this was pure genius.  Of course then I hunted for mint humbugs which I found had become extinct here in SA.  The idea was filed to the back of my brain until recently when Woolworths brought out yes you guessed it, Mint Humbugs, in the most delightful Christmas packaging.

Snowglobe Cupcakes (Humbugs
Snowglobe Cupcakes (Humbugs

I thought that using the crushed humbugs in the icing would be a perfect idea for a snowglobe Christmas cupcake.  I wanted to make these cupcakes after being inspired by  a cupcake post on Bakerella.  Take time to click on this post as these cupcakes are the essence of Christmas Delight!  Immediately after reading the post I searched our supermarket shelves for a plastic bottle with a similar shape to the Coca Cola one for the dome for these cupcakes.  I found 2 which I planned to cut to shape but they were quickly recycled once empty  – good to know my recycling drive is working so well in the house – but for once I wouldn’t have minded if the bottle had been around a bit longer!  Again it was by chance that I found the most delightful red polka dot cupcake cases with their own domed lid, (Kadees, Fourways).  Perfect for my snowglobe cupcakes.

I made vanilla cupcakes and iced them with my new found humbugs crushed into vanilla icing.  I did add a drop of peppermint essence for an extra kick.  I made a small teddy with a bow and placed him on the iced cupcake.  To complete the snowglobe look, I painted tylose onto the inside of the dome and then sprinkled white sprinkles into the dome.  They stuck quite easily and the loose ones dropped out onto the cupcake as I placed the dome over the teddy and cupcake. (You could also use glitter on the inside of the dome for a non Christmas theme).  These cupcakes are quite small as I haven’t found the dome in a bigger size yet but they look really cute.

Snowglobe Cupcake - Red Teddy

Snowglobe Cupcake - Red Teddy

I tried the snowglobe cupcakes out using a pink and white striped cupcake holder and pink and white teddies too!

Snowglobe Pink Teddies Cupcakes

Snowglobe Pink Teddies Cupcakes

Lindt Chocolate Cupcakes

Nov22
Lindt Chocolate Cupcakes

Lindt Chocolate Cupcakes

I now know that any bar of chocolate can inspire me to make cupcakes – I just have to make sure I don’t eat it before I get the inspiration.  I wanted a treat for my family on Sunday after them seeing all the orders go out on Saturday wondering if they were going to get any cupcakes at all.  There is an easy formula for making these cupcakes. First cut off as many little blocks of chocolate you will need for each cupcake and then melt the rest gently over a double boiler.  Fold the melted chocolate into your vanilla icing.  You can either mix it in completely to give the icing a light chocolate brown colour or you can mix it in just enough to give a marbled effect which I have done in the photo above.  Pipe your icing onto the cupcake and then top with a block of the Lindt chocolate.  You will love the way the dark Lindt chocolate contrasts with the sweetness of the cupcake and the icing.  The only dilemma you may have while eating this cupcake is: do you eat the chocolate block first, do you leave it till the very last bite or do you bite into it as you reach the middle of the cupcake?    Now I can’t wait to try something with some of the other Lindt chocolate flavours!  Any ideas?

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