First Paid Batch!

Ekkk!! Soo as the title suggests I have been baking my first ever batch of cupcakes that someone ordered... well I say that, its actually my friend who I baked the giant cupcake for, but still! It's actually quite exciting having someone asking you to bake some cupcakes for them and with the added bonus of being paid to do so! Now with that excitement out of the way here are some photos... 

They are just my standard vanilla recipe but I ran out of vanilla essence so the icing is lemon butter cream! I actually love them, I'm not sure what I did different but the butter cream was so smooth when icing and am extremely happy with the outcome! 

I will dedicate this post to my lovely girl Zara and hope she had a wonderful birthday and loves all the cake! I'am also going to include a few photos of the night out and hope the girls loved the makeup I done for them (if I am not a weather girl or own a cupcake shop when I am older, a nail salon and makeup parlor will have to do!) 

Love you all x

Shhh... Zara's Birthday Cake

Evening! 

Today was spent baking my friend's surprise birthday cake for her 20th on Saturday!

She is obsessed with the colour turquoise so I have tried to take this on board. I previously, maybe around 3 years ago now, created a giant cupcake for her birthday in this colour and if I can I'll try and find a photo to compare! 

I find these cakes such a hassle to make however I am happier with this cake then my birthday cake I baked a few weeks back. The candy buttons worked in my favour as did the cake. I know it could be neater but nothings perfect in life :) 

It is filled with a Victoria sponge with vanilla buttercream and apricot jam.

Hope you like! 

Race for Life

Race for Life time tomorrow and for some silly reason that I know I'll regret in the morning I have not trained at all! Luckily its only a 5K run but I'll probably still feel like death afterwards! 

I baked some cute girly cupcakes for the event that have a pink sponge with some handmade flowers and vanilla butter cream :) 

Wish me luck xxx

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Before I start I would like to just mention that even though I thought my lemon cheesecake cupcakes were a disaster, they actually taste surprisingly nice and I have been having one for breakfast every day since!

So, I was planning on creating Mint Chocolate Chip cakes today, however the peppermint essence I had in the cupboard expired in 2001 and Tesco did not sell it so instead I have baked Lemon Meringue with homemade Lemon Curd filling! Enjoy! 

Stage 1: Bake the Cupcakes

Recipe: 

As per usual, measure your 2 or 3 eggs. Beat the margarine and caster sugar (same weight as the eggs) together until smooth and add each egg one by one. Add a drop of vanilla essence and 2 tsp of lemon rind (around 1 lemon). 

Sieve in the self raising flour (also the same weight as the eggs) then place in the muffin cases and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 20-25 until golden brown!

Step 2: Make the Lemon Curd

Recipe: 

You will need; 1 egg, 50 grams of stork/butter, 2 tsp of lemon rind, 60 ml of lemon juice and 100 grams of caster sugar. 

Combine ingredients into a small saucepan over low heat. Cook and stir for around 5 minutes until it has thickened and strain through a sieve. Place in a bowl with cling film over the top and cool in the fridge. 

 Step 3: Fill the cupcake

Once the cake and lemon curd have both cooled, using an apple core or a cupcake cutter, remove the center of the cake and fill with lemon curd. 

 Step 4: Make the Meringue

Recipe: 

You will need; 3 egg whites and 150 grams of sugar. 

Place the egg whites in a dry bowl ( I placed mine in the fridge to begin with) and whisk until firm peaks form. Add 1 dessert spoon of sugar at a time beating well in between. Spoon or pipe over the cake and transfer them onto a baking tray in a pre-heated grill until lightly golden brown. 

 Step 5: Decorate

I sprayed some Pearl Lustre Spray onto some cakes, whilst others I sprinkled fine yellow edible glitter!