Tag: Green food colouring

Cupcake bouquet

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Ingredients

For the cakes:

  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • Zest 1 lemon
  • ½tsp lemon extract

For the leaves:

  • 50g fondant mixed 
  • Green food colouring
  • ¼tsp tylose powder (optional)

For the buttercream:

  • 1x 250g tub mascarpone
  • 80g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 400g icing sugar
  • ½tsp vanilla extract
  • Varied food colours for the roses

You will also need:

  • Deep mini muffin pan with 20 mini cupcake cases
  • Piping bags with Wilton 1M nozzle
  • Flower pot
  • Polystyrene ball – cut in half
  • Cocktail sticks
  • Small bag of salt or something to weigh the pot down
  • Tissue paper and ribbon
  • Double sided tape
  • Scissors
  • Mini rose leaf cutter

That’s goodtoknow

Food colouring gels are much better than using liquid as the liquid food colours make the buttercream runny

Method

For the cakes:

  1. The day before – add the tylose powder, if using, to the fondant and knead well. Add green food colour until you get your desired shade, roll to 1/8 of an inch thick and using the leaf cutter cut 40 leaves. Leave them to dry on greaseproof paper or a drying sponge but not in an airtight container or they won’t dry.
  2. To make the cakes, add all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat until smooth. Don’t overbeat or the mix will be greasy and your cases will peel. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Remove and cool for at least half an hour before assembling the bouquet.

For the buttercream:

  1. Beat the mascarpone and butter until light a fluffy then add the icing sugar a bit at a time until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat again. Don’t over beat or the icing may become runny.
  2. Divide into 4 and colour as you wish.

To assemble the bouquet:

  1. Start with decorating your pot. Wrap a piece of ribbon around the pot and stick down with double sided tape. Tie a bow with a piece of ribbon and stick over the join.
  2. Weigh the pot down with a food bag of salt/rocks from the garden etc.
  3. Lay the tissue paper over the top of the pot, Victoria used two squares and to make it look like flower paper. Push the halved polystyrene ball into the pot, pushing the paper down with it.
  4. Take the cocktail stick and prick a hole in the centre of the bottom of each cupcake.
  5. Push the cocktail sticks into the centre of the polystyrene ball. Push them half way in, then pop a cupcake onto the stick to hold it in place.
  6. Start in the middle, putting 6 cupcakes around the centre one and then filling in the gaps after that. If you run out of cakes, don’t worry, you can pin the paper up around the cakes to fill in any gaps. Once the bouquet is full, you can start to ice your cakes.
  7. Add the icing to your piping bag. Pipe 5 roses onto the cupcakes, starting in the centre and piping over what you already piped by millimetre. Then repeat with the other colours until all the cupcakes have been decorated. Watch our how to pipe cupcake roses video.
  8. Finish off by adding the rose leaves to fill any gaps. Store in a cool place and remember not in a window or the flowers will melt off the cakes.

By Victoria Threader
Victoria Threader on Google+

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St George’s Day cupcakes

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Ingredients

For the cakes:

  • 150g self-raising flour
  • 150g softened butter
  • 150g golden caster sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 3tbsp milk, room temperature

For the buttercream:

  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 200g icing sugar
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 ½tbsps milk

For the toppers:

  • 200g white ready-to-roll fondant
  • 250g flower/modelling paste (from Sainsbury’s)
  • Red food colouring
  • Green food colouring
  • Gold lustre
  • White alcohol

You will also need:

  • Deep muffin pan with 12 cupcake cases
  • Medium rose leaf cutter
  • Sharp knife
  • Food bag, cut open to create a folder
  • Alphabet clear stamps
  • Fine paint brush
  • 68mm circle cookie cutter

That’s goodtoknow

Once you’ve perfected these classic red roses you can make all different coloured ones for different occasions

Method

For the cakes:

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 and line your baking tray
  2. Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat until smooth. Don’t overbeat or the cakes will be greasy.
  3. Fill the cases and bake for 25 minutes
  4. Remove from the oven and cool in the tins for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack

For the buttercream:

  1. Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat until smooth, about 8 minutes with an electric hand whisk.

For the toppers:

  1. When the cakes have cooled, spread the buttercream on the tops of the cupcakes.
  2. Roll the fondant and cut 12x 68mm circles. Place one circle on each cupcake and smooth the edge with the tips of your fingers
  3. To make the rose: Colour 150g of modelling paste, red. Roll into a long sausage about 2cm thick. Cut 10 thin discs with a sharpe knife for each rose and pop them between the food bag with the bottom edge of the disc down. Close the food bag so it’s over the top of the discs. Press each disc with the heel of your hand and then smooth the top edges of the disc with your thumb to get a thinner edge. Once all the petals have been smoothed take one of the discs by pulling them up off the food bag from bottom to top, so you get the curve as you pull. Petal no.1 needs to be rolled from one side to the other, nice a tight to create the rose centre. With other petals, and with a brush of water, stick the petals over the joins as you build your rose, curling the top edges over and pinching slightly in the middle or the top of the petal. When you have finished, trim the excess off the bottom so your rose will sit flat on the cupcakes. Continue until you have 12 roses. Remember to keep the petals covered with the food bag until you are ready to use them.
  4. For the leaves: Colour 40g of paste green and roll quite thinly to cut 24x rose leaves with the cutter.
  5. For the banner: Roll 60g of modelling paste into thin strips and emboss ‘St George’s Day with the alphabet clear stamps. Trim them to size, cutting a triangle out from each end to finish it off. Once all 12 banners have been made, paint the letters with a fine brush by mixing the gold lustre with white alcohol to make a thick paint. Let the banners dry slightly (about half an hour) before popping onto the tops of the cupcakes.
  6. With a bush of water, stick 2 rose leaves, a rose and the banner to the tops of the cupcakes.

By Victoria Threader

What do you think of this recipe? Leave us your comments, twists and handy tips.

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