CAKE HE AVEN
TechniqueFocus★★★T
hese springtime cupcake toppers
are super simple to put together, yet
so effective. You can make larger
versions for bigger cakes and they also
work well on round cookies. In this project,
I’m going to take you through how to make
and store these delightful decorations.
VANILLA CUPCAKES
MAKES 12-15
- 200g (7oz) self-raising flour
- 50g (1¾oz) plain flour
- 200g (7oz) unsalted butter
- 200g (7oz) caster sugar
- 4 free-range eggs
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 2½.
2 Cream together the unsalted butter and
caster sugar. Add the eggs and mix well.
3 Stir in the self-raising flour and plain flour.
4 Mix well, then divide between 12-15
cupcake cases. Bake for 35-40 minutes or
until a skewer comes out clean.
5 Once the cakes are baked, leave them to
cool completely before icing. These
cupcakes will be fresh for 2-3 days.
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
YOU WILL NEED
- 250g (9oz) unsalted butter
- 500g (1lb 1oz) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
1 Cream the butter on its own for a few
minutes to aerate, then mix in the icing
sugar slowly.
2 Add the vanilla and mix well until you have
a nice, creamy buttercream.
“Easter is here! It’s a time for bunnies and chicks, bright colours
and lots of tasty treats!” says Britt Box (shewhobakes.co.uk)How to create...
SPRINGTIME
CUPCAKE TOPPERS
THE FLUTED DISCS
1 We’re going to start by making the
fluted discs which the bunnies, carrots
and flowers are sitting on. For this,
knead your chosen colours of
sugarpaste icing. I’m using white that
I’ve coloured lilac with Sugarflair
Lavender and blue I’ve coloured with
Sugarflair Aqua.
2 Roll out this icing onto a surface dusted
with cornflour. Next, cut out a fluted circle
the same size as the top of your cupcake
case. If you’ve already made your
cupcakes you can measure it against the
cake itself, but I recommend making
these toppers in advance so they have
time to set. Using a serrated cone tool,
make star indents around the fluted
edge. This is optional, but I think it adds
a little something special to the design.
Make as many as you need and leave to
dry on foam.THE BUNNY FACES & EARS
3 To make the bunny face, start by
rolling out white modelling paste (you
can use sugarpaste for this but I prefer
working with modelling paste for
details), then cut out plain circles to
make the face. Make sure these are
slightly smaller than your fluted circles.
Transfer these to the foam to dry a
little. For the whiskers, cut out two
small circles of white modelling paste,
make small dots in them all over using
a cocktail stick or other pointed tool,
then stick them to the middle-lower
half of the round bunny face using a
little edible glue. For the nose, roll a
small ball of pink modelling paste and
taper the ends to create a small
triangle. Glue it between the whisker
circles and press down to flatten
it a little.
4 For the ears, roll out white modelling1 23 4CAKE DEC SCHOOLWWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM APRIL baking heaven 85
RECIPE