Cup cake excitement.

Hello! Welcome............... Welcome to my attempt at making cup cakes. For me, the attraction in making cup cakes is the colours............. The cup cake cases, the coloured icing, the bits sprinkled or placed on the icing. Yep, to me, cup cake making is all about the colour. And EATING colour! When I saw these little guys in the Pound Shop, (I'm guessing the U.S. equivalent is the Dime Store, am I right?), they were all lined up in their box, and you know, they had expressions. Yes, these tiny little fellows had character. I had to buy them. I didn't know what I'd be doing with them, I just had to own these fellas. I'd made cup cakes once before, and in time it dawned on me that it would be fun to make some more, and have these cheeky chicks perched on top, on coloured icing, for Easter. Plus, I had these adorable muffin cases in the cupboard. I've actually got a collection of muffin and cup cake cases. You may well find that fact strange. I just find them so pretty. I'll have to show you "my collection" at some point, won't I? I used to have them stacked up, out on display. I enjoyed looking at them enormously. Maybe I should "out" my cup cake case collection again, what do you think? Anyway, on to the serious subject of the making of the cup cakes, (in their muffin cases). I made them last Saturday, while my parents were staying. My Dad and Hugo went on a boat trip for the afternoon, so my Mum and I were left to suffer the agony of a blissfully peaceful time, pottering, being quiet, and busy in a very gentle way. The boys were worried it would ruin our day, them not being around.............. You may have noticed the wobbly nature of these cup cakes? Well, I learnt my first lesson there. Don't crowd un-cooked cup cakes onto a baking tray to get as many as possible into the oven. Because this is what happens, you get wobbly, deformed cakes. Which isn't the thing in the perfect world of cup cakes, is it? And my icing consistency must have been off, because it went wrinkly on the top of the cakes. I never knew there were pitfalls to the making of icing. Did I have it too runny? Too thick? Too what? Any ideas? I'm going to look into that ready made icing (Sugar Paste), see if I can get the perfect icing by cheating a little. Because, of course I want the perfect icing. Because I've seen and eaten the perfect icing, as made by Tara, who gave me the recipe for the sponge mix. And now my goal in life is to be able to produce a cup cake with perfect icing on top. Not wrinkly icing. After all, why not have a goal like that in life? Tomorrow I'm going to give you Tara's recipe for the cup cake sponge, and show you how the Queen of cup cake decoration does it. This cup cake world............... it's rather wonderful isn't it?

Comments

[aspen]

Vanessa, these cupcakes are adorable! That shot of the chick cupcake brigade would look great on a greeting card.

Nowadays, the dime store has matured into the dollar store, unfortunately!

[pinkgreen]

They look yummy! I am trying to perfect the icing stage - my sponge is always ok but the icing is my downfall. It is either too thin or too thick, or wrinkly. Any fool-proof tips gratefully received!
Cathy X

[elizabeth of course]

Oh I adore cupcakes! This is your first time making them?! Do you not have box mixes in the UK? An add egg and water type thing?
I have quite a collection of cupcake liners and sprinkles, too! I can't walk past them in the store, they have to come home with me! I'd LOVE to see your collection! do share!

[The Antidote]

This post is so pretty.
I always use a bun tin to put my cupcake cases into before baking, this gets them to hold their shape a bit more.
I think yours are lovely all the same x

[kitschen pink]

Rest assured, a bun case collection is not at all weird in baking circles! Who can resist! I have quite a few vintage ones but they go so brown when heated they're better for cold fondant sweeties. Scrummy pinks and greens! t.x

[Sumea]

A D O R A B l E !!!!!!!!
Too Cute *~*
The colours, the chicks, the cup-cake cases are all totally divinelicious *~*
Did you use the normal kind of icing sugar or the fondant kind? If you used the normal kind, try the fondant kind. Saying that, they don't really need improvement - they're gorgeous!
xx
sumea

[Marie Allen]

I hope Tara is ready for the competition because you are showing definite signs of cup cake giftedness. Utterly adorable!

[kat]

so cute! i have the same little chicks. maybe next easter i can pull it together to make cupcakes too.
thanks for your kind comments on my blog :)

[alison]

Those cup cake cases are truly adorable. Love the Chick crusaders on their cakes. Great photo.

[driftwood]

just gorgeous.

I remember a coloureed vs white cupcake case in blog world a while ago, The Magpie files I think.... it was very funny.
try buying instant fondant icing (it's not as easy to find as instant glace but it's worth it - sainsburys sell it) makes a really lovely glossy finish.

[Lucille]

I liked your crimped icing actually.