by CICO kidz
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Place a large strainer (sieve) over a mixing bowl. Tip the flours and salt into the strainer and then sift them into the mixing bowl. Put the bowl to one side.
2 Put the soft butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat them together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is soft, creamy, and pale (if an adult is helping, you could use an electric beater).
3 Carefully break the egg onto a plate and use an egg cup to separate the yolk from the white (see page 22). You do not need the white for this recipe.
4 Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract to the creamed butter mixture and mix together well.
5 Finally, add the flours and mix everything together until all the flour is mixed in and the mixture forms a dough. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is all mixed in.
6 Put the dough in a sealable food bag, or wrap it in plastic wrap (clingfilm), and chill in the refrigerator for 1–2 hours. You are now ready to roll out the dough and follow your recipe.
Gingerbread dough
You will need:
2 tablespoons light corn (golden) syrup
1 large egg
2 cups (200 g) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus extra for dusting
½ teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
a pinch of salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
⅓ cup (75 g) light muscovado or light brown (soft) sugar
1 Carefully break the egg onto a plate and use an egg cup to separate the yolk from the white (see page 22). You do not need the white for this recipe.
2 Put the light corn (golden) syrup and egg yolk in a small bowl and beat them together with a wooden spoon.
3 Place a large strainer (sieve) over a mixing bowl. Tip the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt into the strainer and sift them into the bowl.
4 Add the butter and then pick up small amounts of butter and flour and rub them together between your thumb and fingertips. Keep picking up more of the mixture and rubbing it together. In this way, the butter gradually gets mixed into the flour.
5 When the mixture starts to look like sand and there are no lumps of butter, add the sugar and mix it in with your fingers.
6 Now add the egg yolk and syrup mixture and mix it with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to clump together.
7 Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and tip the mixture on top. Knead it gently to form the dough into a smooth ball.
8 Flatten the dough into a disc, put it in a sealable food bag, or wrap it in plastic wrap (clingfilm), and chill it in the refrigerator for 1–2 hours. You are now ready to roll out the dough and follow your recipe.
Frostings and icings
Buttercream frosting
You will need:
1 stick (125 g) butter, softened
1 tablespoon milk
3 cups (375 g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1 Put the butter in a mixing bowl. Add the milk.
2 Measure the confectioner’s (icing) sugar into another bowl. Place a strainer (sieve) over the butter bowl and sift a little of the sugar into the bowl.
3 Remove the sieve and beat the mixture together. Then sift in a little more sugar and beat again. Keep going until all the sugar has been mixed in and the frosting is light, fluffy, and smooth.
4 If you would like to color your frosting, add a little food coloring paste or a couple of drops of liquid food coloring to the mix (see page 21) and stir it in well to get an even color.
Flavorings
To make your frosting even more special, you can add different flavors.
Lemon or orange buttercream: Use a grater to grate the rind of a lemon or orange onto a small plate. Cut the orange or lemon in half and use a lemon squeezer to squeeze out the juice. Fish out any pips. Make the frosting as in the buttercream frosting recipe on page 18, but instead of using milk, use the fresh juice and add the grated rind to the mixture.
Chocolate buttercream: In a cup, mix the milk and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder to a smooth paste and stir it into one quantity of buttercream frosting.
Vanilla buttercream: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to one quantity of buttercream frosting.
Coffee buttercream: In a cup, mix the milk and 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder to a paste and add to the buttercream frosting.
Fondant icing
Buy fondant icing ready made from supermarkets, cake decorating stores, or websites. White fondant icing can be found at supermarkets and you can tint it to the color you need. Ready-colored fondant icing can be bought from larger supermarkets and specialist stores. Ready-colored is best for really bright or dark colors as it is difficult to tint icing evenly for these.
Sugar icing
You will need:
2 cups (250 g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1 Place a strainer (sieve) over a bowl and sift the confectioner’s (icing) sugar into the bowl. Add 2–4 tablespoons of warm water, mixing them quickly until the icing is quite runny, like thin cream. For a thicker icing, add the water a little at a time, until you get the right consistency.
2 If you’re adding food coloring paste or liquid, add just a little at a time and mix it in well until the color is even and there are no streaks (see page 21).
3 Pour the icing onto your cupcakes or cookies before it starts to set.
4 To make a really zingy sugar icing, replace the water with freshly squeezed lemon, lime, or orange juice.
Milk chocolate frosting
You will need:
4 oz. (125 g) bittersweet (dark) chocolate
4 oz. (125 g) milk chocolate
⅔ cup (175 ml) heavy (double) cream
1 tablespoon maple syrup or light corn syrup (golden syrup)
1 stick (125 g) soft butter, diced
1 Ask an adult to help you chop all the chocolate into small pieces. Put them into a small, heatproof bowl.
2 Ask an adult to help you heat the cream and syrup in a small saucepan until it is just boiling.
3 Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate, add the butter, and let them melt. Stir them together until they are smooth, then let the frosting thicken slightly before you use it.
Tinting icing
Whether you are tinting frosting, fondant, or sugar icing, it is best to color it in one batch, otherwise you may end up with different shades. Food coloring pastes or gels are available from specialty cake decorating stores and come in lots of gorgeous colors. They are very strong so a little paste goes a long way. Liquid food coloring is available from supermarkets. You only need to add a few drops at a time to your icing—don’t pour it in as the color will be too strong and the liquid will turn your icing sticky or runny. Marzipan can be colored in the same way.
Tinting fondant icing
1 Push your finger into the fondant to make a small hole. Use a wooden skewer or toothpick to add tiny amounts of food coloring paste or drops of liquid to the fondant icing.
2 Knead the fondant so that the color is evenly mixed without any streaks. If you want the color to be deeper, add a little more coloring and knead again. Keep doing this until you have the color you want.
Tinting sugar icing and buttercream frosting
Use a wooden skewer or toothpick to add tiny amounts of food coloring paste or add just a drop or two of liquid food coloring to the frosting or icing and mix it in thoroughly with a spoon. If you want the color to be deeper, add a little more coloring and stir again. Keep doing this until you have the color you want.
Mixing colors
It is possible to make different colors by mixing food coloring liquids. Mix the color in a separate bowl before adding it to your icing and test the color first to check that you have the right shade. Here are a few color combinations:
Other techniques
Breaking eggs
Firmly
tap the egg shell on the side of a bowl or plate and then pull the two halves apart with your fingertips. If any pieces of shell fall into your mixture, scoop them out with a spoon before they are mixed in.
Separating eggs
1 To separate the egg yolk from the white, break an egg onto a small plate, keeping the yolk whole.
2 Put an egg cup over the yolk and, holding the plate over a bowl, tip the plate so that the egg white slides off.
Warming jelly and jam
Some recipes ask you to warm jelly or jam to loosen it a little so that it is easier to spread. You can do this in two ways:
On the stove
Ask an adult to help you put the jelly in a saucepan and heat it gently on the stove over a low heat. Take care when stirring as the edges may catch and spit.
Stir with a wooden spoon until the jelly has just warmed through and is runnier.
In the microwave
Put the jelly in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on medium for 20–30 seconds. Ask an adult to help you take the bowl out of the microwave and stir it gently.
You can heat again for a few seconds longer if necessary, but take care that the jelly doesn’t overheat—jelly can become burning hot very quickly.
Melting chocolate
On the stove
1 Fill a small saucepan a quarter full with water and ask an adult to help you set it on the stove to heat to a gentle simmer (until the water starts to bubble). Turn the heat to low.
2 Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl that fits in the saucepan and carefully put it in the pan of just simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
3 Allow the chocolate to melt a little before stirring and when there are just a few small lumps left, remove the bowl from the saucepan and stir until the chocolate is smooth and lump-free.
In the microwave
Put the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on low for 30 seconds, stir, and heat again for a further 30 seconds. Keep checking and stirring at regular intervals of 20–30 seconds, and when the chocolate is nearly melted (when there are a few lumps left), remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the melted chocolate until it is smooth. Take care if the bowl is hot and ask an adult to help you take the bowl in and out of the microwave. Take care that the chocolate doesn’t overheat.
Microwave safety
Always use microwave-safe bowls and never put anything metallic in the microwave.
When heating anything in the microwave you must take great care to stir the heated ingredient thoroughly before using or eating it—even if it seems lukewarm on the outside, it could be burning hot inside. When you stir melted chocolate or jelly (jam), for example, you will spread the heat evenly and avoid these hot spots. Heat on a medium or low setting for short lengths of time rather than continuously, and keep checking at regular intervals.
These are general instructions as microwave ovens vary, so adapt the timings to suit your particular model.
CHAPTER ONE
COOL CUPCAKES
Easter bunny cupcakes
Mini strawberry cakes
Crystallized pansies
Spotty cupcakes
A rainbow of cupcakes
Christmas stockings
Butterfly cakes
Special name cupcakes
Sparkling diamond cupcakes
Pink piggy cupcakes
Victoria cupcakes
Princess cupcakes
Animal-face cupcakes
Chocolate and jelly bean cupcakes
“Ice cream” cupcakes
Snowmen in scarves
Easter bunny cupcakes
Making decorations with marzipan is just like using playdough and is lots of fun. These adorable little marzipan rabbits and carrots are the perfect decoration for cupcakes at Easter but you could use your imagination to make all sorts of other animal decorations in a similar way. You will need to make them a day before you make the cupcakes so that the color doesn’t run into the cake frosting.
You will need:
10 oz. (300 g) natural marzipan
orange and brown food coloring paste or yellow, red, and green food coloring
white mini-marshmallows
white sugar strands
1 quantity Vanilla cupcake mix (see page 8)
1 quantity Buttercream frosting (see page 18), flavored if you like (see page 19)
angelica
cocoa powder, for sprinkling
airtight container lined with baking parchment
wooden skewer
12-hole muffin pan, lined with paper cupcake cases
(makes 12)
1Make the marzipan decorations the day before you make the cupcakes so the colors have time to dry. First, find an airtight box to keep your rabbits and carrots in overnight. Cut a piece of baking parchment to fit at the bottom of the box.
2 Now tint two-thirds of the marzipan orange using the orange food coloring paste (see page 21). Add the paste a little at a time until the marzipan is a nice carroty orange. If you are using the liquids, mix a few drops of red with a few drops of yellow to make orange (see page 21). Make a hole with your finger in the marzipan and drop in a couple of drops of liquid. Knead the marzipan until the color spreads through it. Gradually add more coloring until you have the orange color you want.
3 Tint the rest of the marzipan brown either using the brown food coloring paste or mixing a few drops of red and green food coloring to make brown.
4 To make the carrots, break off small nuggets of orange marzipan and roll them between your hands to make carrot shapes. Three per cake look good but you don’t have to make so many.
5 Using the blunt end of a wooden skewer, push a small hole into the top of each carrot. This is where you will add the angelica for the carrot leaves. Put the carrots carefully into the container so they don’t touch each other.
6 Now make a rabbit. Break off a small nugget of brown marzipan and roll it into a ball between your hands for the rabbit’s body. Make a smaller ball for the head. Carefully press the head onto the body.
7 Make tiny ears and press them onto the rabbit’s head. Dip the point of a wooden skewer or toothpick into the brown food coloring paste or liquid and paint eyes and a nose onto the rabbit.
8 Use two white sugar strands and push them into the head, underneath the nose, to make the rabbit’s teeth.
9 Press on a mini-marshmallow for a fluffy tail.
10 Place your first rabbit inside the container. Make a rabbit for each of your cupcakes. Put the lid on the container and let your rabbits and carrots dry out overnight.
11 The next day, cut the angelica into very fine strips about ½ in. (1 cm) long. You will need a sharp knife for this so ask an adult to help you. Push two of the strips into the small hole in the top of each carrot.
12 Ask an adult to help you make the cupcakes (see page 8). While they are cooling make the buttercream frosting, adding some flavoring if you like (see page 18). Once the cakes are cold, spread the frosting over the top of each cupcake. Sprinkle a little cocoa powder over the icing and decorate each cupcake with a rabbit and some carrots.
Easter bunnies for EASTER cupcakes
Mini strawberry cakes
This is a lovely recipe to make with a friend on a summer’s day, especially if you can pick your own strawberries from the garden. The frosting is made with squashed strawberries and you should decorate the cakes with the sweetest, juiciest strawberries you can find.
You will need:
1 quantity Vanilla cupcake mix (see page 8)
2 large ripe, juicy, fresh strawberries
1⅓ cups (175 g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
a handful of strawberries, to decorate
12-hole muffin pan, lined with paper cupcake cases
(makes 12)
1 Ask an adult to help you make the cupcakes (see page 8).
2 Cut off the leaves from your two large strawberries, then use a fork to mash th
em in a bowl until there are no lumps.
3 Add the confectioner’s (icing) sugar a little at a time and mix until the frosting is quite smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add another mashed strawberry (which will make the frosting a darker pink) or a few drops of water.
4 Spoon the frosting onto the cakes and decorate with sliced or whole strawberries.
Who will get the cake with the BIGGEST STRAWBERRY?
Crystallized pansies
These are probably the prettiest cupcakes in the book! They are made with real flowers from your garden, crystallized with egg white and sugar. And they even taste good! You can crystallize rose petals or violets in the same way but don’t try other flowers as some are poisonous.
You will need:
1 quantity Vanilla cupcake mix (see page 8)
1 quantity Sugar icing (see page 20)
For the pansies:
fresh pansies (ask before you pick them)
baking tray lined with baking parchment
clean salt shaker filled with superfine (caster) sugar
fine paintbrush
2 eggs
egg whisk
