For years I have been in love with cakes and cupcakes. Not just because they are the most awesomeness thing known to man, but with how much fun they are to make! There is so much you can do with them! Cakes and cupcakes are just like a blank canvas, all ready for you to show your creativity. You can do whatever you want, and be as creative you want. Also, the satisfaction you get when you step back and look at what you did. It's the best feeling in the world! Cupcakes and cakes do that for me.
I didn't go to school to learn all this stuff. Its all trial and error, Google images, brainstorming, in-puts and, of course, YouTube videos. There have been many times where a project has gone horribly, HORRIBLY wrong, and I've wanted to throw in the towel. However, I had to remind myself that I just need to keep practicing. I've gotten better, but still have a long way to go.
This post, I wanted to share some of my creations :) Let you know what materials I used and what I learn from my mistakes. I'm hoping that they might get your creative juices going, and you can start making your own mini masterpieces :)
"Cars" Cupcakes
These are one of the projects I did where I wanted to throw in the towel. Glad I didn't :). I made these for my nephew's 2nd birthday. He LOVES Cars!
The materials:
Cars rings (you can purchase them on amazon)
chocolate wafer cookies
green food coloring
#233 pipping tip
(#233 piping tip)
First, I frost the cupcakes, that's going to be the glue for the crumbs. A trick I learned that will also save you from going crazy: do the grass first. I did the gravel first, and the grass wouldn't stick. I wanted to throw a cupcake at the wall! So frustrating!! I had to wipe off half of the cupcake to get the grass to stay. That wasn't easy. Once the crumbs are on, you can touch up on the grass. If you don't want to go insane, GRASS FIRST, gravel second. I think I have stressed the grass tip enough so lets move on.
The white lines in the crumbs, those I had to get creative with. Again, they would not stick to the crumbs. So, I took a butter knife and put a puncture about half an inch apart. I tried to make a gap so I can see the bottom frosting of the cupcake. I fill in the small line holes, using the #3 round pipping tip, till it reaches the top. Then, I can put nice little lines in the in middle of the crumbs. It sounds like a lot of work. Its annoying, but it doesn't take that long. I still have to figure out a better way, though. So if you know the trick to keep frosting on crumbs, without jumping through hoops, please share your wisdom! I will love you forever!!
Lastly, the rings. Just lightly press them in on the crumbs and voila! You're done! Aren't they cute!? I'm not gonna lie, I collapsed on the floor with exhaustion when I placed the last cupcake on the tray. Next time, I will know what to do, and... I'll cry less...
Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting
This is my husband's favorite and I always make this for his birthday. I either do white cake or angel cake and frost it with my strawberry whipped cream frosting. This stuff is addicting! I had looked up recipes for this sweet addiction years ago. After looking at some recipes I figured I could just experiment and make my own recipe. You really can't mess up whipped cream. Unless you're mixing in a sauna with a weak wrist or a broken mixer.
So, here's what I came up with:
4-5 TBSP pureed strawberries
1 container of heavy whipping cream
confectioners sugar
1 TSP pure vanilla extract
I like using confectioners sugar because it makes the whipped cream easier to work with when frosting it on the cake. It's less heavy and it sticks to the cake better. That is my opinion though.
When I do a two layer cake with this frosting, I like to hallow out the bottom cake a little bit. What I mean is I make a "ditch" so that the frosting will stay in the middle. Light frosting + heavy cake = no frosting in the middle. It will all come squeezing out of the sides, defeating the purpose of having a two layer cake. I do about an inch deep circle, about half an inch for the side of the cake layer. Make sure you have good slicing knife to make this job easier for you. It doesn't have to be perfect, just keep from getting to far from the bottom. Layer some of the frosting in there, lay the other layer of cake on top and just fill in the caps on the sides. When I make this cake, I like to do one layer of the whipped cream, then lay some strawberry slices on top, then another layer of whipped cream.
Then, I just get creative with the strawberries. I always like to try something new every time I make this. So much fun :)
Jungle Cupcakes
I made these for my friends baby shower. As you can tell, it was jungle theme. I love to make cupcakes for any of my friends special occasions. And these were so much fun to plan!
With just felt animal stickers, toothpicks, #233 pipping tip, and some grass baking cups, you are set. I took the tooth picks and slid them between the papers on the back of the stickers, and that's all it took.
Easy toppers.
Also saved me money. No more buying them online and paying more for labor, tax and shipping & handling. You can get the stickers and the baking cups at your local Michaels store.
The one thing I would change on these is the color of the grass. I wish I could have made it darker. It wasn't long after these cupcakes I learned how to get it the right color. First, use gel food coloring. You get a better color and you don't have to use the liquid kind. If you use too much the of the liquid food coloring, you can ruin the texture of the frosting, losing the thickness. With the gel, that can still happen if too much is used but not as likely. Second, green and black. To get the green darker, you need to use a little bit of black. Third, let your frosting sit for a few hours before you add more food coloring. The color can darken if you let it sit for a while.
More to come later, but for now I hope this post has given you ideas and has helped you. If you have any questions or ideas to improving these cupcakes, please feel free to comment below! I love to here from you guys and I love to learn new tricks. With this blog, I hope to help others in the kitchen, but I hope to learn from others on how I can improve my creations and correct anything I might have done or have shared. I love feedback!! Hope ya guys enjoy these fun projects!
HAPPY CUPCAKE! <3
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