21st Birthday Cupcake Tower

So last week was my twenty-first Birthday (I know, old or what?) and to celebrate, I decided to make my very fist cupcake tower yay!
Originally I'd wanted to order some cakes from Oh Crumbs but unfortunately they've ceased trading for the time being, so into the kitchen I went, and here are the results...






Soo what do you think? To be honest, I'm pretty impressed with the results since they actually turned out okayish - One might even say that they look semi-professional! (or is that taking it a bit too far!)

They were actually a lot easier to make than I'd expected and once I got going I managed to have them all baked and decorated in no time. In total, I made 45 cakes (using the regular recipe, which I'll paste below!) and it cost around £50 (including stand!) - So all in all, I saved around £70, which helps a lot when you're a poor student!

The recipe for four cakes is...
(Just multiply to the quantity you want!)

Ingredients

55g (2oz) Margarine
28g (1oz) Caster Sugar
55g (2oz) Self Raising Flour
1 egg
1stp Baking Powder
2tsp Vanilla Essence

Recipe

1. Mix the flour, sugar, egg and margarine together in a large mixing bowl for two to three minutes until fully combined.

2. To this mixture add the Vanilla essence and Baking powder and stir again until completely mixed.

3. Fill the muffin cases to just over half way.

4. Put in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 190C (180C Fan) Gas 5 until springy and a light golden colour.

I'm usually quite ambiguous when it comes to icing repipes and I'm going to remain that way. However, I will say that milk and vanilla extract really help to create the perfect buttercream, so just add a splash of those to your mix and you should be good to go!

What do you think of my first tower? Let me know.

Check back soon for more baking advantures!

Happy Baking,

X

It's a Baking Disaster Darling...

Well not quite.

A few weeks ago, I made Cupcakes for my Friend's 21st Birthday, which in themselves were delicious, I'm sure... but this page wasn't called 'Cupcakes and Disasters' for nothing and it would seem that fate thought it was high time, that the disaster part be fulfilled.
Oh dear... Life certainly does pick its moments.

So before I start, I want to show you what the cupcakes looked like, because they really were very pretty!


As was the lovely pink box I packed them in...


So before I get to the disaster, I'd firstly like to bullet point a few things that I learnt whilst making these cakes...

As we all know, you can do something perfectly a hundred times or more, but when it comes to the crunch, everything falls to pieces - this is what happened and I can only think that it was the pressure!

So what I learnt...

1. Who knew baking with butter was so difficult? Certainly not me!

Having never baked with actual butter before, I was foolish enough to think that it would be as easy as using margarine. As it turns out, unless the butter is massively soft, it takes ages to combine into the mixture. As proof to this theory, I ended up with little buttery lumps dotted throughout my mixture, which took ages to mix in. (Also butter is extremely difficult to use to make butter cream, go figure!)

2. Don't think that Red and Pink food colouring are the same - They really aren't!

After getting over the butter hurdles I decided to make the icing pink, because after all 'pink's just light red' isn't it? No, apparently in the world of food colouring, it's not - it's orange :(

3. Check and double check your ingredients and allow for mistakes

I didn't and had to rush out to the shop mid morning, for extra icing sugar, so be warned!

So the Disaster...

Well to cut a not-so-long story short: After giving the cakes to my friend, I proceeded to destroy them all one at a time by placing them upside down on a bench. Devastation was not the word, Ahh.

LESSON OF THE DAY: Don't tip cakes upside down, they don't like it!

Celebrity Birthday Cakes

If you're rich and famous, then you're gonna want a cool birthday cake - and boy do these guys know how to buy cake... Take a look at some of the best celebrity Birthday Cakes of the last twelve months!

1. Fearne Cotton
There's only really one word for this cake and that's 'Wow.'
Made by Fancy Nancy Cakes in Essex, this is probably one of the best cakes I've ever seen!

2. Darren Criss
I love this picture for so many reasons, but mainly because it contains my two favourite things - Darren Criss and Cake! (Yay on both accounts)
But look at the cake... It's a giant pair of Pink Cake Sunglasses - Even if you're not a Starkid that's got to be Totally Awesome? Yes? Yes!


3. Katy Perry
Made for Katy Perry by the incredibly talented Albert Kahiau Ontiveros at Kahiau's Kakes, this Willy Wonka inspired masterpiece is certainly one to take your breath away!
- I think I'm a bit in love with it, it's sooo pretty :)
LOVE LOVE LOVE the oompa Lumpas


Finally...

4. Gary Barlow
Take That legend Gary Barlow is 40 - who knew?! I certainly didn't, but just look at this beautiful cake - I adore it - Especially the little sugar craft figures - very cute!


Feeling inspired? I know I am (and everso slightly jealous...ahem)
I don't know if I'm ready to attempt cake art just yet, but who knows, maybe one day... until then I'm happy enough to wow over these!

If you have any comments drop me a line, but until next time... Happy Baking!

X

More Glee Cake

So as you can see from a couple of my other posts, I love Glee, so was thrilled when I saw this in Morrisons today.


It's not as good as the three tier cake, I posted a few weeks ago, but really what can compare to that?!
I still love it :)

Happy Baking!

X

Things I Love: Oh Crumbs Cupcakes

Another one of my favourite things is 'Oh Crumbs Cupcakes' in Manchester...

Okay, so I've never actually had a cupcake from here, but I live in hope that with my 21st Birthday around the corner, the possibility of finally tasting one of their beautiful cupcakes may just become a reality!
I love the way they decorate their cakes, especially their perfect icing which makes me very envious :)
Just have a look at their pics...

They're so good I steal their ideas, Ahem!

Love this!

Fabulous Sugar Craft Horses!

Check out their pretty website here for more information about the company, and if anyone's ever tried their cakes let me know what they're like.
I can't wait to try them for myself some day!

Happy Baking :)

X