Tutorial: Princess Mini Cakes

As the title suggest this is a tutorial. My first ever tutorial. (Yay!)

Where did the idea come from? I'm going to Euro Disney and love all things Disney, otherwise what's the point of going to Disneyland? Anyways, I wanted to do something that celebrated my love of Disney take took form of a cupcake without going over the top. 

As the idea of a cupcake is to keep it simple and elegant. So this tutorial is really simple and is a good excuse to sing well known Disney songs around the kitchen and maybe wear a crown as well.

This tutorial will make 4 pretty Princess Cakes depending on how much buttercream you want to use. I did mine thick so I only make the 4 Princess Cakes.
You will need:
Basic Butterscotch Cupcakes- Make 12 little cakes

• 100g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 125g unsalted butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 75 ml whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon of butterscotch essence

For the Butterscotch Buttercream

• 400g icing sugar
• 200g unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon of butterscotch essence

Equipment You Will Need:

• Cupcake Tin
• Hand whisk
• Jug
• Cupcake Cases

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c/350f/Gas Mark 4. 
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter together in a bowl.  
3. Mix together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  
4. In another bowl whisk eggs, milk and essence together until well blended. 
5. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, whisking all the time.  
6. Whisk gently until smooth, being careful not to over-mix. Pour the cake batter into jug to make it easy to handle. 
7. Place 12 paper cupcakes cases into the cupcake tin. 
8. Carefully pour all the cake batter into the cases, filling each one only half way.  
9. Bake for 20-25 mins until springy to touch. 
10. Leave for a few minutes, the transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.  
11. To make the frosting, combine the icing sugar, butterscotch extract and butter in a bowl. 
12. Beat with an electric whisk for around 5 mins until light and fluffy.  
13. Check the cakes have completely cooled or they will melt the frosting.

So while your cake's are cooling you need to make your toppers:
Equipment You Will Need:

• Princess Toppers (I got these from Kreations Parties )
• Lolly-sticks/sucker-sticks/toothpicks
• Scissors
• Tape

Method:

1. Cut out your princesses carefully. Remember when using scissors be very careful.
2. Place your sticks in the middle of the cut out at the back. 
3. Tape the stick in the middle and make sure that its secure. 

Cut out your princesses carefully. Remember when using scissors be very careful.

Place your sticks in the middle of the cut out at the back.

Once you've got your princess cake toppers ready and your cupcakes are cool need to start building your cake 'dresses'. Essentially, its 2 cupcakes to one dress just like the picture below. To secure the two cakes together, level the cakes carefully with a knife and spread a layer of buttercream between them.

To secure the two cakes together, level the cakes carefully and spread a layer of buttercream between them. 

To Decorate the Cakes You Will Need:

• Buttercream used with the recipe above
• Food Paste Colours in princess colours (See left)
• Glitter
• Piping bag with a star nozzle
• A small palette knife.

Method: 

1. Once the cakes have been 'glued' together with the buttercream. Separate the buttercream according to which colour's you want. 
2. Cover your cakes in a layer of buttercream and put in the fridge to create a crumb layer. Do this for every cake.
3. Once the cakes have chilled in the fridge for an hour, smooth on the buttercream and decorate to your liking!

Cover your cakes in a layer of buttercream and put in the fridge to create a crumb layer

I used plain simple colours with a little glitter and piped on a couple of details. I wanted it to remain simple but here are the results:

Snow White and Belle Princess Cupcakes

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Ariel (The Little Mermaid) Princess Cupcakes

I'm quite proud of my little princesses! Aren't they so sweet? If you try this tutorial, post pictures on the blog, email me pictures, post them on the facebook page or on twitter.
I hope that your enjoyed the tutorial and had fun reading!

Bake On!
Penny

Good Luck Naomi Cupcakes

No words can describe how much I'm going to miss one of my nearest and dearest friend. In fact I really wish that she wasn't going away for the year and just abandoning me in London! 
How dare you just leave me here Naomi! With all these normals?! 
I'm joking of course.
No one is normal in London.
Anyways, Naomi I do hope you enjoyed the cupcakes I whipped up for you. I'm sorry that I couldn't make a cupcake to describe how wonderful you are and how much your friendship means to me (and how mad you really are). Just so you know that your'e going on an amazing adventure and you'll be older, wiser and maybe a little jetlagged afterwards. 
In short, Naomi I wish you the best of luck in your new job, which you are going to be amazing at. I am dearly going to miss you and you must promise me that you will send me a postcard from all the places you fly too. 

Recipe:

• 110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 225g golden caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 150g self raising flour, sifted
• 125g plain flour, sifted
• 120ml semi-skimmed milk at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 160c fan/180c/350f/Gas Mark 4 and line a cupcake trays with cupcake cases.

2.    In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth, which should 3-5 minutes using an electric hand mixer.

3.    Combine the two flours in a separate bowl and combine the milk, and vanilla extract in a jug. Add one-third of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well.

4.    Pour in one-third of the milk mixture and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk has been added.

5.    Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until slightly raised and golden brown. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes-it should come out clean.

6.    Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 minutes before carefully placing on a wire rack to cool. Once they are completely cool, you can ice the cupcakes.

Buttercream

·       110g unsalted butter, at room temperate

·       60 ml semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature

·       1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract

·       500g icing sugar, sifted

·       Food colouring-Purple and Pink

Recipe:

1.    In a large mixing bowl  beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing sugar until smooth. This can take several minutes with an electric hand mixer. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat again until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.

2.    If you want to colour your buttercream, always start with one drop of colouring and beat thoroughly. This will be all you need to achieve a very pale hue. To achieve the effects in the pictures put the two colours in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. 

Bake on!

Penny