A Bunch of Roses

 

Who doesn't love roses? They are an iconic flower, but there is certainly no excuse to dislike them in cake form! 

For years i have marvelled at peoples abilities to ice cupcakes like this, but i have only just got round to trying it out, and i am very pleased i have. So i thought i would give you a quick tutorial on how to create these magnificent blooms for yourselves, which are sure to impress anyone, and are simple once you know how.

 

I think that one of the reasons i hadn't got round to trying it for so long, is that unfortunately you do need a very specific type of icing nozzle, which probably wouldn't be found in your every day icing set. But once you have bought it, there is no more work involved, and it will last you a lifetime. 

The tip used is the Wilton 2D brand, which I'm sure many bakers would of heard of before. This can be bought on Amazon for about £3.

Wilton 2D Tip

Prep

So for Prep work you will need the cupcakes that you are planning to Frost, these will need to have a reasonably flat top, and you can level them out as you can see i did with mine. 

You will also need your buttercream icing, which you will need to make quite thick, so that the shape of the roses hold, you don't want it to have any wobble if you shake it in the bowl. Colour your icing the desired colour, sticking to actual rose colours will make it look more realistic, and pop into your bag, fixed with the 2D tip.

Tutorial

1.Flatten the top of your cupcake, so you have a level base on which to ice.

2. Place the tip in the centre of the cake, and squeeze a small amount out in an upwards motion, this will be the bud of your cake, and what you wrap your 'petals' around. 

3. Pull your nozzle to the side a bit, and switch from an upwards pull on your icing bag to pulling it tightly around the 'bud', but making sure you don't press your nozzle to close to the cake, let the icing fall out. 

4. Continue pulling round the inner circles in a spiralling motion to form the outer petals, using the same technique. Once you reach the last bit of cake, start pulling up slightly, and slow the flow of icing.

 5. Lift off as you reach the end and smooth down the break with either your finger or a wet paint brush. 

 6. You can now customise your cakes however you wish, maybe some edible pearls in the middle, or leave the icing to dry for a bit and brush the tops of the petals with edible glitter of lustre. 

So there you have it the most delicious bunch of roses you will ever happen to eat! I hope you enjoyed this Tutorial Blog Post and that it has helped you. If you would like me to demonstrate something, please comment below, or use the contact box to the side.

Until next time, Elise xxx

Woodland Birthday Cake

Here it is! The woodland themed birthday cake i made for my little sisters birthday! It fitted in well with her indoor camp style birthday party, and was enjoyed by a crowd of 9 year olds! 

Well first of all Happy Birthday to my Little sister Tibbie, and secondly i've decided that from now on, i will not post a how-to on these sorts of fondant cakes, as it is a lot of hassle and i often find it easier just to look at these sorts of pictures and take inspiration from it. 

So please feel free to take all the inspiration you need, and if you want to make this cake then look at my earlier birthday beach hut cake for a recipe, and comment for any help! 
So thanks again for reading my little post, i have been working on my blog a lot recently trying to get it up and going, and marina has been taking care of this lovely web design. Thank you to all my new followers, i have a Facebook page, follow me here - https://www.facebook.com/littlegingerbakes and my twitter, shown in the bar on the right hand side of my blog, and help me on my way! 
Thank you, any questions, or comments, feel free to ask! Until next time, Elise xxx

Beach Hut Birthday Cake

I made this cake for my little sisters Birthday, and it was served at her beach party. It blended in well down at Hengistbury Head and has a very nice kitch look to it, with the lovely pastel colours.

It is hard how to tell you to do the icing and decorations, and i often find it easier just to look at a picture and copy it, but i will give you some tips at the end. 

Ingredients

For the Cake:

300g sugar 
300g butter 
6 eggs 
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla (or another flavour like lemon zest)
300g self raising flour 

For the Filling:

280g of softened butter 
560g of icing sugar 
couple of tablespoons of milk 
vanilla 
jam of your choice

For the Decoration: 

any jam of your choice or butter cream
a couple of 1kg fondant icing packets 
food colouring: 
blue 
yellow 
pink 
red 
(but by any means change the colours to suit your taste) 

Method: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c
 Cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. 

2. Break in the eggs one by one, mixing after each addition (you may want to add a tablespoon of flour at this point to avoid it curdling) 

3. Add in the vanilla, and then sieve in half the flour, folding gently until all incorporated. Add the remaining flour, and mix until all incorporated. 

4. Decanter the mixture into a large greased and lined square tin, and another smaller greased and lined square tin, smooth the tops, and pop into the oven to bake for about 30-40 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean. 

5. Whilst the cakes are cooling, whip together all the ingredients for the butter cream apart from the jam. 
when the cake is cool, cut them in half and fill with butter cream and jam. Shape the smaller of the cakes into a triangle, fit onto the top of the larger one and then cover with the jam of your choice or butter cream.

tips for icing: 

• i would recommend colouring a large amount of icing for your base colour straight away, even if it seems too much, as this means that you wont run the risk of running out and having mis-matched shades of blue. 
• use the back of a knife to make the 'plank' lines on the beach hut 
• paint the red lines on the circle of the life ring 

All of the other elements are pretty self explanatory, but comment if you have any problems!