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

Doggy Delights

Hello! Well anyone who read my last post will know that i was getting a puppy, and today she is making her online debut! 
We got her a couple of weeks ago and she is now about 11 weeks old, and i will tell you a little about her. 
She is a Boxador, part Boxer, part Labrador, with the agility and enthusiasm of a Boxer and the intelligence and kindness of a Lab, and i also think it makes for a pretty adorable dog. 
Her name is Bowline, which is a type of knot, and this stems from the fact that our family owns and loves boats, but we shorten it to Bo, which is uber cute. 
She loves to play, and is very intelligent, and has learnt so many tricks, so much so that we have just about managed to train her to lift her left paw when we say port and her right when we say starboard ( all tying in with the nautical stuff )

I have never owned a dog before, but all i know is that i am loving her and the experience so far, and i am especially going to enjoy finding recipes to bake her little treats, and training her to be my co-chef, or at least a dog that doesn't jump on the work surface every time i'm baking, either would do. 

So to celebrate the arrival of the lovely Bo, i have found a recipe on pinterest, which isn't mine, but i thought looked lovely, this recipe is from a website called pizzazzerie.com and has lots of lovely recipes on it. So i hope any dog lovers enjoy this recipe, and watch my blog for any more appearances of Bo, she might be sneaking into a few more of my posts from now on.

 Pupcakes

Makes 6 cupcakes 

Ingredients

1 cup whole-wheat flour 

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 c plain yogurt

2 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 tbsp honey

1 large egg

1/2 apple, chopped

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup diced carrot

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons peanut butter

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with 6 paper liners. 

2.In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and soda. In a medium bowl, blend together the yogurt, oil, honey and eggs, then stir in the apple, cheese, and carrots. Add to the flour mixture and stir just until mixed (will be slightly lumpy).

3.Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling each cup about 3/4 full. 

4.Bake in the preheated oven about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a pupcake comes out clean. Let the pupcakes cool in the tins on a rack for a few mintues, then remove and set aside to cool completely. 

5.For the frosting, just mix together all of the ingredients and pipe it on top, and serve it to your helpful hound or marvellous mutt!

Hope you and your pooches enjoy this!

See you next time, love from Elise and Bo xx

Beetroot and Chocolate Red Velvet Cake

I had never heard of this cake before until my friend Marina (check out her fashion blog by the way it's great marina-simone.blogspot.com) requested it for her birthday cake.

I researched a bit and came up with this, i put loads of elements together, and excuse the slapdash icing job, but i can honestly say it's amazing! 

With a not-to-rich chocolatey taste, and a lovely earthy back note from the beetroot, and a lovely pinky, ruby colour!

Now as you can see i made a mahoosive cake, which was about 5 layers, so don't worry I'm not going to make you make that much, just giving you the recipe to make an average to large sized cake. 

Even better, it's a very simple cake to make!








Ingredients

For the Cake 

2 teaspoons lemon juice

135g beetroot, boiled and blended (reserve some for swirling on top)

310g plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

400g caster sugar

50g unsweetened cocoa powder

285g unsalted butter, melted

4 eggs, beaten

125ml milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

75g cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

450g icing sugar

Method



1.Grease and line one 23x33cm, similar sized baking dish or a couple of sandwich tins.  Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4.

2. Sprinkle the lemon juice over beetroot, and set aside. 

3. Combine the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar, cocoa, melted butter, eggs, milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Stir in beetroot. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of mixer, until well combined, but do not over mix. Pour into your prepared dish. 

4. Bake at 180 C / Gas 4 for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave on wire rack, and allow to cool (stone cold) 

5. To make the icing- : combine cream and cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add icing sugar, beat until fluffy.  

6. Once your cake is cooled, using a palette knife, spread your frosting evenly all over the top and the sides of your cake. 

7. Finally using a knife or a pastry brush, make a swirl or any other pattern of your choice, on top of your cake, using your reserved beetroot puree. 


And there you have it! Beetroot and chocolate red velvet cake! i hope you enjoy this recipe, please do comment if you like the look of this recipe, want to make it, or need any help! And don't forget to go check out Marina's blog!  Always here! elise xx