Sunday 4 August 2013

Rose Tinted Cupcakes

I am meant to be on a diet for that belated and rather more winter than summer bod, but it was a friends birthday recently and I thought it was as good an excuse as any to whip up a tasty treat for me and my buddies. On a birthday, nothing else quite cuts it (pardon the pun) like cupcakes. But these aren't just any cupcakes. Oh no. These are vanilla and rose cupcakes. Are you intrigued yet?

I've been admiring a variation of this recipe in my cupcake book for about 3 years and today I was browsing the bakery isle in Sainsbury's for inspiration, when the elusive rose water ingredient that I had stuggled to find, caught my eye. All excited about the cute little make over Sainsburys's had given their bakery section and the rows of cute little bottles, (which kept me occupied for a good 15 minutes, much to my mum's irritation) made me eager to get home and have a play. They looked and tasted great (if I do say so myself) and I thought it was a nice little treat to share with my lovely readers.

Makes 6 cakes.
You will need:

Cakes
2oz Baking Butter
2oz Caster Sugar
1 or 2 Eggs (up yo you!)
Splash of Rose Water
Splash of Vanilla Essence 
3oz Self- Raising Flour
Cupcake Cases

Decoration
Pink Ready to Roll Icing
White Fondant for Modelling
Edible Glitter (if you like)


1. Pre- heat your oven to 200 degrees C and fill up your cupcake tray with cases (basic, I know but I ALWAYS forget...).

2. Mix your sugar and butter in a bowl with a food mixer, add the egg as you go. 

3. Once it looks quite fluffy and light, add your rose water and vanilla. Enjoy the amazing smell and mix.

4. Add your flour and start folding it into the mixture using a metal spoon. Try and make sure you fold in a 'figure of 8'. I've found that works the best! But I always give it a final whizz with the food mixer just to eliminate any sign of lumps. 

5. Give it a quick taste to make sure it tastes like cake mix should, plop it into the cake cases and whack them in the oven for 15 minutes.

6. While they are cooking away you can get started on decoration which is easily the best bit!
 I have added a few pictures of the decoration process as it gets a little bit fiddly! 

7. Grab a largish wooden chopping board for a smooth surface and cover it with a sheet of grease proof paper so your icing doesn't stick to it and break and get messy and rubbish. Pick up your rolling pin and roll the icing out until it is the thickness you want it to be. 

8. Dig out a circular cutter that is about the same shape and size of the cupcake cases (I didn't actually have one the right size, I ended up using an old napkin ring, but it worked just as well!). Start cutting out circles of icing to go on top of your cakes.


 9. If you have any icing left over after you have cut the right amount, don't worry! Wrap it tightly in some cling film and stash it in your cupboard and it should keep for a few weeks. 

10. Now it's the fiddly bit I mentioned.... making icing roses to go on top. I have never done this ever before so these are by no stretch of the imagination done by a pro. I just followed the instructions on the packet and improvised. First you need to poke and prod and squeeze your ball of white fondant modelling icing stuff until it is softer. Pull off a small bit, roll into a ball and mould into a teardrop shape.

  
11. Pull off another small bit, roll that into a ball then grab your rolling pin and give it a quick roll until it is a thinner oval shape. Wrap this around the teardrop to form a petal shape. 


12. Repeat this petal making step for as many petals as you like. I varied mine between 5 and 7 per flower. Curl the tips of the petals with your fingers for a more authentic look. Once you have had a play it should look a little bit like this (but probably better because art is not my thing):



13. Repeat the whole flower making process as many times as you like! I stuck to one per cake.

14. By now, hopefully your timer has gone off and you have got the cakes out of the oven (with oven gloves! safety first...) and placed them on a wire rack to cool off. If you haven't, you have probably been evacuated from your house via smoke alarm, or will be shortly...

14. Once you are happy with your flowers it's time to actually put this sugary goodness onto your cakes, starting with the pink icing circles. I rubbed a tiny bit of water on the underside of each circle so it would stick to the cake better. Place the circles onto your cakes, pushing the ends down as you go.


15. Now to add your beautifully hand crafted roses! Again, I wiped a tiny bit of water on the bottom of the roses to help them stick. Push the rose carefully but forcefully onto your cake and leave it to set. Repeat this for all your cakes. 



16. If that wasn't enough sugar, I also added a cheeky bit of white edible glitter to mine to make them look even more magical!



 And voila! You're done and now you are the baking heroine of all you friends.

 These are beautiful cakes with a delicate, but noticeable hint of rose and vanilla. Delightfully different. In fact I'm quite sad I only made 6...

What do you think? If you give them a go, let me know how they turn out!
Happy baking!




2 comments:

  1. These look incredible and so yummy!
    Definitely need to try these! :)

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. aha thanks! yeah they do taste really good actually but defo go for the 2 eggs, i only used one and felt like something was missing! thanks for the follow! xx

    ReplyDelete