My Competition Cupcakes

I entered a competition with Pretty Witty Cakes yesterday. We had to make 6 Christmas themed cupcakes and below are what i entered. There were 2 catorgories Amateur and Professional and both had a 1st prize of £250 and 2nd prize £150, plus an overall prize of a £499 Kenwood mixer! Fantastic prizes so had to give it a go.

I made a mixture of Chocolate and Christmas Spice Cupcakes and used sugarpaste and home made royal icing to decorate them, my favourite ones are the Snowflakes, the Christmas Tree and the Present which i have never made before. They took me a while but i think they look great!

Christmas Spice Cupcakes

A lovely recipe to bring a little bit of Christmas cheer to a traditional cake mix. Using the Classic Victoria Sponge mix add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to your mix at the end and beat well. I have decorated my cupcakes using a variety of techniques including, sugarpaste moulding, cutters and buttercream piping. If you want a quick and easy topping pipe buttercream swirls onto your cupcakes and sprinkle dessicated coconut and edible glitter on the tops for a snowy finish.

Spooky Halloween Cupcakes

Sugarpaste spookyness made with my little sister. This is the first time Katie has ever used sugarpaste and as you can see she has done brilliantly, proof that even beginners can have fun...

Emma's Spooky Delights...

Katie's Spooky Delights...

Chocolate Surprises

I love making these cupcakes, there are so many variations you can choose from making them great for kids parties or an after dinner treat with friends.
The mix is the same recipe as the Raspberry Swirls but instead of raspberries add 2 tbsps cocoa powder when folding in the flour.

For the topping you will need...

2 good handfuls of milk chocolate, melted
2 Bags Dolly mixtures
1 handful of mini marshmallows
Glacier Cherries, chopped

With a metal spoon spread melted chocolate over the tops of your cupcakes, sprinkle the dolly mixtures, cherries and marshmallows over the chocolate and then with a teaspoon drizzle some more chocolate over the tops, hey presto, its that simple!

You can use any sweets, malteasers, fudge etc and you can also top and drizzle your cupcakes with white chocolate or do a mixture of both, experiment and you'll soon find your favourite topper.

Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes

These are so easy to make, the sponge is based on a classic victoria sponge recipe with a buttercream frosting and a sugar coated raspberry to finish them off.

Cupcake Ingredients....

4oz caster sugar
4oz butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
4 oz self raising flour
Small punnet of fresh raspberries, keep 12 aside for decorating at the end

Buttercream Ingredients....

3oz butter at room temperature
9oz icing sugar

Method....

Cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Beat in both the eggs. Fold in the flour until the mix is smooth, the smoother it is the flatter your cupcakes will be when cooked. In a seperate bowl crush the raspberries with a wooden spoon until there are no big lumps, fold into cake mixture. Fill 12 cases and bake in the oven at 180oc for 15-20 mins, until golden brown and springy to touch. Leave to cool. Whilst your cupcakes are baking beat the butter and icing sugar together to make the buttercream and put into a piping bag, set aside.

When your cupcakes are cool pipe on the buttercream and top with one of the reserved raspberries from earlier. Hey presto Raspberry Swirl Cupcake.

Sugarpaste Creations

Sugarpaste is really easy to use and comes in a huge variety of colours. You can mould it, roll it and stretch it and any left overs can be rolled back up and put in an air tight bag for another day so theres no waste either. Sugarpaste should not be put in the fridge as it will go soggy and is best left in a box thats not air tight so your designs keep there shape. They can be kept like this for 3-4 days or if you dont want to eat them leave your cupcakes on a cake stand and the sugarpaste will go hard and last forever, the cake bases will go hard too they will not go off, its a great way to keep your cupcakes as a feature in your kitchen. Have a go and see what delights you come up with.