Assorted Chocolate Cupcakes

I spent an enjoyable day making chocolate cupcakes today, and I plan to gift them to my sister and brother-in-law as a belated 1st wedding anniversary present/house-warming gift.

I made several different types of icing (white chocolate buttercream, chocolate ganache and chocolate fondant. Of the three types of icing, the white chocolate buttercream was the easiest to work with. The ganache was initially a bit too firm to pipe effectively, then when in warmed up to room temperature it became a bit runny. Tricky to get right :-s The chocolate fondant icing came out ok although it set really quickly which meant that it wrinkled a bit when I moved the cupcake into the box which you can see in the bottom two photos.

Above: chocolate cupcakes iced with white chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache

Above: more chocolate ganache iced cupcakes and wrinkly chocolate fondant! I made the chocolate roses by hand and am really pleased with the way that they turned out :-)

Peony Cupcakes

I made these as a bit of an experiment. I wanted to try piping my rose-flavoured buttercream in the shape of a rose on top of each cake. It worked ok. I think that they do look a bit like a peonies with their tightly compacted petals. I put crystallised violet petals on top of each cake to add to the flower theme. They have a lovely delicate flavour which reminds me a bit of those parma violet sweets I used to have as a kid!

Jubilee Cupcakes!

I baked these today as a bank holiday weekend project.

I was inspired to make these after two kind colleagues bought me a set of cupcake thrones from Fortnum and Mason! Behold! The Queen of Cupcakes! ;-)

Lemon Cupcakes

I decided to make these during the bank holiday weekend. The lemon flavour is pretty subtle but it's definitely in there!

Auction of Promises Lot #3: Daisy Cakes

These cakes were made for my friend and fellow singer Anna's birthday. Anna, who sings with me in the Fairhaven Singers (http://www.fairhavensingers.org.uk/) was one of the three 'winning' bidders at the choir's auction of promises. Happy birthday, Anna!

July Cupcakes

No real reason for making these.... Just fancied baking (maybe I was procrastinating a little) oh and I did want to show off this lovely cake stand which was a birthday gift from two of my closest school friends. Splendid, isn't it?

Wedding decorations

I had the honour of decorating my sister's wedding cake earlier this month! I made over 50 of these delicate little flowers which were randomly positionned on all three tiers of the classic fruit cake. I thought the overall effect was pretty professional, and it certainly went down a treat with the guests! One day I'll do the whole lot - bake the cake(s), ice them and decorate them....