Easter is always a great time for baking and this extract from Quick Cakes for Busy Mums by Karen Taylor, £14.99 (B. Dutton Publishing) offers you a couple of colourful recipes.
‘Hoppy Easter’ Cupcakes
Ingredients
175g (6oz) butter (or margarine)
175g (6oz) caster sugar
3 medium eggs
175g (6oz) self-raising flour
1tsp vanilla extract
Apricot jam, boiled and cooled
Edibles
SK Sugarpaste: 72g (2½oz) Bridal White, 220g (7¾oz) Bridal White coloured with Dark Green and a touch of Yellow paste food colours
20g (¾oz) SK Pink Sugar Dough
1 pack SK Sugar Florist Paste (SFP): Pale Yellow with a touch of Orange paste food colour
SK Quality Food Colour (QFC) Pastes: Dark Green, Orange and Yellow
SK Edible Glue
Small amount of SK Instant Mix Royal Icing
Equipment
12 x SK Dotty Cupcake Cases in Pink, Spring Green and Yellow
12-hole muffin tin
6cm (2 3/8”) round cutter
Small blossom cutter
Piping nozzle: no. 1
Makes 12
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
2. Cream the butter (or margarine) and sugar together in an electric mixer.
3. Slowly add the eggs, then the flour and vanilla and mix until fully combined. Make sure you scrape the bowl with a spatula between mixing.
4. Place the cupcake cases in a muffin tin and spoon approximately 50ml (1¾fl oz) of mixture into each one. Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes.
5. Once the cakes are baked and spring back to the touch, take them out of the tin immediately. Leave to cool before decorating.
6. Brush the top of each cupcake with a little cooled, boiled apricot glaze. Roll out the yellow-green sugarpaste to a 3mm (1/8”) thickness and cut out twelve 6cm (2 3/8”) circles of paste. Place these onto the cupcakes and smooth them down with the palm of your hand.
7. Shape 4g (just under ¼oz) of Bridal White sugarpaste into a long teardrop shape for the bunny’s ear. Flatten it slightly with the palm of your hand and taper the top of the ear into a point. Roll out a small amount of Pink Sugar Dough and cut out an inner ear shape. Attach it in the centre of the ear with edible glue.
8. Make another ear in the same way but fold it over in the middle. Trim the bottom of each ear straight and use edible glue to attach them to the cupcake. Repeat to make 11 pairs of ears for the remaining cupcakes.
9. Roll out the yellow SFP thinly and cut out 36 little blossoms. Pipe a small dot of royal icing into the centre of each flower using a no. 1 nozzle. Stick one to the straight ear with edible glue. Secure the remaining blossoms over the top of the cupcakes.
You can get all your cake decorating supplies from Squires Kitchen at www.squires-shop.com or pop in store at 3 Waverley Lane, Farnham.
