Truffles and Ruffles

I don't know about you but I am mightily partial to a dark chocolate truffle. Very often my shopping expeditions include a stealthy visit to Koko Black for one or two treats of melt-in-the-mouth chocolate goodness. I decided to design a chocolate truffle inspired cupcake for an adults only birthday party I was asked to supply cakes for. The resultant cakes are dark and chocolatey, mildly spiked with coffee liquer to give them a real grown up flavour. These are Dark Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes with 70% Cocoa Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and decorated with handmade sugar peonies and white chocolate lattices.

Southern Belle Cupcakes

These cupcakes were a creation for a wonderful friend of mine who was holding a fundraiser high tea. She wanted something deliciously girly and frivolous to have displayed on three tiered stands with finger sandwiches and scones. We decided something light and citrusy (I know that's probably not a word but it's the best I can do!) to complement the Lady Grey Tea and champagne she was serving as drinks. I love lemon chiffon cake,which for some reason always reminds me of a Southern American Belle in a Gone With the Wind style gown, with its billowing frothiness and lightness. I decided it would work perfectly in cupcake form for the event. These are Lemon and Orange Chiffon Cupcakes with Citrus Buttercream frosting decorated with handmade sugar flowers and sprinkles. The fundraiser was a huge success and the cupcakes were all gone in a fiddle-dee-dee!

Hello Kitty Cupcake

Am I the only 30 (cough cough) something year old that thinks that Hello Kitty is ridiculously adorable? Err... probably, but my seven year old neighbours completely agree. Anyway, when I saw some fabulous Hello Kitty cupcakes created by the truly amazing Kelly at Once Upon A Cupcake (in California) I was inspired to make my own. Her designs were so lovely and kitch that I thought any little girl would be thrilled with them. It took me quite a while to decide on a cupcake flavour befitting of the adorable Hello Kitty design, tossing up strawberry, raspberry, coconut but none seemed quite right. Then it hit me, a cute, white, quirky kitten needs a cute, white, quirky cupcake so these are White Chocolate Rocky Road Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream frosting and Hello Kitty motifs. The white chocolate cupcakes are dotted with yummy goodies like mini marshmallows, dried cranberries and chopped macadamia nuts and are cute to boot!

Precious Persimmon Cupcakes

My parents returned from a driving trip to Bright with 4 cases of the most enormous persimmons I have ever seen. The word 'moderation' has not made it into my Italian mother's vocabulary as yet (and never will). So, what to do with an abundance of persimmons? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade and when life gives you persimmons make persimmon cupcakes of course! I sifted through endless recipes to come up with a cupcake that would complement the unique flavour of a persimmon which, to the uninitiated, apparently tastes "softly sweet and pudding-like" according to my google search. I decided on a spicy, fragrant cupcake with all of those yummy autumn flavours like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. This is a Persimmon Spice Cupcake with Orange Buttercream Frosting and decorated with handmade sugar flowers. These are really a one off creation as I probably won't have an abundance of persimmons at hand very often but they really are delicious and well worth the effort.

The return of the cupcake!

Well, after a hiatus from cupcaking I have finally returned to the joy of baking and creating cupcakes. Life took me in an unexpected direction for a while there but I have at long last made my way back to the oven. This week I have been taken by the autumnal Melbourne weather and all the yumminess that autumn brings. I've been inspired by gorgeous spices like cinnamon and nutmeg as well as autumn fruits like fresh picked apples and persimmons (but more on those later). These are Caramel Apple Cupcakes with Maple Syrup Buttercream Frosting and decorated with handmade sugar pansies. The weather outside has turned decidedly nippy and these cupcakes are toasty and comforting with brown sugar and caramel flavours as well as a hint of cinammony spice. I really love the idea of being inspired by the seasons, eating the food that not only suits the weather but also is freshest and best at this time of the year. I had a rather large bowl of gorgeous gala apples bought at a farm gate in the Mornington Peninsula that were still wet with morning dew when I bought them so I decided an apple cupcake was a must. Now, I have about a dozen rather gigantic persimmons to turn into cupcake form....

With thanks

It's always so lovely to hear that people have been pleased with their Cherry Blossom creations and I quite often have phone calls from happy customers but I was especially pleased to receive a handwritten note from Claire whose 'Chocarama' cupcakes I designed back in October. She wrote, "Thanks a heap for the time and effort you took to make my cakes just exactly what I wanted. They looked and tasted exactly how I dreamt they would and they definitely made my night and were the feature of the party." I was so chuffed it put a smile on my face for the rest of the day!

Cutie Pie

These cutie pie cupcakes were a request for one of my first ever cupcakes, way back in August 2008, that caught the attention of a gorgeous little girl having her Confirmation. I really enjoyed returning to this fun design because although it is very simple it delights the little girl in all of us. The cartoon like flowers were really sweet and effective enmasse and I was so pleased with the result. These were Double Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream frosting and decorated with handmade sugar blossoms and they definitely turned out cute as a button!

Citrus and Sunshine

Well things are warming up in grey old Melbourne and I decided to create a delicious citrus cupcake to reflect my bright mood. I am experimenting with filled cupcakes at the moment and thought this might be a nice time to try a light, zesty filled cake instead of the chocolatey creations of late. I also wanted to spoil a few of my favourite girlfriends so they reaped the rewards of my experimenting! These are Coconut Flake Cupcakes filled with White Chocolate and Lemon Mousse and frosted with Citrus buttercream and decorated with handmade sugar petunias and pearls. They are a more colourful version of the ivory floral cupcakes I made for Tara's wedding because I loved the feminine design so much but felt like giving it a summery twist.

Tara's dreamy ivory wedding

When the amazingly gorgeous Tara approached me to make the cakes for her wedding I was honoured and very excited. She had a gorgeous theme of mainly ivory with rose petals and tea light candles. She also wanted to incorporate the design of her wedding invitation which were gorgeous white bows so we came up with some lovely romantic floral designs and also a very minimalist bow design. These are White Chocolate Mudcakes with Vanilla Buttercream frosting decorated with handmade white sugar bows and Vanilla and Almond Sponge Cakes with Vanilla Buttercream frosting decorated with handmade sugar flowers and pearls. She also requested a cutting cake for the top tier which was also a White Chocolate mudcake with White Chocolate Ganache filling and Ivory Fondant Icing. It was a truly stunning and glamorous function and I wish Tara and Brent all the very best, they deserve it!

Spring is in the air

I may have mentioned that Spring is my favourite season. Being an eternal optimist I just love it when my garden pops out with buds and lavender and the air smells of jasmine and blossoms. That said, I was delighted with Grace's yummy mummy decided on a spring theme for Grace's christening. The room was decorated adorably with pink and green balloon bunches topped with spring creatures like butterflies and ladybirds. It was so unique and pretty, a departure from the usual christening motifs. In keeping with the theme we designed gorgeous girly White Chocolate Mud Cupcakes with Pink Vanilla Buttercream decorated with mint and pink daisies and sugar pearls and Hummingbird Cupcakes with Mint Green Maple Syrup Buttercream decorated with handmade sugar hearts and sprinkles. I also added the occasional mini pink butterfly nestled in amongst the cakes every now and then. Happy Christening Gracie!