Irish Step Dancing Cookies

Looking for these Irish step dancing dress cookies?  We moved the whole blog over to Tikkido.com.  Come see it there!

Irish step dancing solo dress cookies

A Cupcake for You: A Special Easter for Friends

A neighborhood friend's two children are having a very big weekend.  Tomorrow, they're getting baptized, having their first communion, and being confirmed--all in one big ceremony.  Family is flying in from out of state for this very special Easter weekend, and I was asked if I might make a cake for the celebration.

Now, I'm swamped right now.  It's the height of our busy season at Tradewind Tiaras (all those last-minute June brides!)  I'm in crazy-crafting mode getting ready for Niamh's second birthday in two weeks.  Add to that birthday parties, Easter celebrations, playdates, and a session with the trainer and my weekend is swamped.  But of course I made time for my sweet neighbors.  That's not the kind of opportunity I can decline!

I opted to make cupcakes instead of one cake to save time.  Chocolate with chocolate frosting for Cade, the die-hard chocoholic.  Vanilla caramel cupcakes with salted caramel filling and salted caramel buttercream for Hailey, who gave me free rein on the flavor. 

Whenever I make gumpaste flowers for a cake, I usually make too many.  Just in case.  And I keep all the leftovers.  They're really small and easy to store and they last forever.  Why bother saving those odds and ends of different decorating projects?  Because they're great additions to last-minute cupcakes!  There are flowers from at least four different cakes on these cupcakes, but they look great together.  

Gumpaste letters are another quick way to make a custom cupcake topper.  They dry in a matter of hours, and with a little bit of disco dust sparkle, they look fabulous.   If you've seen any of my other cupcake posts, you know I'm in love with edible cupcake toppers.   Now you know two of my tricks for dealing with my near-obsession, even when I don't have much time to invest.

Happy holiday weekend, everyone!  

A cupcake for You: Ice Skating!

And here's the end to my week of cupcake posts, the last design I worked on this week.  It may be in the 70s here today in the Phoenix area, but it's still January, and we like to use winter themes, even though it's warm.

Just another example of how gumpaste decorations, made well in advance, can really dress up the simplest cupcakes.

Recipes: A Delicious, Versatile Cake (and Cupcake, of Course)

Continuing on with the cupcake theme this week, I figured it just wasn't fair to taunt you all with picture after picture of cupcakes and not give you my favorite recipe.  I don't believe in keeping recipes secret, and want to share it with as many people as possible.  It's as easy as a box mix, and so much more delicious.

My grandmother was a professional cake decorator of some renown in Iowa decades ago.  Family lore says that the governor once told his daughter, "I don't care who you marry, as long as  you give me enough notice to get a cake from Berta M."

On of my grandmother's many, many wedding cakes.  Do you recognize the royal icing lace points from the gingerbread house at the Sugar Plum Fairy party?  One of the many things she taught me.

This is the incredibly easy, delicious, moist, no-fail chocolate cake recipe she always used, and I grew up loving. It's actually a vegan cake recipe (though be careful serving to vegans, as many icings are not).

Crazy Cake (also known as Wacky Cake and a few other names)

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups water

Mix ingredients.  Pour in a pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35ish minutes for a 9x13 pan.   Test with a wooden skewer to see if it's done (mine always takes longer than the recipe says in my oven).

It's that easy.  No special techniques, no creaming ingredients to just the right texture.  Dump it in a bowl.  Mix.  Pour.  Bake.  I think it's actually easier than making a box mix, and the taste is so much better.  It's moist, it's a little more dense than store bought mixes (which I prefer--you can tell it's from scratch!), and it freezes gorgeously if you're even considering making your own wedding cake.  

If cupcakes are on your mind, this recipe makes 30.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (check the time the first time you make them, because ovens vary dramatically!)

Now, I'm going to share my secret with you.  The recipe isn't the secret.  The obvious insight it took me 20 some years to have is.  One day it hit me:  if I don't add the cocoa powder, this recipe doesn't have to be a chocolate cake.  Simply replace the cocoa with flour, and start adding other flavors.

Once I figured that out, the possibilities were endless!  I've made peanut butter, key lime, lemon, coffee, vanilla chai, vanilla, vanilla caramel, strawberry, cherry, coconut lime cakes and more!  

Here are a couple of my favorite variations:

Lemon Crazy Cake:

Follow the recipe above, but omit cocoa, replace with flour.  Add the zest of one lemon (two if they're small.  The lemons off of the tree in my backyard are HUGE).  Add two or three tablespoons of King Arthur Flour's Lemon Powder (depending on how lemony you like your cake to be). 

Make bright and delicious lemon soak with simple syrup and fresh lemon juice.  Brush each layer of the cake liberally with your soak--it can take way more than you think.  My pastry-chef mother puts at least 4oz on each layer of the cakes she makes, more for larger cakes, and just squirts it on with a squeeze bottle.

  If you're making cupcakes, you can inject the syrup in the center of the cupcake using the blunt syringes you can get from the pharmacy for squirting medicine into your baby's mouth.   

This version of the cake is divine, and even my die-hard chocolate-loving husband says this is his favorite.  Paired with vanilla IMBC--heaven!

Vanilla Caramel Crazy Cake:

Follow the recipe, but omit cocoa and replace with flour.  Double the vanilla to 2 teaspoons.  Add a good dose of vanilla caramel flavored powdered coffee creamer (not sugar free!), somewhere around 1/2 a cup.  I never measure that part, sorry.

 Mix and bake as usual.  I've made an apple filling to go with this for caramel apple cake, and it's also exceptional with a dulce de leche filling.  

See?  Easy!  Go crazy!  Lavender lemonade cake?  Sure!  Earl Grey with Cream and Sugar cake?  Sure!  (Ack!  Now I want to throw a tea party with tea flavored cupcakes!  See where this kind of flexibility can lead you?)  You now have, with a little imagination, a fabulous, easy, inexpensive cake recipe in any flavor you can imagine.  

Types of Icing for Cupcakes

Think the greasy grocery store fluff they dare call icing is the only option out there for cupcakes?  Think again! Different icings have different textures, tastes, and looks.  Whether you're working with a professional baker or are planning on making cupcakes for your own event, it's worth investigating the different options to discover what you like best--for both flavor and appearance.

American Buttercream:
Incredibly simple--just powdered sugar, butter, flavoring, a dash of salt, and a tiny amount of milk or cream to get just the right texture.  Classic, sweet, fast and easy, and endlessly versatile.  And always better when made with real butter, not shortening.  If you're new to baking and are planning to make cupcakes for an event, or if you're just looking for a nostalgic flavor, American buttercream is a great option.  I used American buttercream on my penguin cupcakes a few days ago.  It's such a simple frosting, but gets such rave reviews from people used to grocery store fare.

Peanut butter cupcake with honey flavored American buttercream.

Rose Cupcakes made with American Buttercream

Jayne hat cupcakes made for a charity fundraising bake sale/Serenity Screening, made with American buttercream.

Cupcakes decorated with American buttercream are often more basic in design, but someone skilled in piping can create gorgeous works of art.  Don't underestimate pastry chefs who prefer to work with buttercreams over fondant.

Italian Meringue Buttercream and Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
Commonly referred to by their abbreviations IMBC and SMBC, meringue buttercreams are truly a treat.  They're light, fluffy, and don't taste nearly as sweet as an American buttercream.  They're also much fussier to make, but the end product is well worth the effort.

Key lime cupcakes with Italian meringue buttercream and gumpaste decorations.

Just like with American buttercream, meringue buttercreams can be piped into fabulous decorations all by themselves, or embellished with gumpaste or fondant accents.  I've always preferred savory treats to sweet ones, and have actually never really liked icing...until I tried IMBC.  I could eat my weight in this stuff.  If you're on the hunt for the perfect cupcake for your event, definitely try a cupcake with meringue buttercream.

Look how gorgeous and delectable even something very simple can be:

These tempting treats were made by carriebush on Cake Central.  Chocolate Bailey's flavored cupcakes with coffee IMBC and topped with a chocolate covered espresso bean.  YUM!  I love how amazingly elegant and adult cupcake flavors can be--especially when using a meringue buttercream.

If you're considering IMBC for a DIY cupcake project, here's a little hint:  it freezes gorgeously.  You can make the icing weeks or months ahead of time and freeze it.  (I use gallon ziplock bags, each holds 2lb of icing very nicely, freeze flat, and are stackable.)  Leave the icing bags on the counter a few hours before you need to use the icing.  Once thawed, whip it in your mixer for a few minutes, and it will be just as good as the moment it was made.  When planning a big event, it's good to get as much done ahead of time as possible, and being able to make the IMBC well ahead makes that last-minute party-planning schedule so much easier.

Fondant:
You don't see fondant on cupcakes as often as the various buttercreams, but it's absolutely possible, and creates some absolutely gorgeous, elegant cupcakes.  And yes, it can even be delicious.  Steer away from Wilton brand, and either try one of the tastier brands like Fondx or Satin Ice (available from cake decorating stores and online), or try making your own.  It's not hard at all, is much less expensive, and tastes delicious.  The ingredients are pretty much the same as making homemade marshmallows, just with a different technique and different quantities, but the flavor is similar.

Fondant is usually adhered to the cake or cupcake with a layer of buttercream, so even if a guest doesn't like even homemade fondant, they can peel it off and still enjoy the cupcake.

Cupcakes covered with fondant and accented with gumpaste decorations.

There is so much that can be done with fondant and gumpaste, and the look can be so incredibly clean and elegant.  If you want to be really wowed and inspired, check out the amazing work of Zalita of Cupcake D'lights, an amazing cake artist from South Africa.  Her tea party cupcakes were the inspiration for mine, and were the seed behind the entire Under the Sea Tea Party party I threw for my daughter's 6th birthday.  There are more (amazing!  brilliant!  gorgeous!) pictures on her Flickr feed than her blog, and it's definitely worth checking out.  

Fondant and gumpaste work like Zalita's take cupcakes right out of the cute range and entirely appropriate for even the most elegant affair.  Plus you don't have to worry about cutting the cake for everyone!  If your wedding is a DIY affair, that is a big bonus.  Cutting a tiered wedding cake takes a fair amount of time specific knowledge to do it well--you can't just ask any friend to take care of that duty.



Cupcakes can range from playful and precious to stunningly elegant, and can suit any theme or event.  But you have to choose the right look and taste to match the party.   Go forth, experiment, taste test (the best part!) and figure out what's best for your event!

A Cupcake for You: Robots!

And continuing in the cupcake theme, the second design I've been working on this week.  Robots!

I made these little gumpaste robots to go on cupcakes for my friend's son's birthday.  Now I just need to figure out how to ship them to Iowa so they'll arrive in one piece!  The colors were taken from a quilt my friend Eva over at Bijoux Baby Crafts is making from these fabrics (which will be the color scheme for the party):

And are loosely based on some amazing prints she bought from John W. Golden on Etsy, which will be part of the party decor, and used in the birthday boy's bedroom after the party.

Wouldn't that party be fabulous with this cardboard rocket playhouse from PlayHouses.com, ready to decorate?

(Thanks to Catch My Party for introducing me to these cardboard play houses.  I adore them!  Must get one!)

Add some amazing robot printables from Love the Day, and you've got one gorgeous little boy party!

Yeah, there's no way I can tie this post to weddings.  But it's part of what's been keeping me busy this week, and I wanted to share!

A Cupcake for You: Penguins

Looking for the penguin cupcakes?  They've moved to their new home at Tikkido.com.