Cupcakes

Carrot Cake:

4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
2 ½ c. all purpose flour (I substituted using whole-wheat flour and they turned out both tasty and healthy!)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 T. crushed pineapple (from a can)
4 c. grated carrots (use a blender, I used a Cuisinart)

Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Beat in oil, then salt, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and pineapple. Add flour (be careful not to over-beat!), then carrots. Line cupcake baking tins with cooking spray (This way if you drip batter onto the tins, it will easily wash off). Line tins with paper cupcake holders, and bake at 350˚F for approximately 30 minutes. Tip: For professional-looking, uniform cupcakes, use an ice-cream scoop to measure the amount of batter you place in each cupcake holder.

Cream Cheese Icing:
250 g cream cheese, softened (can substitute with low fat and the recipe is still delicious!)
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. unsalted butter, softened
3 c. icing sugar

Steps:
1. Bake the cupcakes and allow them to cool.
2. Use a piping bag and tip with a corrugated edge to make "nests" to put the eggs in. I used food colouring to dye the icing yellow. Make swirls on each of the cupcakes working from the outside in (see image)
3. Place Cadbury mini-eggs and gold dragees on the cupcakes

Happy Easter!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes!

Here I am with my friend Kristy holding one of the icing-covered condoms!

The Condom Cake

The Condom Cake

For this cake I cheated and used a Betty Crocker Box Mix. The secret was using a very rich homemade chocolate icing which gave the cake the made-from-scratch flavour and appeal.

Chocolate Icing:

3 c. icing sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 to 1/3 c. warm milk (or water). I would ere on the lower end, to ensure the icing is firm enough for decorating using a piping bag.

Steps:

1. Bake two layer cakes using a box mix such as Betty Crocker's Devil's Food. And allow to cool.

2. Assemble the two cakes with a layer of icing in between.

3. Take a knife and make eight slices in the cake that are the length of a condom. Do not let the slice come to close to the edge or centre of the cake, and make them so that they are like spokes on a bicycle wheel. Next, carefully insert the condoms very slowly to avoid cracking the cake. After the condoms are in place, cover the cake in a thick layer of icing (if the insertion of the condoms has caused the cake to crack at all, lots of icing will act like glue to help keep it together).

4. Use a piping bag and decorative tip to decorate the edges of the cake (see image) and to make small "nests" on the top in which to put rings. The rings I used were bought from the dollar store, and are available at most party supply stores.

5. Put the rings on the cake, and scatter silver dragees around the top and sides. Put in candles. Serve to fun-loving guests!

Tadaa!

Enjoying the "miniature Chelsea" with the birthday girl (centre) and my sister (left)!

The Barbie Cake

I used a simple vanilla cake recipe to make my Barbie cake. On my first try, I used a chocolate recipe, but the cake crumbled when I was carving it into the skirt shape, and the chocolate crumbs were not easily hidden by the pale pink frosting, so go for vanilla. Here’s how I did it!

Vanilla Cake:
The cake requires three tiers (using an 8” diameter circular pan, so use one and a half times the below recipe):

1/2 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

First mix the butter and sugar (it is important to make sure that these two ingredients are mixed thoroughly). Add vanilla and eggs; mix well. Add flour and baking powder; mix well, but do not “over-beat” the flour. Bake at 350˚F for approximately 25 minutes.

Vanilla Butter-Cream Icing:
I doubled-up this recipe to ensure I had enough icing to do the piping for the dress.

1/2 c. butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. warm milk

3 c. icing sugar

Mix butter, salt and icing sugar. Add milk and mix with an electric mixer at top speed until it reaches a stiff consistency (about 3-5 minutes). The icing needs to be firm to do piping techniques, so add more icing sugar if required. Putting the piping bag into the fridge for a few minutes mid-decorating can also help to keep the icing firm.

Steps:

1. Bake three layer cakes using an 8” circular pan and allow to cool.
2. For the base layer use the entire cake, the middle layer should be cut down to a circle with a 6” diameter, and the top layer should be cut down to a circle with a 4” diameter.
3. Assemble the cakes with quite a lot of icing in between each layer (this will give added height to Barbie and be delicious too!)
4. Carefully pare down the sides of the cake so that it forms a smooth, cone shape.
5. Insert a knife into the centre of the cake from above, and gently wiggle it around. Next, carefully place the doll into the insertion, being very careful not to crack the cake. If you do not intend on using the doll again, it may be helpful to cut off her legs mid-thigh.
6. Cover the dress with a smooth layer of icing. Next, use your fingers to “paint” an icing top on the doll. At this stage I also added an icing necklace and bracelet using a toothpick. Use a piping bad and a tip with a corrugated edge to do details on the skirt.
7. I placed a birthday candle into the cake near the doll’s hand, and gave it as a gift to my friend Chelsea for her birthday. I have never seen a crowd of girls get so excited about a cake, no one wanted to make the first slice!

Voila!