tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78374281868262114392024-03-15T16:17:45.714+08:00top the cupcaketop the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-85181122700828121322014-03-16T10:17:00.000+08:002014-04-29T21:01:16.402+08:00More Disney Princess cupcakes ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another year, another set of Disney Princess cupcakes. This year for Mini Mousey's 6th birthday, she decided she wanted Disney Princess cupcakes again. But this time, she wanted Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, the characters from Disney's latest movie Frozen, to be a part of the collection. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being the obliging Aunty that I am (and by “obliging Aunty” I actually mean “push-over Aunty”), I agreed. Working on three hours sleep over two nights, I managed to whip up 30 Disney Princess cupcakes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mini Mousey was stoked when I delivered the cupcakes to her class. You could simply not wipe the grin off her face. It almost made the lack of sleep worth it … almost!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her favourite cupcakes were unsurprisingly, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Happy birthday my Princess Mini Mousey! xx</b></span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-70268854631347022132013-05-11T13:50:00.002+08:002013-05-17T15:18:37.031+08:00Disney Princess cupcake tutorial #1 – Princess Aurora<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Do you remember the Disney
Princess cupcakes I made for Mini Mousey’s birthday this year? In case you do
not remember, here is a photograph of the cupcakes to help gig your memory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">I have had an overwhelming amount
of requests to provide a tutorial as to how to make these cupcakes. As I am a
lover of the people and in particular baking fanatics, I have decided to
oblige. Who would have thought Mini Mousey’s Disney Princess cupcakes would
have been so popular?! Clearly, the girl’s got taste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">As you can see from the
photograph, I made eight Disney Princesses for Mini Mousey’s birthday. This
tutorial will only demostrate how to make one of the eight Disney Princesses,
my favourite, Princess Aurora (famously known as Sleeping Beauty). I will
release other Dinsey Princess cupcake tutorials with time. But once you see how
one is done, you will get the idea as to how to make the others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Okay, first off, the fondant
topper. Ps. You should make the fondant topper or toppers (if you are game enough
to make more than one) the day before you intend to bake the actual cupcake or
cupcakes! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><b>Step one: Getting the stencils
ready <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Below you will find two stencils.
The stencils are for making the bodice of Princess Aurora’s dress. Before you print the stencils, adjust the
stencil size according to the size of your cupcakes. If you are making regular
size cupcakes, the stencil should be about 4.5cm in width. Print the stencils
on thick cardboard and cut out the shapes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><b>Step two: Fondant work</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">If you are working with white coloured
fondant, colour the fondant to the desired shade of pink. Personally, I perfer
to use Wilton’s colour gel. Princess Aurora’s dress is quite a deep shade of
pink, so you will need to use quite a bit of colouring to get the correct
shade. To get the colour for my Princess Aurora’s dress, I used the Wilton
‘Rosado’ colour gel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Once you have obtained the desired
fondant colour, roll out the fondant to about 2mm in thickness. Make sure the
fondant is no thicker than 2mm, otherwise the fondant will not dry properly (or
alternatively, take too long to dry). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Once you have rolled out the
fondant to the desired width, place ‘Stencil #1’ on the rolled out fondant.
With a firm hold of the stencil, cut into the fondant and around the stencil
using a sharp knife. Don’t press too firmly as this will cause the fondant to
flatten. Just assert enough pressure to keep the stencil from moving. Once you have
cut out the bodice shape of Princess Aurora’s dress, move it to the side. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">As you can see from the
photograph, the sleeve of Princess Aurora’s dress is white. So, to make the
sleeve, roll out white coloured fondant. Again, the width of the fondant
should not be thicker than 2mm. Once you have rolled out the fondant to the
desired width, place ‘Stencil #2’ on the rolled out fondant. Using the
same techniques as discussed above, cut around the stencil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Putting the two fondant pieces
together is a little trickier than it looks. So take time and care when placing
the two together. Using a small amount of water (I cannot emphasise this
enough, please only use a small amount of water) brush the surface of the pink
fondant shape. The best way to do this is to dip your index finger into a small
bowl of water, as you are removing your finger from the water bowl wipe your
index finger on the side of the bowl, so that only a small amount of water is
actually on your finger tip. Using your wet index finger, wipe the surface of
the pink fondant shape. If there is too much water on the fondant, using the
same finger, wipe off the excess water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Carefully, place the white fondant shape on the top of the pink fondant shape. As you can see from the image below, the white
fondant shape should be placed directly on the top part of the pink fondant
shape. The white fondant shape should be perfectly aligned on top of the pink fondant shape.
Once the two fondant pieces are place together, leave the fondant topper aside to dry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The fondant topper should look like this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">You should allow the fondant topper to dry for at least 12 hours. It is best to leave it uncovered in a clean environment at room temputure. If you do not allow enough time for the fondant topper to dry, the fondant topper may warp and bend after you place it on top of the cupcake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><b>Step three: Make the cupcakes</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Obviously you do not need a
tutorial on this! Just make any cupcakes that you fancy. If you cannot find a
recipe, please feel free to use my <a href="http://www.topthecupcake.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/recipe-release-fml-vanilla-cupcakes.html" target="_blank">vanilla cupcake recipe</a>. It is a fairly stock
standard recipe, but it turns out perfectly everytime and is known to be a
crowd pleaser. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Once the cupcakes are baked and
cooled. Get cracking on the butter cream icing. With the butter cream icing,
you want a fairly thick icing to ensure that the icing holds shape. Again, if
you are uncertain of a recipe, please feel free to use <a href="http://www.topthecupcake.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/recipe-release-fml-vanilla-cupcakes.html" target="_blank">my recipe</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">After making the butter cream icing,
you will need to colour the icing to match the deep pink fondant shade. When it
comes to colouring icing, using Wilton’s colouring gel is the best option. As
the colouring gel does not add additional moisture or taste to the butter cream
icing. When colouring the butter cream icing, add the colouring gel gradually -
you do not want to add to much colouring gel at once because you want to match
the colour of the icing to the fondant as closely as possible. If you add too
much gel at the one time, the icing colour may become too dark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><b>Step four: Piping the dress<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Once you have the butter cream
icing coloured to the desired shade, you can begin to prepare the piping bag. The
nozzle you will require to pipe Princess Aurora’s dress is the Wilton 2D. Place
the pink icing into the piping bag and get ready to pipe! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">To pipe the base of the dress,
start from the center of the cupcake base and move the piping bag to the edge
of the cupcake, pipe in a circular motion around the cupcake. Continue to pipe
the icing in a circular motion around and up the cupcake, until you have a pretty
icing tower. At all times, keep the cupcake base still. The only thing that
should be moving is your hand and the piping bag in a circular motion. The best
thing about using butter cream icing is if you make a mistake, just simply tap
the icing off of the cupcake base and start again (remember to tap and not
wipe)! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><b>Step five: Putting it all together<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;">Place the dry fondant topper in
the center of the pink icing tower. Since the fondant topper has harden, it
should stand up perfectly in the center without any need of assistance from a
toothpick or wire. If your fondant topper has not had enough time to dry, it
will unfortunately bend over the top of the icing (insert sad face here). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><b>TIP OF THE DAY:</b> Once you have assembled
the Princess Aurora cupcake or cupcakes, do not cover the cupcakes completely. If you
do, the moisture in the cupcake will cause the fondant topper (i.e. the dress
bodice) to warp and bend. Although leaving the cupcakes uncovered will cause the cupcakes
to dry out slightly, it is the price you have to pay for a Dinsey Princess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><i>Enjoy and good luck! </i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If you do use this tutorial to make Princess Aurora cupcakes, please share photographs of your creations on the Top the Cupcake facebook page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ToptheCupcake">www.facebook.com/ToptheCupcake</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Also, special thanks to cupcakes_yuyu for the cupcake inspiration. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-57485969762859259722013-03-24T18:04:00.001+08:002013-03-24T18:14:55.952+08:00If you go out in the woods today ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">"If you go out in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">If you go out in the woods today, you'd better go in disguise.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">For every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Because today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic."</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
</span><br />
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* * *<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you know, I just love throwing a good party! In my opinion, nothing beats a good old fashion themed party. </span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not surprisingly, I went all out with Mini Mousey's 5th birthday. The theme was 'Teddy Bears' Picnic'. Being the girly girl that she is, everything had to be pink, purple or white. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dessert table was comprised with a 5 tier white chocolate mud cake (after all, Mini Mousey was turning 5, so naturally she would require a 5 tier cake), cupcakes, cake pops, mini chocolate shaped cupcakes, macaron pops, iced cookies, caramel popcorn, jelly and lollies galore! Needless to say, all the baked goods were appropriately themed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would go so far as to say, this is probably my best efforts yet - pretty chuffed with myself.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Photography by Tim Pontin 2013 (</strong></span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timpontin.com&h=iAQEPB71A&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>www.timpontin.com</strong></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>). </strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These photographs are protected by copyright and cannot be used unless written consent is obtained. </span></div>
</div>
top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-84710445380308119042013-03-09T11:09:00.000+08:002013-03-09T11:10:09.210+08:00Which Disney character are you?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-91837136415207654992013-03-08T17:41:00.000+08:002013-05-17T15:18:56.120+08:00Cupcakes fit for a princess!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My little
Mini Mousey turned five years old yesterday! She is a little pocket rocket -
little person with a BIG personality. I love the little person that she has
become, partly because she is a mini ME! She is a high maintenance girly girl
that knows what she wants and is not afraid of dishing a bit of attitude when
needed. She cracks me up on a regular basis! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Given that
it was her birthday yesterday, we had (yes <b><u>HAD</u></b>) to bring cupcakes into her
class to share with her classmates.
About a week ago, I had Mini Mousey choose which cupcake design she
would like for the cupcakes she is to bring into her class to share
with her friends. I was pleasantly surprised that she chose a simple design
that we had made a few weeks ago, rainbow cupcakes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Making
these rainbow cupcakes is relatively easy because you basically don’t need to
make too many toppers - huzzah. The only difficulty is getting your hands on the
rainbow sour strap candy as not all supermarket stores stock it. But once you
get your hands on the rainbow sour straps, you'll be laughing! Not literally,
but most likely metaphorically. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So how do
put the rainbow cupcakes together? Firstly, make some clouds out of white
fondant. If you are feeling too lazy to make the cloud fondant topper, then
just make some clouds out of mini white marshmallows. Once you have the clouds
under control, bake the cupcake bases and ice the cupcakes with some blue icing
(preferably pipe the icing on). Cut the rainbow sour straps in half or thirds,
and stick each end into the icing. Make sure the rainbow sour strap form an
even convex shape on top of the icing. Stick the clouds at each end of the
rainbow sour strap and you’re done! If you want to go all out, sprinkle a few
little white 100s and 1000s on top of the icing to resemble rain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So as you
can imagine, I was thrilled when Mini Mousey wanted to bring in the rainbow cupcakes to
share with her friends. However, in a state of delirious happiness this past Monday, I decided
to show Mini Mousey some cool cupcake designs I saw on the internet of Disney Princess
cupcakes. Her face lit up once she saw the Disney Princess cupcakes, she turned
to me abruptly and said “Aunty Tina, I have to have these cupcakes! Can you PLEASE make
them for me to bring into school for my friends?” How could I possibly say no
to my Mini Mousey?! So as expected, I said yes, stayed up to 3AM on Wednesday night (or should I say Thursday morning) and made the
Disney Princess cupcakes. Eight princess designs and twenty-five cupcakes in
total!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCPwTREZZTuhu4s42iYo48CwwwHrkfieK6HLLsBsR-UBJ3xxyLoiHc8SWCcg6tqfRG2VPyiMg7nN7SPggWjGFUElN2IWj3sEqULij7Vblk6BAI1zAFy7xTVCWzHz1CK4T17m_XWfGH5jE/s1600/Disney+Princess+Cupcakes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCPwTREZZTuhu4s42iYo48CwwwHrkfieK6HLLsBsR-UBJ3xxyLoiHc8SWCcg6tqfRG2VPyiMg7nN7SPggWjGFUElN2IWj3sEqULij7Vblk6BAI1zAFy7xTVCWzHz1CK4T17m_XWfGH5jE/s320/Disney+Princess+Cupcakes.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Needless
to say, Mini Mousey LOVED the cupcakes. She looked so chuffed when she saw them
and even more chuffed when her classmates sang her happy birthday and enjoyed
the cupcakes! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b><i>Happy birthday Mini Mousey! I love you muchly!! xx</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Also, special thanks to cupcakes_yuyu for the cupcake inspiration. </span><br />
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-84468503343589085432013-02-10T08:08:00.001+08:002013-02-10T08:08:41.738+08:00Happy Lunar New Year!"Chúc Mừng Năm Mới", "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Happy Lunar New Year"! May the year of the snake bring you good health, prosperity and an abundance of luck in and out of the kitchen.<br />
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What better way to celebrate the New Year than with cupcakes! Suitably themed with a little Asian boy, girl and snake. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxDykbBpRA8jhFmR7HkgCMKaqIF7YaYQTZxFd2OlE1Jv_bjxPWoFuXDBIqe7NZCJggXFBhBv-hoUJB5j4cUN4OKVZ5dvnSpICLMj-oHVC_BjSkVl-aXCyqXbEb0qDrRECVUw0baGorAY/s640/blogger-image--315889485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxDykbBpRA8jhFmR7HkgCMKaqIF7YaYQTZxFd2OlE1Jv_bjxPWoFuXDBIqe7NZCJggXFBhBv-hoUJB5j4cUN4OKVZ5dvnSpICLMj-oHVC_BjSkVl-aXCyqXbEb0qDrRECVUw0baGorAY/s640/blogger-image--315889485.jpg" /></a></div>top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-3481030237953463652013-01-29T17:57:00.000+08:002013-03-09T07:00:50.289+08:00Perpetual mourning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am currently in a state of perpetual mourning over the finaleof 30 Rock which is due to air in United States of America on 31 January 2013.I am dealing and processing my grief through the consumption of copious amountsof food. </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In honour of 30 Rock and my need to overindulge duringthis difficult time, I have made 30 Rock cupcakes. Complete with my favourite30 Rock characters: Liz Lemon, Jack Donaghy, Tracy Jordan, Jenna Maroney andKenneth Parcell.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNDNurJ2HbXXJscKsyMYT13CXD_tTgFKG3naGArAI3IUT54UbbCeQOvOTD7gm4fRM-98f2LIs05y5ip8h4ihzyrsXZfuvd3n8qPUCOS_G_2OlAlDN583EviOKXkoO_XMH-zw1PsQYiqc/s1600/30+Rock+cupcakes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNDNurJ2HbXXJscKsyMYT13CXD_tTgFKG3naGArAI3IUT54UbbCeQOvOTD7gm4fRM-98f2LIs05y5ip8h4ihzyrsXZfuvd3n8qPUCOS_G_2OlAlDN583EviOKXkoO_XMH-zw1PsQYiqc/s320/30+Rock+cupcakes.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (From the left: Jenna Maroney, Tracy Jordan, Liz Lemon, Jack Donaghy and Kenneth Parcell).</span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The cupcake toppers are based on the cartoon depiction of 30Rock by the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/21/30-rock-cartoon-brian-williams-jack-donaghy_n_852103.html" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a>.</span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Plain and simple - basic vanilla on vanilla cupcakes madefrom my tears!** </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Given that I am in no state to do anything other than eatmy feelings, I will leave this blog post here. Blerg!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>**</b><u><b>DISCLAIMER</b></u>: For the health and food regulators outthere - clearly the cupcakes were not made from my tears as that would beunhygienic. I am just trying to channel Tina Fey and be remotely funny. It isdoubtful that I am actually funny, but I certainly award myself an ‘A’ for effort.Oh dear, perhaps I should just stick to baking… </span></span></div></div>top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-15441607827384287272013-01-22T20:37:00.000+08:002013-01-22T20:37:00.290+08:00Cupcake slogan #6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No truer words have been spoken.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKw49zNCaEAKs64mm2N9hapEVwIyY2AB8Qt9c3VxIcyaAKQs_TVvbNa_0HAyBdRkiUJSyjyN4ZEb3WNe3mYOUrkR7eBpHzmorOrBbkquVxbm8oXjPLX2CVr0csjT1sDaTxgbe96jyN9Q/s400/Sophistication.jpg" width="400" /></span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-43014325592506927312013-01-17T20:33:00.002+08:002013-02-13T17:12:07.963+08:00Outrageous Chocolate Cookies!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I know</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> – </span>posting about something that is not cupcake related – outrageous! But I tell you what, this cookie recipe is AMAZING and certainly lives up to it's name, it certainly is outrageous. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I came across this recipe when trolling the <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/339686/outrageous-chocolate-cookies" target="_blank">Martha Stewart website</a>. The reason why it caught my eye was because I thought the proportion of the ingredients were wrong. But from all the comments I saw on the webpage, everyone was raving about the recipe just as it is. So I had to give it ago. However, I did make a few variations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Here is my take on the recipe.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Outrageous Chocolate Cookies</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ingredients </span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">277 grams of <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>70% cocoa dark chocolate</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">60 grams <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span>of salted butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2/3 cup<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> of </span>plain flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">½ teaspoon of salt</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2 large eggs (600 grams)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">¾ cupcake<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> of </span>packed brown sugar </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1 teaspoon<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> of </span>vanilla bean paste </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">100g of dark chocolate chunks or chips</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">100g<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> of </span>milk chocolate chunks or chips</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">100g<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> of </span>white chocolate chunks or chips</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">40g<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> of </span>raisins</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Method</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Heat the dark chocolate and butter in the microwave at 20 second increments, stirring between each, until the chocolate mixture is melted. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate mixture. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In another bowl, shift together the flour and salt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In a mixing bowl, whisk (by hand) the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until combined. Gradually add the melted chocolate into the mixture. Mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks or chips and raisins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Spoon the dough in the centre of a sheet of gladwrap 1m in length, in the shape of a log. Wrap the gladwrap around the dough and roll the dough into a circular log, approximately 5cm in diameter. Freeze the mixture for 30 minutes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Preheat oven at 170°C (150°C fan force).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Remove the dough from the freezer and unwrap the dough from the gladwrap. Cut the dough at 1cm intervals. Place the dough onto baking sheets approximately 3cm apart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Place the cookies in the oven and bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and appear crackly on the surface (approximately 15 to 18 minutes). Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Thanks Martha Stewart - this recipe was yum!</span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-49283356910813762532013-01-16T20:32:00.002+08:002013-01-16T20:32:12.659+08:00DIY pavlova<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">One of my
favourite desserts of all time is pavlova. For my international readers (beyond
the borders of Australia and New Zealand), pavlova </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">is a meringue
dessert with a crisp crust, and soft, light, fluffy goodness on the inside.
Kind of like me, a little rough around the edges and a bit too much loose jelly
in the centre! </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Pavlova is delicious! Given that pavlova is usually
served with whipped cream and fresh fruit, I always think of it as a healthy
dessert option. And yes, I do realise the irony of my last statement given that
it is made entirely of egg whites and sugar!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I had the family over on the weekend for a belated
Christmas lunch celebration. Given that it has been so HOT, HOT, HOT in Perth
the last few weeks (averaging about 35 degree Celsius every day), I wanted to
make a light dessert. So naturally pavlova is what had come to mind. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Wanting to
maintain my love for cupcakes but wanting to explore my love for pavlova, I
decided to merge the two. Combining the two was relatively easy, I just baked
the pavlova mixture into cupcake patties. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Given that
the kids, Zachosaurus and Mini Mousey, were coming over, I wanted to arrange an
activity to occupy them. And let’s face it, there is no better activity than a
food related activity! So I decided to construct a DIY pavlova station. I cut
the fruit into little pretty shapes using cookie cutters and plated them up
Master Chef style! Next, I put the freshly whipped cream into an icing bag with
my all-time favourite nozzle, the Wilton 2D. And before you knew it, I had a
pavlova dessert station.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGmJjPYH_Pz-6y9eDmCKMJZP4FB1G9FvPZAnO62TdQdC2YFgDq9gJKy-8XakV_WpsfE0OIenAmvjlaMGUIz1AKMB0UAIW2A4vOKU9EHhTyu_-zgSuyAGKaQEP9aLZL-52-WOGuOLeXIw/s1600/DIY+pavlova+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGmJjPYH_Pz-6y9eDmCKMJZP4FB1G9FvPZAnO62TdQdC2YFgDq9gJKy-8XakV_WpsfE0OIenAmvjlaMGUIz1AKMB0UAIW2A4vOKU9EHhTyu_-zgSuyAGKaQEP9aLZL-52-WOGuOLeXIw/s320/DIY+pavlova+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> From the left: passionfruit, mango, kiwi and strawberry<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VmImJlctA71bJJdIwucbZS3xiebjo-HzgSGEPR4jXGEzVr5bgti-WS8J_ilyovHNoEHfZ_j2OwuiMvxh6ZZaRcbrNFL6smZOWbezWMz-plLtaOtvFfGVs4vzEFoY00NyydQGQYEntBw/s1600/DIY+pavlova+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VmImJlctA71bJJdIwucbZS3xiebjo-HzgSGEPR4jXGEzVr5bgti-WS8J_ilyovHNoEHfZ_j2OwuiMvxh6ZZaRcbrNFL6smZOWbezWMz-plLtaOtvFfGVs4vzEFoY00NyydQGQYEntBw/s320/DIY+pavlova+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Needless
to say, the kids had a ball decorating their own little pavlovas. This is a
great activity for the little kids and big kids too. Another option is to leave
the fruit uncut and allow the kids to cut their own shapes out of the pieces of
fruit. Although this can be potentially very messy, it can also be potentially
very fun! </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">TIP: It is best to use metal cookie
cutters, oppose to plastic, as they are just that little bit sharper. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Given that
Australia Day is just around the corner, I got all patriotic and decided to
decorate my cupcake “Australian” style! After all, it was very fitting, given
that we did invent the pavlova!! New Zealand who?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDO_p68HWuPvbu2R1YyNHThp5jPaeK6cUth5I75_Dad3jCEeBUDseSJpkI0ASz75IHw-gnzLDxXLEoEcQ4nXYeB2PNu5364ynCxTzNq5KyVqLENfTmckbCRH4VzOn-sYuwARe5m1E40bQ/s1600/Australia+pavlova.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDO_p68HWuPvbu2R1YyNHThp5jPaeK6cUth5I75_Dad3jCEeBUDseSJpkI0ASz75IHw-gnzLDxXLEoEcQ4nXYeB2PNu5364ynCxTzNq5KyVqLENfTmckbCRH4VzOn-sYuwARe5m1E40bQ/s320/Australia+pavlova.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-12023220047651604802013-01-01T22:43:00.000+08:002013-01-01T22:43:45.037+08:00Back to basics!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Despite undergoing a little blog revamp, I have decided
to get back to basics and reconnect with my old blogging roots. I must admit, I
have neglected my blogging duties since starting the business and I have been
feeling very guilty as of late. </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">To be entirely honest, I have wanted to change the direction
of the blog for quite some time, but was not entirely sure how to go about it. After
half a year of oohing and aahing, I decided to stop procrastinating and get the
blogging into motion. And here we are. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Basically, the need for change was stemmed from my desire
for readers to get something practical out of my blog and not just a random
account of my banking adventures and the occasional mishap! It is my intention
to release cupcake, cake pop, iced cookie and macaron decorating guides, templates
and recipes through the blog. But not just that, I also want to share with readers awesome blogs I have come across that I have found to be particularly helpful in my various baking quest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So bring
on 2013! Same blog, same blogger but with a revised vision.</span></div>
</div>
top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-30870700489274917662012-11-21T07:10:00.002+08:002012-11-21T07:10:37.261+08:00And we are at it again!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUv4jQ1QcR_QzAfulsWbKxAqVBDZh98Lbx1dCzEuCLltvoEaC5nvjESxG8ZkGMDEaC5RP1O4vlOkaeJWDl7CNlh93TaDRBkGeXoqHqF8KYgK0QRgkhL85q99zbBESRFTLHVJZDYkRX3SA/s1600/Upmarket+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUv4jQ1QcR_QzAfulsWbKxAqVBDZh98Lbx1dCzEuCLltvoEaC5nvjESxG8ZkGMDEaC5RP1O4vlOkaeJWDl7CNlh93TaDRBkGeXoqHqF8KYgK0QRgkhL85q99zbBESRFTLHVJZDYkRX3SA/s320/Upmarket+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Upmarket is on (like Donkey Kong) THIS Sunday, 25 November 2012 at the University of Western Australia between 10AM to 4PM. As usual, Top the Cupcake will be selling delicious baked goods! There will be plenty of cupcakes, cake pops, cookies and macarons. Here is a sneaky peek of some of the goodies we will have on offer:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj8B2CfiVV94oc4K-Y0wc2GHKUuoPb5RxWahxjvCSX74jWLQay6immxVcuXm5cK9eNxYZMRreIj0inq7EOCkDjXXNs6WRHZ6f9ku6qF2lUL0FvlB9p6By_ZwZiH4WGM5eTewj-NXYiRM/s1600/P1050895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj8B2CfiVV94oc4K-Y0wc2GHKUuoPb5RxWahxjvCSX74jWLQay6immxVcuXm5cK9eNxYZMRreIj0inq7EOCkDjXXNs6WRHZ6f9ku6qF2lUL0FvlB9p6By_ZwZiH4WGM5eTewj-NXYiRM/s320/P1050895.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-62283448832723555462012-11-19T17:10:00.000+08:002013-01-22T20:34:32.273+08:00Cupcake slogan #5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A very wise very wise proverb.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubYRSQim5p1m3_PEGTaWSUj78kM9AO622bMUErFwGSmzdBIkny48r1XtRGusCpVsMwgbKL_tgBaw1FmIaeZgeP0lJsJ6tCKIJebuSR4sECy7H0zWc8T_0BUWonD3in8cm0YmwzQLIykc/s1600/Template.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubYRSQim5p1m3_PEGTaWSUj78kM9AO622bMUErFwGSmzdBIkny48r1XtRGusCpVsMwgbKL_tgBaw1FmIaeZgeP0lJsJ6tCKIJebuSR4sECy7H0zWc8T_0BUWonD3in8cm0YmwzQLIykc/s400/Template.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-21139376584856871882012-11-06T17:49:00.001+08:002012-11-19T08:00:05.795+08:00You're terrible Muriel!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For my international readers, pardon my Aussie <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sense of humour. That is assuming I have international readers or any readers at all really. How depressing, I could be maintaining a superfluous<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span>blog that no one reads. My goodness that is really sad. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any way, assuming that I do have some readers out there, I thought I would let you know that I am a weekly guest blogger on Unwrapped - The Marketplace website leading up to their Christmas Unwrapped in the City event scheduled on Sunday, 9 December 2012. If you are interested in reading what I have been up to as of late, please check out their <a href="http://www.unwrapped.com.au/index.php">website site</a> and click on the 'news' tab. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Here is a sneaky peek of what I have been working on this week:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">That's right peeps - Christmas macarons! xx</span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-50938999943362125442012-10-04T07:20:00.000+08:002012-10-04T12:20:59.088+08:00Being cray cray, pays off!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I am very
pleased to say that sometimes a little cray cray pays off. I tweeted my Dan
Stevens cupcake to him last night before going to bed at 10.57PM.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I was woken
up at 3.45AM by my buzzing phone. At first I thought it was just my alarm going
off, but then I noticed it was still pitch black. So in a semiconscious state,
I turned over, looked at my phone and noticed a twitter push notification
“@danstevens favourited and mentioned you in a tweet”. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCvVEbKobkbwDVEWFEIHbgiaS0OZYH-2qqEQ4YqGqT6QAjIsQUh45FuMQ3frg6QMvBgMRnwjqg99SOmcBEnM3koJM43I1nIjFL5Vb9PHyE72R_HnUMy51CZOwQkFf2JFrM2Q0K-SKiUE/s1600/IMG_3148.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCvVEbKobkbwDVEWFEIHbgiaS0OZYH-2qqEQ4YqGqT6QAjIsQUh45FuMQ3frg6QMvBgMRnwjqg99SOmcBEnM3koJM43I1nIjFL5Vb9PHyE72R_HnUMy51CZOwQkFf2JFrM2Q0K-SKiUE/s320/IMG_3148.PNG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My heart
did flutter ever so slightly. Ekkkk – Matthew Crawley acknowledged my
existence. Yes, I realise that Matthew Crawley is not actually a real person,
but in fact a fictional character. And yes, the actor that portrays Matthew
Crawley only wrote one word, “delicious”. But still … swoooooooonnnnnnn!</span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-18536651889019315452012-10-03T07:30:00.000+08:002012-10-04T09:31:16.702+08:00I got the cray cray in me!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I know I
have already blogged about this in the past, but I am clearly smitten, so
please bear with me! As you know, I heart, heart, heart (times a million and
then around the universe twice) Downton Abbey. During our recent trip to the
United Kingdom (UK), Brendyn hired a car and drove me to Highclere estate, where
Downton Abbey is filmed. Upon entering the estate, I gasped and tears began
streaming down my face. And although, I knew I looked like a crazy person, I
could not stop myself from crying – I was so overwhelmed with happiness. All
Brendyn could do at this point was laugh hysterically and pleaded with me to
stop crying because I looked insane. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Being the
fool that I am, I did not pre-book my tickets online. So basically it was pot
luck whether we would gain admission into the estate. Yes, we drove two hours
to Highclere Castle on the whim that we would be able to buy tickets at the
gate. Brendyn teased me the entire trip, he kept saying “I beat everyone on the
M14 is making their way to Highclere Castle and there will be no tickets left
for us”. I had to use all my will power to keep it together. So naturally, once
Brendyn managed to park the car, I quickly ditched him and ran (possibly even
sprinted) to the ticket booth to purchase tickets and thank the heavens, we
were able to buy tickets into the estate! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The estate
was as beautiful as I imagined it to be. The gardens were breathtaking and the
castle itself was … I cannot even find the words to describe how amazing the
castle truly was. I was simply in awe of the entire estate. My stomach is in a
state of flutter simply writing about this Downton Abbey experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">With
Downton Abbey season three having started in the UK, my
Downton Abbey passion has reignited itself in full swing. Although it has not
aired in Australia, the episode recaps and reviews by UK fans have been giving
me my Downton Abbey fix! Also, I have recently discovered Downton Abbey fan
fiction. Yes, I am one of those people who read fake fan fiction. Please
understand that it pains me to admit it, but I am anything but a liar! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
So why am I SO obsessed with this fictional television show?! I just love the
Matthew and Mary (M/M) love story. I know, <em>how common, how predictable</em>, but it
is nevertheless true. I love watching their interactions and their longing
grazes. It is the typical heart aching, tear jerking, butterflies in your
stomach, love story. Also, I think I may have a little tini tiny high school
girl crush on Matthew (portrayed by the swoon worthy Dan Stevens). So I have
done what every normal rational high school girl would do (only that I am not a
high school girl and I am in my late twenties and should probably know better),
I made a Dan Stevens cupcake and tweeted it to him, in hopes to get a response.
The fondant topper is of his twitter profile picture.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Does this
make me appear a little desperate? Possibly, it is subject to interpretation.
Does this make me a crazy stalker? I do not think so. I mean, I have not
started writing fan fiction and I have not made youtube video clips of my
favourite M/M scenes yet, so until then I do not consider myself as a stalker.
But until then (I do not want to rule out the possibility), I think I will
continue to walk the fine line between a dedicated fan and boarder line cray cray.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fingers
crossed, I hear from Dan Stevens. And FYI, if I do, I may just stop breathing! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-4088539206388840132012-09-01T18:30:00.005+08:002012-09-01T18:45:36.477+08:00Sheilas in Sheila Magazine!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="-cx-PRIVATE-fbTimelineText__featured mbm aboveUnitContent">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top the Cupcake has been very lucky to be featured in a four page spread in the August edition of Sheila Magazine. Check it out! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Big thanks to Sheila mazagine!</strong></span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-58634515291656877942012-08-27T18:14:00.000+08:002012-09-01T18:46:09.342+08:00Holiday in pictures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have finally made our way home after four blissful weeks of travelling through Europe. Although we have been home for just over a week, I am not quite ready to accept the reality of “normal” life. Nevertheless, begrudgingly I have returned back to “normal” life by returning to work and even took on some bake jobs this past week!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although it was only a little over a week ago since I was in beautiful sunny Europe, it feels like a life time ago. And all I have to show for four weeks of travel is photographs of all the food I ate! Correction – all the DELICIOUS food I ate. Naturally, my body gravitated towards pastries and baked goods. Hey, the body wants what the body wants, and who am I to deny my body what it wants?!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The trip started off in London. Where we watched my superstar sister-in-law represent Australia in the Olympics. She and all the Hockeyroos did a stella job and the whole family was (and still is) very proud! But enough of about that, let’s talk about cupcakes! I had two cupcakes while in London – first cupcake was from Hummingbird bakery and the second cupcake was from a random cupcake stall in Bricklane Market. The verdict? Of course the Hummingbird cupcake was delicious, as if it would be anything less than that. But what caught me by surprise was how delicious the cupcake from the random cupcake stall in Bricklane Market was! I remember the icing was particularly divine – creamy, light and packed a lot of flavour. I am salivating at the thought of the cupcake – GET IN MY BELLY NOW! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p><em>Vanilla chocolate cupcake from Hummingbird bakery.</em></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p><em>Get in my belly now cupcake! </em></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p><em>Also referred to as, vanilla berry cupcake from a random stall at Bricklane Market.</em></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After London, we made our way to Paris. The city of beautiful macarons, but sadly no cupcakes! I searched for cupcake stores high and low and was out of luck. I even googled “cupcakes in Paris” and the stores that I found online were sadly closed down. Perhaps this was because of the current economic conditions in Europe. For whatever reason the cupcake stores were closed down, I was nevertheless very sadden by not being able to eat cupcakes whilst in Paris. So, I ate plenty of macarons and desserts to make up for it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><em><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;">Marcarons from Laduree.</span></em></o:p></div>
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<o:p><em><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;">Macarons from Pierre Herme. </span></em></o:p></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;">Macaron a la framboise.</span></em></div>
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<o:p><em><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;">Macarons from Lenotre.</span></em></o:p></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;">Nougatella (nougat nutella mousse) from a dessert bar in Paris.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Paris, we made our way to sunny Barcelona! Barcelona was simply amazing – tapas, fresh fruit and friendly people. I even managed to source a cupcake from Florentine bakery. Although the cupcake was ‘nice’, I was just content with the opportunity to eat a cupcake after going cold turkey for 2 weeks straight without eating a cupcake! Let’s just say I was experiencing withdrawals and was a little more crabby than usual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><em><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;">Vanilla marshmallow cupcake from Florentine bakery.</span></em></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here we are, four weeks later. As if it was all a dream and I have just woken from a coma … a food coma that is! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-21261973720879441932012-08-05T03:42:00.001+08:002012-09-01T17:47:34.275+08:00Best of both worlds!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I don't ever pretend to be anything but greedy! I want it all. After all, why can't I have my cupcake and eat it too?! If I can have the best of both worlds, why not? <br />
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Last year I wrote a blog post about my preferred method of icing cupcakes. Basically in the post, I categorised cupcakers as either spreaders or pipers. I personally categorised myself as a piper. In my humble cupcake opinion, there is nothing quite as pretty as a piped cupcake. <br />
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However, recently I have had a cupcake revelation. Why can't cupcakers be spreaders and pipers? Why am I so narrowed minded that I feel the need to categorise cupcakers by the way they choose to ice their cupcakes. I mean, that is cupcake discrimination and I am no bigot. <br />
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Nevertheless, I now identify myself as a cupcake spreader piper. So how does one become a cupcake spreader piper? Well it's easy! As Agent O-Zo (sorry, children's program reference) would say, just follow three simple steps:<br />
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Step 1: When you are filling your cupcake patty with the cupcake mixture, just fill half the patty. That way, the cupcake base will rise to the rim of the cupcake patty.<br />
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Step 2: Place a generous scope of icing on top of the cupcake base. Using a knife, spread the icing over the top of the cupcake base. Fill in any gaps between the cupcake base and the patty. By the end of this step, you should have a smooth surface of icing completely covering the cupcake base.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd35eKKiS0m7lExbKnJha2Ef1-nBmDhdZe36kUs2E4vNQarW1G6MgU4EnhGtMAMjYslSq2GY78rXNhEug57yNgX0OJRdx68rnpRWBafRDjpd1SlcZkeSB-GIEThLiLq3EgNcysbRhEfpo/s640/blogger-image--1844662117.jpg" /></div>
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Step 3: Using your desired nozzle, pipe on your icing on top of the cupcake base.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUnun-w5Yb6KmLKj5MGU6W72hbaU-7-8dsFpRVIBaxXz_ncc9GdVQbtnWD14BGQvnS-Z7b0zFuaEdTuqgS8erXQUAq9tCc_imJieyrjuDSfGh1rZ3VLUt95-OQNXnfqa-BjhUI6mQqbY/s640/blogger-image--1603575212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUnun-w5Yb6KmLKj5MGU6W72hbaU-7-8dsFpRVIBaxXz_ncc9GdVQbtnWD14BGQvnS-Z7b0zFuaEdTuqgS8erXQUAq9tCc_imJieyrjuDSfGh1rZ3VLUt95-OQNXnfqa-BjhUI6mQqbY/s640/blogger-image--1603575212.jpg" /></a></div>
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And there you go. You get the best of both worlds! And the good news keeps on coming, by completely covering your cupcake base with icing, it keeps your cupcake base moist for longer! Ascetically pleasing and practical. <br />
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top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-23909021025885910172012-07-23T18:16:00.002+08:002012-07-23T18:16:52.695+08:00Cupcakes = Brain food<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you are well aware, my preferred method of cupcake decorating is to use fondant. Butter cream and royal icing are fine, but from my experience if you want the “wow” factor than fondant should be your cupcake decorating companion. Although I believe this whole heartedly, I must confess butter cream came through for me this past weekend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was very honoured that my dear friend Camila, who was planning her dad’s 50th birthday party, placed a cupcake order with me. Although I was slightly disturbed by her cupcake request – brains! Her dad is a psychologist who specialises in brain trauma. Hence his admiration for brains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I found the idea somewhat difficult to stomach, I am not one to turn down a cupcake challenge. So after extensive google research, I realised that perhaps fondant was not the most appropriate cupcake decorating companion for this particular bake job. I know BLASPHEMY! In the given circumstances, it appeared that brains are best suited to butter cream! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Putting the brain cupcakes together was a lot easier than I had imagined. Basically, I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes, whipped up some vanilla butter cream frosting, mixed through a little pink and brown food colouring and piped little swiggly bits on top of the cupcake. And the next thing I knew, I had freakishly looking brains starring up at me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who would have thought, cupcakes were brain food? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-26454839872724838582012-07-21T12:08:00.000+08:002012-07-23T17:39:07.801+08:00Getting into the Olympic spirit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have said it before and I will say it again, I married into an over achieving family! Yes, at times it does make me feel slightly incompetent. But then I think, it makes me over achieving by association and I am somewhat comforted by this notion. A fine and adequate example of my over achieving in-laws is my sister-in- law, Ash. Not only was she a Miss Universe contestant but she is also a part of the Australian National female hockey team, The Hockeyroos! And to top it all off, she has been selected to represent Australia at the 2012 London Olympics. Bah - I am exhausted just writing about her achievements!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can imagine, with the lead up to the Olympics, Ash has received considerable amount of publicity. The story writes itself really: "Not just a pretty face - Miss Universe contestant is to represent Australia at London Olympics". Our Ash even made the front page of The Westralian (one of the most popular daily newspapers in Western Australia). Don't be fooled by those big </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">eyes and gorgeous face, she can do some serious damage with a hockey stick in hand!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Front page of the West Australia 3rd July 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We bid her farewell last week as The Hockeyroos made their way to London to prepare for the Olympics. To bid her farewell in the manner that she is accustom to (after all she is royalty being a Miss Universe contestant and all), the family organised a little party in her honour. Naturally and to which I did not object, I was put on cupcake duty. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To keep with the Olympic spirit, I decided to make Olympic themed cupcakes. I had to make the fondant toppers a few days early as I was flying to Singapore for work (literally fly in and fly out - I think I was there 20 hours in total)! My flight to Singapore was at 6AM, so I decided I would just work the night through as I had to be up and ready to leave the house at 3.30AM. After working the night through making little Olympic ring toppers for his baby sister, Brendyn woke up at 3.30AM and said sarcastically asked "Why did you use froot loops to make the toppers?!" and insert smirk here. I wanted to punch him in the face but I refrained as I needed a lift to the airport after all. Desperate times call for desperate measures, or more appropriately, reserve measures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cupcakes turned out well despite the Olympic ring toppers looked like they were made out of froot loops! They were all consumed and Ash was bid farewell in the manner that she deserved, a party complete with great company and copious amounts of food and champagne.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Olympics is due to kick off in 5 days and her first match is soon after. To read about her Olympic experience, check out Ash's blog: <a href="http://ashleighnelson.org/category/bulletins/">http://ashleighnelson.org/category/bulletins/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep an eye out for The Hockeyroos number 8, Ashleigh Nelson. Don't forget to cheer on our little Aussie batter/beauty queen.</span></div>
</div>top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-77809825158890592372012-07-09T17:55:00.001+08:002012-07-09T18:00:48.214+08:00Presenting our latest product:<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Rainbow cupcake in a jar!</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I came up with this idea when I was driving the kids (the niece and nephew) home from school. It was after a little storm had hit Perth and the sunny was shining and the rainbow was out loud and proud. Zac pointed out the rainbow and asked me if we can drive to the end of the rainbow, so that we could collect the pot of gold. As much as I thought that would be a great idea, I am also a realistic and I knew my chances of finding a pot of gold was the same as me winning the lotto.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So I thought to myself, what is the next best thing to finding a pot of gold or winning the lotto? Well, cupcakes of course! One thing led to another and voila the idea popped into my head, a rainbow cupcake in a jar - my own little version of a pot of gold (or at least the next best thing). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you decide to try this at home, please be sure to check that the glass jar is thick enough to withstand the heat of the oven. Otherwise, the glass jar may shatter and that would not be fun for anyone! So bake with caution. </span></div>
top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-11105194735582363322012-07-04T22:42:00.001+08:002012-07-04T22:42:38.257+08:00Sweet, sweet musicMini Mousey had her first piano recital this past weekend! I can't believe how fast she has grown up. It feels like only yesterday that we were taking her home from the hospital. Now I am picking her up from school and attending her piano recitals! <br />
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Parents were asked to bring a plate of food to share after the recital. Ade, Mini's mum, asked me to make cupcakes. I mean, what choice did she really have?! Even if she didn't ask, I would have conveniently brought along a box filled with cupcakes appropriately themed of course!<br />
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Once I secured the bake job, I had to get cracking on the all important cupcake theme. Mini Mousey is a typical girlie girl! Everything has to be either pink, purple, gold or rainbow as these are "girl" colours. Every other colour apparently is a "boy" colour. Which is somewhat surprising as I thought yellow would be categorised as a "girl" colour - clearly not accordingly to the law of Mini. So basically, I had to make pink cupcakes and given that we were attending a piano recital, the cupcakes had to be piano themed. I consciously used the word "had" because I had no other real other choice. <br />
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There is only one thing sweeter than sweet, sweet music and that is sweet, sweet cupcakes!<br />
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Oh and in case you are interested, Mini Mousey did extremely well in her recital. Despite her short performance, she was outstanding. Not that I am bias at all. :)<br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEkFIe-7gUVSj6GlggdD-O7aMNXRKs2gwZHFlolPxU9uX_NOoeYRG_yU1mLmTktwC4Poijba48T7UK4F2M00i_cUzly4qUJL3A4Qle7YAgHl6DNuYARBxHj4VqL_D4l8akZ7wBIOylF8/s640/blogger-image-271069690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEkFIe-7gUVSj6GlggdD-O7aMNXRKs2gwZHFlolPxU9uX_NOoeYRG_yU1mLmTktwC4Poijba48T7UK4F2M00i_cUzly4qUJL3A4Qle7YAgHl6DNuYARBxHj4VqL_D4l8akZ7wBIOylF8/s640/blogger-image-271069690.jpg" /></a></div>top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-71637900039366276882012-06-10T19:58:00.000+08:002012-06-12T19:59:25.536+08:00Cake pop machines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over a month ago, Living Social (a coupon website) had cake pop machines for sale at a ridiculously discounted rate. For those who have not come across a cake pop machine before, it is basically an oven like contraption that you bake your cake mixture in and it forms a perfect ball. Therefore, making it a heck of a lot easier to make cake pops! </span><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I first saw this coupon, I must admit, I did consider buying it. I mean it would make by cake popping life so much easier. However, then I thought to myself: “Where’s the love?” (<em>Not to worry, I am not going to recite the Black Eyed Peas song, despite how tempting it may be!</em>) I remembered why I choose to bake on a daily basis and it because I love the process. Although I never use to, I love starting from scratch and producing little edible pieces of art! Now if I was to buy the cake pop machine, it would eliminate basically the whole baking/making process. There would be no need to bake a slab of cake, crumb the cake, mix the crumbs with icing and roll the mixture into balls. Although these steps are at times tedious, a lot of love goes into these steps and I believe it makes a lot of difference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a lot of things becoming mass produced, it is nice to keep some traditions. I know I sound like an old grandma and I am talking about cake pops which is a fairly new baking phenomenon, but hear me out. Although the machines are convenient (there is no denying that), in my opinion, what you save on time, you lack in taste. Basically, using the machines you will make perfectly round sponge cakes. Whereas if you were to make it the traditional way, you would make somewhat round, dense sponge cakes, but incredibly moist from the icing. I am sure once you decorate the cake pops, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. But once you bite into that cake pop, would you be able to? I think so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although this blog post sounds overly critical and somewhat righteous, please do not take it that way. It is just my take on the cake pop machine! In this day and age, time is so precious and if there are ways we can cut corners or do what is convenient, then we usually do – I mean I definitely guilty of that! However, this cake pop machine is just not for me. Although I may choose to take the convenient route in other facets of my life, baking is not one of them. Please know that I don’t judge the people who use the cake pop machine, I just choose not to. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favourite thing about making cake pops is watching the faces of people when they bite into a beautifully decorated cake pop and taste a yummy homemade moist cake! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ahhh, FML* on a stick – what more could you want?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>**For new blog readers, FML stands for my cupcake requirements – fluffy, moist and light (FML). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837428186826211439.post-47027857182902939002012-06-04T20:28:00.001+08:002012-06-04T20:28:50.980+08:00Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, "there's no place like home".<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home is where the heart is and cupcakes just make everything </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">better!</span> </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">♥</span></span></div>
</div>top the cupcakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761781322722195472noreply@blogger.com1