1st January 2021 // 0 Comments

5 Tips for Perfect Bakes

Tips for Perfect Bakes by Juniper Cakery

One of our most read posts is our 5 Tips for Perfect Buttercream. It makes sense. There are sooo many different recipes and techniques out there to try. It’s easy to get bamboozled. If you don’t have go-to recipes or a method you like to stick to finding tips can be handy. So with that in mind here’s our top tips for perfect bakes! If you’re finding your loaves sinking or your cupcakes overflowing why not sit down with a cup fo tea and read though our advice!



Tips for Perfect Bakes

1: Read

This one seems silly, but it is amazing how many people don’t read every word of a recipe or tutorial before starting. It’s easy to skim read… especially if you’re in a rush. Don’t worry, everyone at some point ends up doing it. One of the simplest ways to end up with a baking fail, however, is to not pay attention to the ingredients list or instructions. If it’s for a weekend treat sit down with a coffee, a few minutes and your chosen project. It’ll save you the stress in the long run. For bigger or more ambitious recipes like a festive centrepiece it may be worth printing out your recipe and making notes. A trial bake isn’t going to hurt too… plus that means a trial treat!

 

2: Plan Ahead & Don’t Rush

Another sure fire way to find yourself in the middle of sinking cupcakes is to not plan ahead. Make sure you check those cupboards to see if you have everything you need in. If not pre-plan a trip to buy all your ingredients. Or remember to order any specialist items you need in advance. Also, try to set aside more time than you think you’ll need to bake and decorate. It’s easy to think that pretty drip cake is just going to take an afternoon to whip up, but it won’t. (We do this for a living and it takes longer than that for us!) De-clutter or prep your work area. Set up your stand mixer, bowls, etc before you start. You can even pre-weigh all your ingredients too. Why would you want to cause yourself more stress and anxiety? Whether you’re a complete novice or have more experience every project should be a fun project.

 

3: Check Your Ingredients

Always make sure that your ingredients are in date… even things like baking powder or bicarbonate of soda. They generally have long shelf lives, but if they are past their Best Before date they start to lose potency. The last thing you want is your levelling agent to give up mid-bake right?

Another part to checking your ingredients involves weights and measurements. Weighing ingredients is a lot more accurate than relying on the cups (or volume) system so this is the method we recommend. All our recipes are in this format. We know there are recipes out there that just involve cups with no conversions though. Converting those kinds of recipes are usually hit and miss too. Why? Because a cup are just not as accurate as scales! So each different ingredient needs its own specific conversion. A cup of milk is not going to weigh the same as a cup of icing sugar. If you’re used to cups then that’s great and if it’s never failed for you then stick with it. Weighing ingredients or looking at a weight lead recipe really isn’t hard though. Some people can be put off by it, but it’s just a case of investing in some kitchen scales!

 

4: Practice, Practice, Practice

If you know you’ve got an event or dinner coming up then make your life easier and practice! So if you’re hoping for a cute Christmas dessert table start a few weeks before with a little time set aside. Don’t go crazy and think you can practice several bakes in one day. We’d recommend testing one or two. Keeping a set of notes on your progress is going to help. We know not everyone is going to be this in-depth, but even a couple post-it notes would help. You might even think of some cool flavour or decoration options for next time.

5: Think Before You Substitute

If you need a recipe that uses a substitute (low fat, no gluten, vegan friendly etc) then look for that recipe. We wouldn’t recommend just taking a standard recipe and swapping ingredients out. We’ve had people ask why certain bakes haven’t worked and that all they did was replace the butter with a low fat margarine. The two things aren’t the same and they definitely don’t have the same ingredients. Simply put, margarine (especially low fat) has a higher water content than butter so your bake isn’t getting the right ratio of fat it needs.

Another example is a panicked email we received one Christmas. Someone used our go-to gingerbread cookie recipe, but swapped plain flour for gluten free plain flour. Everything seemed great, but after a few hours the cookies were soft and falling apart. The problem was that there was nothing to replace the gluten that was taken out when the plain flour was replaced. Gluten helps bind ingredients in a bake together so without an alternative like Xanthan Gum it was always going to easily crumble or break. Our recipe wasn’t a gluten free specific recipe to begin with too.

Hopefully, with these handy tips you’re on your way to perfect bakes. The key here really is to not make life harder for yourself. If you don’t have the time then try and go for a simpler bake. Don’t be so hard on yourself and instead have some fun!



All photographs and written content (including recipes, bespoke designs, collaborations, videos, tips, graphics, and tutorials) belong to and are copyright to Juniper Cakery unless otherwise stated. Do not copy. This also includes using our copyrighted work to garner sales or teach whether generating income or not for your own business. We work hard to create content for our readers to enjoy and use so please do the same for your own site, blog, social media account or publication. Copying and publishing our work without permission or claiming it as your own work may lead to legal action from us. If you wish to feature our work please do contact us for info.
11th December 2020 // 0 Comments

Melting Snowman Cupcake Tutorial

Melting Snowman Cupcake Tutorial by Juniper Cakery



Perfect for both kids and grown-ups our melting snowman cupcake is going to be one fun treat at the festive table this season! It’s also surprisingly easy to create. Pressed for time? Make a few and mix them in with plain swirled cupcakes studded with snowy sprinkles so you don’t have as many to craft. Box them up as cute Christmas gifts and finish with a festive bow. Or why not nestle each on plates at the dinner table? Have time and want to get extra creative? Then make each snowy character unique with different colours, hats, sprinkles and scarves! To get ready for the holiday season check out our melting snowman cupcake tutorial below!

Melting snowman cupcake!

You will need…

Festive cupcake tutorial by Juniper Cakery

1: Pipe your cupcake with a pretty swirl of fresh buttercream. You can use any piping tip or nozzle you like! We used an 869 tip by Ateco. The majority of your swirl won’t be seen too much so don’t panic if you mess up a little.

Snowman cupcake tutorial by Juniper Cakery

How to make a cute snowman cupcake!

2: Next add some lovely snowy themed sprinkles on top of your cupcake. You can also opt to leave this out, but it’s a cute touch. Why not opt for different styles too. How sweet would little edible stars or glitter look?

Tip: Want a super frosty look worthy of a winter wonderland? Grab a white sprinkle mix, pour a good amount into a small bowl and gently roll your the your swirled cupcake in it.

Holiday cupcake tutorial by Juniper Cakery

3: Now nestle your chocolate truffle into the middle of your buttercream piped cupcake. Gently press it in a little too so it’s sticking approximately halfway out.

Tip: Opt for both a lighter coloured truffle AND make sure it’s smooth too. Darker chocolate might be seen from underneath the fondant / sugarpaste. Rough or textured truffles will also affect the fondant making it bumpy looking.

Cute snowman cupcake tutorial by Juniper Cakery

4: Roll out your fondant. Using a small sharp knife cut out a wobbly shape from it. This should be a little larger than your truffle. You can also test this out before hand by simply layering rolled out fondant on top of another truffle and checking the sizing.

Fun cupcake tutorial for Christmas by Juniper Cakery

Christmas cupcake tutorial!

5: Use your black edible pen to draw on your snowman’s facial features including eyes and mouth!

Tip: If you want to use simple black edible pearl sprinkles to create a face go ahead. You could press them in to make the eyes and a traditional looking coal mouth!

Fun cupcake tutorial for winter by Juniper Cakery

6: For the nose shape a tiny amount of orange fondant / sugar paste into a teardrop-like shape. Indent with lines using your small sharp knife and attach with edible glue!

7: We always love to add a little blush to all our characters. It adds the cutest it of warmth to them. To do this lightly brush some pink petal dust onto the cheeks with a food safe brush.

Note: Food safe brushes are simply brushes bought just for use with food / edible items.

Easy Christmas cupcake by Juniper Cakery

8: Finally, use your pretzel sticks to make some cute twig-like arms! You can poke a little hole in the fondant if it’s in the way otherwise you can just insert them into the buttercream.




Winter Cupcake Tutorial by Juniper Cakery

Yay! You should now have one cute little cupcake (or several if you’ve made a batch) in front of you. Aren’t they fun? Remember that you can tweak this tutorial to make them truly one of kind. Add top hats or ear muffs on top. Or add sweet fondant mittens not he ends of your pretzel stick arms! There are so many fun ideas out there to make these all your own.

All photographs and written content (including recipes, bespoke designs, collaborations, videos, tips, graphics, and tutorials) belong to and are copyright to Juniper Cakery unless otherwise stated. Do not copy. This also includes using our copyrighted work to garner sales or teach whether generating income or not for your own business. We work hard to create content for our readers to enjoy and use so please do the same for your own site, blog, social media account or publication. Copying and publishing our work without permission or claiming it as your own work may lead to legal action from us. If you wish to feature our work please do contact us for info.
2nd December 2020 // 0 Comments

Order Your Christmas Eve Box via Our E-Shop!

Christmas Eve Box hamper by Juniper Cakery




Happy December, everyone! It’s almost here! Today the spotlight is on our cute as can be Christmas Eve boxes! Yes, boxes… plural. We launched last month with one, but it has been so popular (we sold out twice, but we have since re-stocked) that we put together a sweet LIMITED EDITION North Pole themed hamper. We like to think that all our treats are great for both kids and big kids (aka adults), but our North Pole version would be utterly adorable for children to enjoy on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve Box from Juniper Cakery

First let’s have a peek inside our original Christmas Eve Box. It’s the perfect set of night time sweets. Get your favourite Christmas film on play, grab a huge blanket and make sure you have this box of goodies in front of you. If you want to share it that’s great! If you want it all to yourself though we don’t blame you.

Cute Christmas Eve Box from Juniper Cakery

Christmas Eve Box available for U.K. delivery!

Our Christmas Eve Box comes with a Hot Chocolate Bombe too, which seem to be oh so popular this year! For this specific mini hamper you can even select whatever flavour you like using the drop down menu on our product page. Photographed is our Dark Chocolate Candy Cane version. We also have Ruby Milk, White Chocolate Gingerbread and Salted Caramel available. All Hot Chocolate Bombes are crafted using the finest Belgian and Swiss couverture chocolate too. They’re also suitable for Vegetarians… with gelatine free mini marshmallows inside!

Christmas Eve hamper by Juniper Cakery

What else is in this cute Christmas Eve Box? An adorable pink Christmas tree mug hugger cookie… in gingerbread of course. A bag of mini gingerbread star cookies streaked with edible gold. A single Belgian white chocolate covered Oreo finished with a fondant snowflake. Blush Christmas Pudding macaron (Strawberry Milkshake flavour). Large vanilla marshmallow. Which treat would you pick first?

North Pole Christmas Eve Box by Juniper Cakery

Now say hello to our LIMITED EDITION North Pole Christmas Eve Box! How cute is it? It’s a wintery wonderland of frosty treats. Perfect for all ages too. Keep the kids quiet on a frosty Christmas Eve morning with this special hamper. Treat yourself after a hard day working at home and dive into all the freshly made goodies. Or why not gift this Christmas Eve box to a loved one friend just to say you care?

North Pole theme Christmas Eve Box by Juniper Cakery

North Pole Christmas Eve Box!

Inside our North Pole Christmas Eve Box is a cute snowflake mug hugger cookie in gingerbread. A White Chocolate Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Bombe. Giant vanilla bean marshmallow. A bag of five mini snowball cookies. A polar bear cookie. White Belgian chocolate covered Oreo decorated with edible lustre and a fondant snowflake.

Festive North Pole theme Christmas Eve Box by Juniper Cakery




Cute Christmas hamper by Juniper Cakery

This selection of treats includes a White Chocolate Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Bombe! It’s made using premium Belgian white chocolate and then filled with luxury hot chocolate and gingerbread spice! They’re also perfect for Vegetarians too because we’ve added gelatine free mini marshmallows inside. Finally, it’s finished with an edible lustre, drizzled with more Belgian white chocolate and then sprinkled with gingerbread sprinkles!

So why not visit our e-shop and make sure you’re ready for the festive season! All items are available for U.K. delivery or local collection!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photographs and written content (including recipes, bespoke designs, collaborations, videos, tips, graphics, and tutorials) belong to and are copyright to Juniper Cakery unless otherwise stated. Do not copy. This also includes using our copyrighted work to garner sales or teach whether generating income or not for your own business. We work hard to create content for our readers to enjoy and use so please do the same for your own site, blog, social media account or publication. Copying and publishing our work without permission or claiming it as your own work may lead to legal action from us. If you wish to feature our work please do contact us for info.