Decorating cakes doesn’t have to be hard. Sometimes simplicity and fun really helps (as well as knowing your limits). Our fabulously fuss-free chocolate Easter egg-inspired ‘bark’ is perfect for breaking up and using as gourmet style cupcake decorations and even better for adding a wonderfully dramatic effect to freshly buttercreamed cakes.
Inspired by tempting hand-crafted Easter eggs that have been somewhat of a trend in the UK for a past few years our quick chocolate bark can be adjusted to suit any recipe or theme. We create bark for an array of bakery-style cakes we make such as peanut butter (with crushed Nutter Butter cookies and a dark chocolate drizzle) to lemon and white chocolate (with yellow tinted white chocolate drizzles and bright rainbow sprinkles) because it’s tasty, quick and eye-catching! Follow our tutorial below to make this impressive and edible cake and cupcake decor!
How to make easy chocolate Easter egg bark!
Materials and ingredients needed:
Good quality white, milk or dark chocolate buttons or chips (not baking chocolate)
Step 1:
In a microwave use a glass microwavable jug to melt your chocolate buttons or chips. Heat them for around a minute BUT keep checking them every 10-15 seconds or so giving them a good stir with a metal palette knife each time until all buttons are melted.
Step 2:
Line a flat baking tray with greaseproof paper and spread your melted chocolate thickly on top using the small angled palette knife.
Step 3:
Now for the super fun part! Add sprinkles, crushed candies, cookie crumbs, tasty chocolate chips etc on top. To help seal these delicious toppings in use melted chocolate drizzles on top.
Step 4:
Take your tray of tempting chocolate bark and place in the freezer for up to 30 mins to set fully. You can set your bark aside at room temperature for a few hours, but utilising a freezer helps speed up the wait a little.
Step 5:
Remove from the freezer and use your hands to break the slab of chocolate into large shards (to decorate smaller items such as slices of opera cake, buttercream piped cupcakes etc break into smaller pieces).
Step 6:
Now you can use the colourful pieces to adorn your freshly buttercreamed cakes and cupcakes!
Easy right? We bet you’re looking at one deliciously gorgeous cake right now. The best thing about creating chocolate bark and decorating with it is its adaptability. Its amazing to adjust and try out new sprinkles, sweets and chocolates for different occasions. We just can’t wait to make rocky road bark for chocolate fudge cakes or tasty s’mores inspired shards (mini marshmallows, chocolate pieces, graham crackers etc) for a toasted marshmallow and chocolate bakery cake!
Bakery style cakes are fabulous. They’re fun, bright, and come in a variety of mouth-watering flavours. That’s why we’ve whipped up a small collection of bakery-style cakes perfect for the Easter festivities available for order and pick-up in the Kingston-upon-Hull area!
Our prices begin at just £10 for a small bakery style cake and can be customised further with different colour palettes and added messages too! If you’d love to order one, but had your heart set on a different flavour just get in contact with us and we’ll do our best to help. Email us or inbox us via Facebook to enquire.
Our bakery cakes in Kington-upon-Hull area…
Lemon ombré with white chocolate and Easter egg inspired ‘bark’
Wonderfully fresh tasting lemon cakes are always a crowd pleaser at a party or around a dinner table. Our lemon and white chocolate bakery cake is created using the finest Sicilian lemon oil along with Belgian white chocolate. We decorated ours with rainbow nonpareil sprinkles, but you can customise your cake with stars, hearts, edible pearls or even a personalised message! Why not email us or inbox us via Facebook for more info!
Soft vanilla cake filled with fresh lemon curd and Sicilian lemon oil infused buttercream, smoothed with chic ombré lemon buttercream, drizzled with white chocolate, sprinkled with rainbow nonpareils, piped with lemon buttercream and finished with white chocolate, lemon drizzle and sprinkle ‘bark’
Strawberry milkshake ombré with white chocolate and mini egg ‘bark’
Our Strawberry milkshake flavour was inspired by both a fabulous 1950s style diner we visited in Dublin and Felicity’s childhood spent in the Californian sun (where weekends involved drives around San Francisco with carousels, Arby’s Roast Beef sandwiches and malted strawberry shakes and rainbow sherbet ice cream). It’s an incredibly fragrant cake too and is the perfect mix of fun and fancy! For Easter we’ve adorned the Strawberry Milkshake cake with crumbled mini egg chocolate shards, but of course you could add fresh strawberries on top of each buttercream swirl or even a sweet hand-painted message! Email us or inbox us via Facebook for to enquire!
Soft vanilla cake filled with strawberry preserve and strawberry milkshake (strawberry with Madagascan vanilla and Belgian white chocolate) buttercream, smoothed with an ombré effect, drizzled with white chocolate, sprinkled with bright sugar pearls, piped with strawberry milkshake buttercream and finished with white chocolate and mini egg ‘bark’
Peppermint cookies ‘n’ cream ombré with a dark chocolate drizzle and crushed Oreo ‘bark’
Inspired by both our love for anything Cookies ‘n’ Cream flavoured and fresh Mint Choc Chip ice cream this lovely cake is perfect for any chocoholic who also loves a little twist. We automatically adorn our bakery cakes with our made to order chocolate ‘bark’ or shards, however, you can opt for Oreo cookie on each swirl of buttercream and perhaps include a short message or name on a hand-painted custom plaque too!
Soft chocolate cake filled with peppermint and Oreo cookie buttercream, decorated with an ombré stripe effect, drizzled with dark and white chocolate, piped with more fragrant peppermint Oreo buttercream and finished with a cookie crumb ‘bark’
Our bakery style cakes are perfect for anyone who needs a cake in a few days, who doesn’t like fondant or sugar paste icing or who simply just wants something fun and delicious!
On St. Patrick’s Day it’s tradition to knock back a bit of a tipple (or hundred) and who are we to break with tradition. To celebrate we decided to share our recipe for our lovely Black Velvet Cupcake; a baked treat that takes it’s name and flavour from the Guinness based cocktail! It was invented in London in 1861, but it utilises that deliciously famous Irish stout from the Emerald Isle so we thought this would be a recipe befitting any St. Patrick’s Day shindig. Our infamous Black Velvet Cupcake is a lovely dark chocolate cake infused with Guinness before being swirled with a creamy champagne buttercream; two boozy elements in one recipe!
We adorned our Black Velvet Cupcakes with emerald coloured white chocolate piped into sugar sand sprinkled shamrocks. Why not topple gold wrapped chocolate coins on top, swirl a little green buttercream atop or simply dust with cocoa for a wonderful treat.
Whatever you plan on doing for St. Patrick’s Day (whether celebrating or not) we hope you enjoy a wonderful time!
2014 is officially here which means our partnership with The Happy Egg Co. is coming to an end. We’ve made a selection of delicious cakes for them over the past year and experimented with lots of flavours, palettes and designs; our last cake certainly won’t be any different! Though the new year brings with it the beginning of winter, Valentine’s Day offers the opportunity to use otherwise ‘summery’ ingredients; strawberries and champagne! With this in mind we’re very excited to announce that our very last cake with The Happy Egg Co. incorporates some of life’s little luxuries; strawberries, white chocolates, and roses all tied together with a generous helping of champagne!
For this cake our colour palette is inspired by gorgeous bouquets of roses that traditionally find themselves delivered to loved ones on Valentine’s Day. The vibrant and soft pinks of roses combined with fresh greens and delicate creams lend themselves wonderfully to cakes and other sweet treats of the season!
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner so what better way to treat your sweetheart than to some lovingly home made sweets! We’ll be offering up some recipes and tutorials that show you how you can create some delicious treats to impress your Valentine with. This week’s Shot Through The Heart Brownie Cupcakes are the perfect treats to present to your loved one. They are chocolate crammed brownie cupcakes swirled with silky smooth chocolate buttercream and finished with adorable and fun brownie hearts shot with mini arrows! Nestle these into a cupcake gift box with a little message and you will definitely sweeten someone’s day!
Brownie Cupcakes (Makes approx. 12 cupcakes)
226g self raising flour
226g caster sugar
226g butter
4 medium eggs
2/3 tablespoons cocoa powder
100g melted dark chocolate callets, baking chips
12 baking cases
1 cupcake or muffin pan
2 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pre-heat your oven to Gas Mark 3 / 160C / 325F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake cases.
Cream your butter and sugar first. When creamy add your eggs and combine together with the flour and baking powder. Mix well until silky and pour in the melted chocolate and make a paste with the cocoa powder and water then add, mix again and fill your cases with the batter.
Bake for around 20 minutes to 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when tested.
Chocolate Buttercream
250g butter
250-300g icing sugar (keep testing when adding to make sure it is the consistency and sweetness you are comfortable with)
100g melted dark chocolate callets, buttons or chips
1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder 808 or 809 plain round piping tip Disposable piping bag
Dice the butter and add to your mixer to cream. Then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Add the cocoa powder and melted chocolate.
For more hints and tips see our tutorial on how to make buttercream here.
Melt the chocolate and butter together by setting a bowl in a saucepan of hot water. Keep stirring until both the butter and the chocolate are mixed and then remove the pan from the heat.
In a separate bowl mix the eggs and the sugar together until they form a creamy yellow colour.
Combine the chocolate and butter mix with the eggs and sugar and stir until fully mix.
Add the flour to the mix and stir. Mix until smooth until you get a thick and sticky texture (if you would like any chocolate chips or chunks in your brownies now is the perfect time to add them)
Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake for around 30 minutes (depending on oven) on gas mark 4 (conversions are available on Google) Leave to cool.
Once cooled cut out some hearts using a good heart shaped cutter. Remember to use a small cutter if using these to top your cupcakes with!
Cupid’s Arrows
12 toothpicks
Thick paper or card (this can be coloured or plain) or heart stickers
Scissors
Double sided tape (omit this if you are using stickers)
Cut matching triangles from some paper (around 24 for the backs and fronts). Stick small patches of double sided tape to the backs of them. To attach peel the tape backing off and press onto one end of a toothpick. Repeat this process until done.
Once the arrowheads have been created and fixed on push the toothpick carefully through your mini brownie hearts at an angle. Then you can finished them!
For the ‘feather’ ends of the arrows cut 24 rectangles out of paper or card. Snip the sides of them so that they are angled. Attached them to the toothpicks with double sided tape. Finally, carefully snip the sides to create ‘feather-like’ edging! We also added a little ribbon bow to our arrow.
Now to assemble your cupcakes generously pipe them with buttercream and adorn the tops with your brownie hearts and cupid’s arrows! You should finally be left with a batch of delicious and heart warming cupcakes ready to be admired for Valentine’s Day!
New Year parties always leave behind a bar full of cocktail left overs that either get saved for next year’s festivities or pushed to the back of the cupboard to gather dust. With this in mind we thought we’d offer up a splendid yet economical epicurean delight that will help put those booze-y left overs to good use! This week’s recipe and tutorial comes in the form of those delicate French confections; les macarons. This recipe utilises Creme de Menthe liqueur which is often a favourite boozy flavour during holiday parties. If you don’t have this lurking in your cabinets sheepishly you can always use some Creme de Menthe flavouring or crush up candy canes to add not only the sweet peppermint flavour to your buttercream filling, but a nice bit of crunch too. You can also swap the Creme de Menthe liqueur for any other type of tipple from brandy to whisky.
Basic Chocolate Macaron Recipe (yields approximately 40 macarons)
Good quality thick baking not parchment paper (don’t scrimp on this as cheap paper buckles and will ruin the shape of your macarons) Pastry/piping bag holder
Step one: Your almond flour needs to be as fine as possible so if you can grind it further before using. When ready mix the almond flour together with the icing sugar by sifting two to three times. You may have granules of almond flour left in your sieve. If this happens it would be perfectly fine to discard this if it is around one levelled teaspoon’s worth. If you have more try grinding the remaining or using the back of a spoon against your sieve to break it down enough to pass through. At this stage add in the cocoa powder. To add flavour to the shells try as best as you can to only use dry ingredients (e.g. for lavender grind down edible lavender florets or sprinkle the flowers on top before putting in the oven).
Step two: Wipe down a clean metal or glass (never plastic as plastic soaks in fats which can ruin your meringue) mixing bowl and whisk with lemon juice. The lemon makes sure that any fat and grease disappears. Dry down with a clean cloth.
Step three: Add your egg whites into the mixing bowl and mix on high speed until white and frothy. With the mixer still on sprinkle in the salt and caster sugar. These stabilise the egg whites so they whip up lovely and firm. Mix until stiff peaks are formed. If colouring your macarons add the gel paste (never liquid) colour in now and mix until incorporated but never overmix your meringue! You can test if your egg whites are ready by the traditional method of hold the bowl upside down over your head! If the mix stays put then it’s ready. Macarons can be temperamental so it may take a few practises to get them just right.
Step four: Fold half of your dry mix into your meringue mix gently until the dry ingredients are almost fully incorporated. Once this is done fold the mixed ingredients into the rest of the dry mixture that is left.
Step five: With your pastry/piping bag holder get a disposable piping bag ready and fitted with a plain round tip. The mix at this stage can be fairly runny so you would need to fold the lower/tip section of the bag over to block any mix from running out. Pour the macaron mix into the piping bag.
Step six: Prepare a cookie or sheet baking tray with good quality baking paper (don’t use cheap paper and remember to use baking paper not parchment). Step seven: Now is the time to pre-heat your oven to Gas Mark 3 / 325 Fahrenheit / 170 Celsius.
Step eight: Carefully pipe your ‘coins’ of macarons approximately the 3.75cm in diameter and around 2cm apart. Get rid of any air bubbles inside your macarons by smacking the tray down on a flat surface around 3-4 times. You should see some holes appear on the tops of some of them; don’t worry about these.
Step nine: We leave our piped macarons to rest before we even think of letting them near an oven. We’ve seen recipes that don’t call for this, but not leaving them for a while has never worked for us at Juniper Cakery. What you need is for your macaron to develop a ‘skin’. We leave ours to sit for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes. We’ve experimented and left them for shorter and longer periods of time, both yielded some not very elegant results. You’ll know that your macarons have a good skin and are ready to pop into the oven when you touch the top lightly and the batter does not stick to your finger. You should feel and see a ‘skin’ has developed.
Step ten: Put your macarons on the middle level of the oven. It is ever so tempting to get as many trays in as you can, but we wouldn’t suggest this unless you’re lucky enough to have a confectioner’s oven. Macarons on the lowest shelf won’t bake as well and macarons placed on the highest will overcook and also discolour.
Step eleven: Bake for 20 minutes turning the tray around halfway.
Step twelve: Your macarons should be ready and have ruffled ‘feet’ on the bases of them. Remove the macarons carefully from the paper. Once cooled down these are ready to be filled!
Dice the butter into pieces and add half to your mixer. Once the butter is smooth gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (also diced into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Add the flavour to taste. For more hints and tips see our tutorial on how to make buttercream here. Using a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip and filled with your delicious buttercream pipe half your macaron shells and sandwich together with the other half. For the best macaron experience leave these to sit in an airtight container for around 24 hours. Then after a gruelling wait of 24 hours you can now enjoy them and serve them to your loved ones or perhaps keep them all to yourself.
Here are some quick tips to help you get closer to making perfect macarons…
- Remember to smack your freshly piped macarons at least three times on a flat counter before leaving to rest. This gets rid of any air inside the mix.
- Leaving your piped macarons to rest for at least one hour helps your macarons establish a good ski. This keeps your macarons in a good shape, can eliminate air bubbles and can help create the lovely famous ruffled ‘feet’ on their bottoms.
- Good macarons have flat and ‘solid’ bottoms with not holes, air pockets, sticky residue (leave in the over for an extra minute or two if this happens), or concave features.
- Work quickly when piping as the mixture will be runny. We prefer to pipe from above, but lots of others pipe from the side.
- Adding in any dry flavour and/or colour gel paste once the meringue is ready reduces the risk of over mixing.
- Your meringue mix should be stiff, but if you scoop some up in a spoon and throw it back in it should blend back in and not sit on top. If it does sit then mix again on high speed for around 1 minute and repeat until a scooped portion blends. If your mix loses it’s stiff peaks and looks running then it has been over mixed and you need to begin again with fresh eggs.
- If you get even the tiniest amount of egg yolk in your separated egg whites before whisking them into a meringue you need to begin again.
- Don’t worry if you get a little bit of the egg’s chalaza in your mix. The chalaza is a thicker part of the egg white that helps hold the egg yolk in the middle. It can look a little more opaque too.
Once your macarons are ready to enjoy why not wrap them in tissue paper and ribbon for loved ones or enjoy them a lovely hot cup of coffee yourself!
At this time of the year champagne can find its way into our lives in many forms from various cocktails, indulgent bath sets, and fancy hor d’oeuvres; so why not enjoy some bubbly infused into a delicious macaron or several. These Cranberry, Champagne and Chocolate Macarons have been specially created for The Devilled Egg Kitchen Academy by Juniper Cakery and are wonderfully perfect for New Year’s get-togethers and parties. Be adventurous and assemble them into an impressive macaron tower or topple them playfully onto golden tiered cake stands for a casual yet elegant feel. For the full recipe visit The Devilled Egg blog.
Hurrah! Christmas is now just around the corner and as we all prepare for evenings adorned with festive lights, cosy mulled wine and hours of Christmas TV specials why shouldn’t we also treat ourselves to a generous slice of cake too! Every month we create a delicious recipe using eggs from The Happy Egg Co. for you to re-create and enjoy at home. This month’s is a simple yet decadent treat inspired by every dinner host’s crowd pleaser; the After Dinner Mint. We absolutely adore the sweet and creamy chocolate paired with the fresh zing of peppermint; enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk or a steaming hot mug of coffee to help de-stress after all that Christmas shopping!
Basic Chocolate Cake (makes approximately 2 x 2″ layers of an 8″ diameter round cake)
453g self raising flour
453g butter
453g caster sugar
7 eggs
3 heaped tablespoons of cocoa powder mixed in a paste with boiling water
1 teaspoon baking powder
Cream your butter in a mixer then add the sugar. Add in the flour along with half of the happy eggs for around one minute. Once half of the happy eggs are combined add the remaining eggs along with the cocoa paste and baking powder. Mix for about 5 minutes.
Pour batter in the pan until 2/3 full and place on the top shelf of a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 3/325F/170C. Bake for around 30 minutes. Repeat this step to create your second layer.
Chocolate and Peppermint Buttercream Recipe
500g diced/chopped butter at room temperature
300-400g icing sugar (keep testing when adding to make sure it is the consistency and sweetness you like)
6-12 drops of peppermint extract
100g melted dark chocolate
1 heaped tablespoon cocoa powder
Add half of the of butter into your mixer and cream. Then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Add in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder then add the peppermint extract to taste.
For more hints and tips see our tutorial on how to make buttercream here.
Decoration-wise you can keep the look of your cake plain and simple or flex your decorating muscles with fondant elves and snow people. We created some large green trees with candy melts and some green gel paste food colouring. Simply pipe the melted candy melts onto parchment paper on a flat tray and chill until hard. We also created some subtle ridges in our chocolate buttercream and dusted the top with icing sugar to create the look of a mountainous snow sprinkled background.
Once finished you should find yourself left with one tempting cake. Remember to try to save at least half for everyone else to fight over.
What better way to warm up during the cold autumn and winter months than with a little hint of chilli in your home baking! Paired with rich and creamy dark chocolate the dash of chilli essence adds a wonderful tingle of heat to your taste buds; perfect for the adventurous at heart. With the addition of a picturesque edible log cabin, just like Little Red Riding Hood’s unfortunate grandmother’s, and charming hand piped chocolate trees, both dusted with icing sugar snow, these Chilli Chocolate Log Cabin Cupcakes make a delightful winter treat for everyone! Why not set them lovingly inside Christmas themed cupcake boxes and surprise your loved ones! Be warned, however, you’ll find them such a hit with everyone that you may need to bake them again and again!
226g self raising flour
226 butter
226g caster sugar
2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder mixed into a paste with boiling water
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
Pre-heat your oven to Gas Mark 3 / 160C / 325F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake cases. Cream your butter and sugar first. When creamy add your eggs and combine together with the flour. Mix well until silky and add in the cocoa powder paste and baking powder, mix again and fill your cases with the batter. Bake for around 20 minutes to 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when tested.
Chilli Chocolate Ganache Filling
100g dark chocolate callets, chips or buttons
6-12 drops of natural chilli essence
50ml double cream
In a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering hot water on medium heat melt the chocolate with the double cream. Whisk every few minutes until fully melted and add in the natural chilli essence to taste. Remove from the heat and whisk for around 2 minutes before chilling for 10-15 minutes in a freezer. Repeat the whisking and chilling process until your ganache is the consistency of thick peanut butter. Once ready use a good cupcake corer to remove the centres of your cakes and fill with your delicious chilli chocolate ganache! Once filled set these aside and begin making your delicious chilli chocolate buttercream.
Chilli Chocolate Buttercream Recipe
250g butter
250-300g icing sugar (keep testing when adding to make sure it is the consistency and sweetness you are comfortable with)
6-12 drops of natural chilli essence
100g melted dark chocolate callets, buttons or chips
1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder 808 or 809 plain round piping tip Disposable piping bag
Dice the butter and add to your mixer to cream. Then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Add the cocoa powder, melted chocolate and chilli essence.
For more hints and tips see our tutorial on how to make buttercream here.
Once your buttercream is ready fill up a disposable piping bag fitted with a piping tip (we used a plain round tip such as an 808 or 809 tip) and generously swirl your ganache filled cupcakes! Now set aside to create your little log cabins!
How to Make the Miniature Edible Log Cabins and Trees
You will need…
Pretzel sticks (if in the UK try the Polish or World foods aisle of your supermarket) Candy melts Disposable piping bag
Dutch waffles (aka stroopwafels) OR pieces of ‘wheaties’ cereal for the roof
Icing sugar White nonpareil sprinkles (optional)
Step one: Carefully cut down your pretzel sticks to around 2.5cm in length. You’ll need quite a few of these so prepare a lot. If you have any leftovers save them in an airtight container for snacks later on.
Step two: Begin ‘glueing’ your log cabin together by carefully piping a thin line of candy melt atop of each pretzel ‘log’ as you go. For extra support you can ‘glue’ small vertical pretzel sticks into the inside along the ‘log wall’.
Step three: To create the roof pitch shape of the house cut down some sticks into descending sizes. Stick these together using the method in step two to create a triangle. Candy melt this to your log cabin wall.
Step four: Cut out some squares of your caramel stroopwafels the size of each side of the roof.
Step five: Using a blade tool carefully punch a hole in one of the roof sides, fill with a little candy melt and angle in a small piece of pretzel stick for a chimney. ‘Glue’ the sides to your house.
Step six: To add windows and doors simply draw them on using a black edible ink pen and a steady hand! (optional)
Step eight: Nestle your adorable log cabin atop your cupcake and dust with a sprinkling of icing/confectioner’s sugar to create a festive snowy scene!
Hurrah! Now it’s time to really see your cupcakes come together! Pop your adorable little log cabins atop a generously swirled cupcake, stick your hand piped trees around your cabin and dust with icing sugar through a sieve for a lovely snowy scene!
The Christmas period has always been synonymous with liqueur fueled festivities. Combine this with a little bit (or a lot) of indulgence at the dinner table and you should be left with a flurry of luxurious booze-y desserts! With this in mind we’ve whipped up a tempting Brandy Alexander cupcake; a creme de cacao with dark chocolate and brandy cake swirled with silky brandy buttercream, dusted with gold and finished with twinkling edible star sequins for culinary school, The Devilled Egg. This decadent cocktail inspired cupcake will no doubt have all of the grown ups at the party rushing to your dessert tables and cake stands for a sample or several. Head on over to The Devilled Egg Kitchen Academy’s blog for our full recipe!
