Easter is finally here and for a little bit of fun (yes, on a holiday AND on our time off) we decided to put together some rather fun little cupcakes that suit the occasion particularly well we think. Our design ideas for these furry nice bunnies was the process throughout the Easter holidays (or any holiday season for that matter). Our hot cross bun baking bunny begins the holiday season with the best of intentions; full of festive spirit and raring to whip up everything from scratch! The second bunny is overwhelmed with Easter and buried underneath a myriad of carrots. Finally, our third bunny rabbit has just given in to the gluttony of modern day Easter celebrations; chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!
Each cupcake is flavoured to match its decoration. The hot cross bun baking bunny is a delicious apple and sultana cupcake, the carrot overload bunny is a spiced carrot and orange cupcake and the chocolate chomping bunny rabbit features a vanilla cupcake with chocolate chips and a chocolate ganache filling. All are then topped with vanilla buttercream and fondant icing. Just because we’re ever so generous we’ve included our recipe for each flavour with this post!
We added a fun ‘organic carrots’ signpost to our ‘overwhelmed’ bunny cupcake along with lots of bright Easter eggs!
Our adorable little chef bunny was certainly busy in the kitchen with its rolling pin, batter splattered floor, mixing bowl and tray full of freshly baked hot cross buns.
Here’s our overwhelmed bunny cupcake.We often feel like the above bunny rabbit most of the time. The cupcake itself is a delicious spiced carrot and orange cake.
Here’s our chocolate overload bunny who has found themselves amidst a plethora of tasty chocolate Easter eggs! We added a little lustre dust to the eggs and wrapper to create a shimmery metallic look. The cupcake flavour for this was vanilla with chocolate chips with a lovely chocolate ganache filling.
Mmm… hot cross buns. For this cupcake we mimicked our favourite hot cross bun flavour and created an apple and sultana cupcake with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon!
We’ve also submitted all three of these funny Easter bunny cupcakes to The Pink Whisk’s Easter Makes & Bakes Competition and placed second!
We hope you all enjoy a fun-filled Easter weekend and that you find yourself more like the baking or chocolate bunnies we created rather than the poor stressed-out little carrot buried rabbit! Hoppy Easter!
Yesterday our friend Tammie flew over from Australia to visit everyone and, of course, we saw it as a great ‘hoppertunity’ to create this adorable kangaroo party cake! We entertained ideas from Moomins to luggage cakes before settling on having the cake topper be a hoppy little ‘roo.
The cake itself is a lovely pink lemonade flavour; perfect for spring! Inside are layers of natural lemon extract infused cake filled with a generous amount of home made raspberry jam. We then smothered the cake in raspberry buttercream and added fun rainbow sprinkles!
This cake was also a belated birthday offering for Tammie so we whipped it up with a little birthday party theme too. We popped a colourful little party hat atop of our fondant ‘roo as well as a brightly coloured blossom nestled in her pouch.
With the Easter festivities fast approaching we’ve began working on lots of sweet cake, cupcake and macaron treats for you to whip up at home. It’s one or favourite times of year for cake and cooking decorating because of all the fun and adorable things just waiting to adorn home baked treats! With that in mind here’s the first of our Easter recipe and tutorial collection; how to create Floral Easter Basket Cupcakes! Be sure to try out our accompanying recipe for lemon and marshmallow cupcakes for a delicious Easter treat.
Step 1: Roll out some pastel fondant mixed with tylo powder in your chosen colour and cut with a 2 1/2 inch scalloped circle cutter. Add extra detail by pressing the small end of the ball tool into each scallop. Leave to dry and harden on a clean flat surface. Once ready set on top of a piped cupcake!
Step 2: Take a little brown fondant and add a couple pinches of tylo powder. Using a cake smoother roll these out into a thin ‘rope’. To do so ‘roll’ your cake smoother over an oblong shape of brown fondant backwards and forwards.
Step 3: Slice your ‘rope’ in half with your blade tool and gently twist both pieces together to form the handle for your basket. Set aside to harden and dry.
Step 4: Take a ball of fondant about the size of a ping pong ball and add a pinch or two of tylo powder. Roll into a smooth and crease-less ball in the palms of your hand. Work into an oval shape to form the beginning of your basket.
Step 5: Using the larger end of your ball tool indent the centre of your basket.
Step 6: With your veining tool etch out a wicker-like pattern along the outside of your little fondant basket.
Step 7: Roll out some more fondant into a thin ‘rope’ and attach this along the top of your basket. Add detail with your veining tool.
Step 8: With some edible glue attach three miniature candy / chocolate eggs into your basket.
Step 9: To make the little blossoms roll out coloured fondant and cut out the florals using your blossom plunger cutter.
Step 10: On a flower foam pad shape the petals of your blossoms with smaller end of your ball tool.
Step 11: Add the blossoms to the basket with a dab of edible glue and finish the centres of them with sugar pearls or small balls of fondant.
Step 12: With edible glue attach your basket handle and leave to set. This may need holding up with strips of kitchen towel or cling film.
Once you’ve finished why not arrange your gorgeous Floral Easter Basket Cupcakes on a pastel cake stand strewn with silk flowers and crepe paper ‘grass’ for a gorgeous spring look.
One of the perks of our job is that when either one of our birthdays makes its way around we end up creating a hell of a cake for ourselves! This Honey, Vanilla and Lavender Beehive Macaron Cake is by no means an exception. To celebrate Krystle’s (the Welsh half of Juniper Cakery) 28th birthday we set to work designing, baking and decorating this impressive beehive inspired macaron tower.
The cake itself is vanilla filled and iced with a wildflower honey buttercream whilst the macarons that adorn it are honey, vanilla and lavender flavoured. The bottom tier is covered with gold painted fondant ‘sequins’.
Being Welsh, an outdoors-y woman and harbouring a life-long fascination with bees this was an obvious cake for Krystle. We took inspiration from beehives, botanical illustrations, anything and everything golden and glamorous and full bouquets of seasonal blossoms to design this cake.
After affixing the honey, vanilla and lavender macarons to the cake tower we embellished them with handmade ivory sugar gum paste roses and leaves, gold painted fondant bees and soft lavender hydrangea blossoms.
The ‘sequin’ tier took an excruciating amount of work and time to create! For a while we kept spotting fondant sequin cakes doing the rounds on various blogs and online magazines from across the pond and we had been itching to re-create this! It took the both of us over 10 hours to make!
The cake board was fun to decorate too! The large hexagon shaped board was covered with a cream fondant then embossed with a honeycomb pattern, brushed with gold lustre dust and dotted with gold painted fondant bees!
The top of the macaron cake tower was finished with a gum paste finial that was then hand painted gold. The design was influenced by pollen, floral petals, the abdomen of a honey bee and by the finials that perch atop historical buildings.
We added a little bit of fun by attaching some gold painted fondant bees onto a few blossoms as well as clustered onto the macarons.
This cake took so much time and effort to create, but it was worth it! This cake is the perfect combination of both of our personal styles. It incorporates our love of nature, food (of course!) and even architecture.
Instead of a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day (March 30th in the UK) why not give our recipe and tutorial a try and create a gorgeous floral collection of delectable cupcakes? We’ve created some ever so sweet daffodil and rose cupcakes for you to re-create at home! Perhaps the only thing better than a lovely bundle of flowers is a batch of floral decorated cupcakes?
How to create sugar daffodil flowers and roses…
To create an abundant bouquet feel we clustered a few daffodils together atop of each delicious cupcake! Instead you can mix roses and daffodils together or keep it simple with a single flower nestled into the buttercream of each cake.
Why not add adorable fondant ladybugs, caterpillars or butterflies nestled in between your sugar blossoms for a fun collection of garden themed cupcakes?
Step one: Using a Mexican flower foampad create a hat-like shape from yellow fondant / sugarpaste. To do this roll out a ball of fondant over the largest hole in your mexican flower foam pad. When you carefully tease this out you should be left with a flat rolled out fondant… but with a tapered or tube-like shape on one end.
Step two: On the completely flat side use the 6 point side of your tapered star tool to indent a 6 point star in the centre of the fondant. This will mark where each of your six petals will separate.
Step three: With the blade tool carefully cut the fondant with the cuts matching up to the points of the indentation made with your 6 point tapered star tool. These will become your petals.
Step four: Add detail by using the veining tool to draw lines on the petals. Shape, thin and ruffle each petal tip using your ball tool and flower foam pad. Then pinch the tip of each petal to create shape. Use a little edible glue to secure each pinched tip if needed. Set aside.
Step five: To create the ruffled centre roll out some darker yellow / orange fondant into a oblong shape. Thin and ruffle the edges using your ball tool and flower foam pad.
Step six: Loosely roll up the oblong shaped fondant and pinch one end. Cut some of the pinched of section if necessary. Take your taper star tool and indent the middle of the base of the ruffled section just made. Dab a little edible glue on the indentation inside the ruffled piece.
Step seven: Take some stamens, fold them and using a cocktail stick push them into the indentation inside the ruffled section.
Step eight: Add a little edible glue onto the middle of the petal section that had been set aside and attach the ruffled middle. Hold until set.
Step one: The night before you begin your roses you need to prepare your buds! Take a small amount of fondant / sugarpaste mixed with tylo powder and form into a ball then taper into a bud shape. Take a cocktail stick and add edible glue to one end. Push the edible glue covered end into the base of the cocktail stick (just past half way) and leave to harden overnight.
Step two: Roll out your fondant / sugarpaste thinly on a surface dusted with icing sugar. Using the largest rose petal cutter cut out a petal from the fondant. Using your ball tool and flower foam pad thin and ruffle out the edges of the petal.
Step three: Dab some edible glue onto the bud. Attach the petal with the tip of the petal over the top of the bud. Carefully wrap the petal around the bud forming a peak at the top and ensure your bud overlaps down one side.
Step four: Next cut two petals using a petal cutter a little longer than the bud. Thin and ruffle out the edges of the petal. Attach around the bud of your rose whilst carefully curving and shaping the edges of the two petals.
Step five: Now cut three petals using the same petal cutter used in step four. Using edible glue arrange these around your growing rose. Remember to overlap each petal slightly and place alternatively to the layer before. Carefully curve and shape the edges of the three petals.
Step six: Now cut five petals using a larger petal cutter than the one used in step four. Using edible glue arrange these around your growing rose. Remember to overlap each petal slightly and place alternatively to the layer before. Carefully curve and shape the edges of the five petals.
Step seven: For the rose leaf roll out some olive green fondant thinly and use a medium rose leaf plunger cutter to cut out a leaf.
After piping your cupcakes with buttercream nestle your blossoms atop each one and enjoy!
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!
This week we’ve put together a wonderfully adorable fondant / sugarpaste tutorial on how to create some bright shooting stars. These are perfect for baby showers, kids’ parties, birthdays or themed events. We’ve also included a recipe for deliciously sweet and tangy lemonade cupcakes which are sure to be a hit with all ages!
Step one: Roll out some yellow fondant to a thickness of approx. 7mm and sandwich this between two pieces of cling film before cutting out your star shape. The cling film on top helps create clean, rounded edges whilst the cling film under the fondant prevents the shape sticking to the surface.
Step two: Carefully shape the star into a chunkier shape by rounded the tips with your fingers.
Step three: Add cute facial details with a ball tool and scallop tool. At this stage you can add eyes with springs, sugar pearls, balls of fondant etc.
Step four: Create the shooting star’s tail by rolling out ‘ropes’ of fondant that taper off.
Step five: Create three ‘ropes’ to form the tail and arrange. Glue these together with either water or melted white chocolate. Once dry attach the tail to the back of the star with melted white chocolate. Then you can add edible glitter, lustre dust, sprinkles etc!
To assemble your Shooting Star Cupcakes pipe your lemon cupcakes with the freshly made lemonade buttercream (we used a disposable piping bag fitted with an 828 piping tip) then carefully nestle a shooting star atop each once set. Place on a tiered cupcake stand amidst star shaped confetti for a playful and tempting display!
Here’s a lovely and bright cosmetics bag cake with a vintage twist that we created for a friend’s daughter! We were asked to design and make a polka dot make-up bag cake fit for an 18th birthday with a slight vintage feel, a tassel and a fresh colour palette. We were, otherwise, given creative license so with the previous requests we settled upon a cream, turquoise, gold and coral pink colour scheme paired with hand made roses, pearl jewellery, a quilted and sugar pearl studded board and vintage inspired cosmetic pieces.
Above is a close-up of some of the details of the cake including the gold fondant tassel, pearl necklace (complete with an ornate clasp), nail polish bottle, pearl ring, brooch, small parfum bottle and a lipstick inspired by the Estée Lauder Signature lip-colour in ‘Portofino Coral’.
The cake itself is a lovely soft and moist chocolate fudge cake with silky smooth chocolate fudge buttercream frosting. It’s then smothered with a milk chocolate ganache before being iced with fondant and decorated.
We loved creating the vintage inspired jewels, make-up items and sugar roses as well as hand-painting aspects of the cake in gold! They all help to lend a more grown-up and elegant feel to the cake whilst combined with a bright and fun colour palette.
Above is a photograph of the side of the cake capturing the gold fondant tassel and pearl necklace. We added stitching detail, a lovely pearlescent sheen to the fondant pearls, and a glowing hand-painted gold shimmer,
This cake was such fun to create! We loved adding the sweet yet fun little touches of jewellery, old fashioned style cosmetics, a personalised name plaque, etc.
We created this floral / English garden party themed bird cage cake with a Ladurée inspired colour palette. With the spring season fast approaching we thought added roses and cherry blossoms to the design would be perfect. Of course, it may be too early in the year to say, but we think this is one of our favourites of 2014!
The cake itself is a lovely soft lemon madeira cake filled with silky smooth lemon buttercream and covered with a white chocolate ganache. The cake is then iced in hand coloured pale pistachio green fondant before edible details are added.
Cherry Blossoms are one of our favourite florals to re-create in sugar form. They feature such wonderful petal shapes (from pinched, notched and ruffles), soft tones of pink (which add a lovely pop of colour to paler cakes) and look elegant gathered together on a Spring cake!
We hand created ivory sugar roses, rose leaves and delicate pink cherry blossoms as well as the birdcage’s scallop trims, bars and conical-esque handle. Even though this was a relatively small wedding creating it from start to finish took a total of 12 hours including baking time… phew!
Above is a close-up photograph showing the detail on the left hand side of the birdcage cake. We quilted the cake drum, studded it with shimmering ivory sugar pearls and trimmed the board with cream grosgrain ribbon.
From start to finish we loved every single element of this cake. This cake was such a wonderful way to get us in the mood for the new season.
