Did someone say chocolate??

I had to tackle this issue sometime... it's one we bakers often avoid as we peddle our delicious lemon cake as people ask 'why not  an awesome chocolate cake' The truth is...no body has the recipe for the best chocolate cake ever because unless you make a cake that is just remolded chocolate in a cake shape you're never going to please the die hard chocoholics 100%. Anyone who has made it their life goal to produce a super chocolaty ultra moist cake (i.e. any baker worth their weight in superfine sugar) will agree there is always room for improvement...

One is the loneliest number...

No cupcake was safe...

...except it would seem if you are turning one year old and then it is quite the opposite.

My niece had her first birthday recently and aside from having almost her entire extended family fly over from Brisbane to help celebrate, was showered with more gifts than she could (literally) climb over. So not wanting to add to the pile (and, dare I say, take any of the joy of spoiling the child away from her grandparents) I baked her a cake instead, well one big cake and 36 little ones. Having consulted with her mum I was informed that Amy was partial to pinks, blues, oranges and purples and having consulted with Amy by choice of  which cupcake papers she chose to take from the shelf and chew on, polka dots it was!

Light my fire...and then eat it

Always one to give credit where it is due; these lovely desserts are the brainchild of Heston Blumenthal. However Heston's original dessert contained a kind of caramel ganache that offended even my sweety tooth. So taking the delightful concept of a centre piece that doubles as dessert I set about making it Ms Cupcake's own creation. The first time I made these I filled the white chocolate tubes with raspberry mousse only. As tasty as they were I wanted them to be amazing so I elaborated a little adding cointreau soaked cake and fresh raspberries. But I get ahead of myself! If you're like me and like to build your ego with high praise for sugary creations then you must try these at your next dinner party!

Gingerbread House Party!

When one has the happy burden of having too many lovely friends one needs to be creative in how appreciation and thanks is given at the festive season (ie buying that many presents is a bit silly!) So last Christmas I forwent the perils of present giving and invited my nearest and dearest to a gingerbread making party. Each guest was given a lump of  dough, a bag of white royal icing and a paper plate to sit their creation upon.

I'm back!

I haven't been writing but I've been baking!

 After a good six months  Ms Cupcake returns by popular demand! This means there is six months of baking and decorating to discuss.I'll start with rainbows! I've never been one to shy away from colour...even the time when perhaps I ought to have.

  I've observed that as a general rule people tend to back away slowly from foods with a brightened hue for fear that the excessive amounts of food colorings are going to make them ill (I suggest that perhaps they ought to be more concerned by the sugar content). So you can imagine my delight when I discovered a way to have your bright red cake and eat it too!

 before baking, bright but not intense

Who's coming to dinner?

Being a shameless admirer of all things naff it is no surprise that I love cliches and quotable quotes.  So ingrained is my dag-ness that I think about and store instances when said cliches and quotes could be applied to conversation, so as to appear spontaneous and witty when conversing with my peers. I do this in the hope that after a refined chortle my acquaintance will congratulate me on my impressive incite into the human psyche and ask me to be their friend. Doubtless my (dear, long suffering) friends will attest to being overcome by my power to woo them with said charm....

  All of this got me to thinking...if I could choose a bunch of people to make sweet syntax love to in order to charm them with my witty yet sensitive intellect and ensnare them into my web of friends... who would it be? (the question itself being pretty daggy dinner party conversation) More to the point what would I serve them for dinner? It's not an easy question to answer, I'm sure I could invite loads of people but would they work together ok? Think of the complexities of interactions!  They can't be too brilliant or have been dead for too long... the conversation would be awkward (can you imagine poor Jane Austin sitting next to Russell Brand?) and you wouldn't get past pleasantries, certainly a lot to think about. Oh and you wouldn't want to invite a chef or food critic who wants that kind of judgment when catering for guests!

this is my friend Pickle's pictorial representation of an ideal party

Oh for wistful dreaming and french cooking

I have a confession to make. I'm not faithful to baking. I have been known to become smitten by the  heady spicy aromas of an Indian curry and prance at the prospect of roasting a chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Don't get me wrong the sugar high of making a beautiful cake is a splendid feeling indeed however the magnificent sense of accomplishment of serving said cake at the end of a successful diner party gives me a reason to live (ok so that might be a bit dramatic but you get the idea).

As a dear friend so tactfully once put it : my name is Ms Cupcake and I'm a catering whore.