Wand-derful Harry Potter Cupcakes!

Get it? Wand-derful? As in wonderful? But with wands!

I am a huge Harry Potter nerd and I thought it was about time that I tried to make some cakes that were Harry Potter themed. These cakes were super easy and I personally think they look awesome! Dobby approves! If you'd like to decorate your cakes like this too you will need;

- Red, orange, yellow and black food colouring
- 110g Unsalted Butter
- 400-500g Icing Sugar (your call)
- 1 tsp of Vanilla essence
- Red Candy Melts
- Black Candy Melts - (Or white chocolate and use the black food colouring to dye it black!)
- Grease proof paper!

Method

1. Whisk up a batch of cakes using your favourite sponge mixture. I made a total of eight cupcakes - the seven in the picture were the best ones! (If you would like to use my cake mix it can be found on my most recent cupcake post - which can be found on the 'BAKING' tab at the top of the screen).

2. Once your sponge mixture is all mixed and done - put a little amount of the mixture in a separate bowl. Dye the majority of the mix orange and the minority red. This is just so the sponge goes with the Gryffindor colour scheme. I attempted (it didn't work out good) to make half of my batch polka dot and the others striped. If you'd like to try this too firstly place the orange mix in your cupcake cases so that each cup has orange in, then with a piping bag start either placing very small dots or thin lines.

3. Put your cupcakes in the oven for their required time!

4. Whilst the cupcakes are in the oven (or you can do this while they are cooling its up to you) go onto google and get some images for both the lightning bolt scar and Harry's glasses - get enough lightning bolts to go on one half of your batch and then the same for the glasses. I therefore copied four lightning bolts and four pairs of glasses. Put them on a word sheet and print it out. Then get a sheet of grease proof paper and cover the print out. Also make sure they are a good size so they wont get lost on your cakes!

5. Melt your red candy melts and put them into a piping bag (I just use a disposable one) and snip a little bit off the end of the bag, this this will make sure that you will get nice thin lines of chocolate and also make it easier to trace your pictures. Use the red chocolate to go over and fill in the lightning bolts. If you have some red chocolate left over make some little lightning bolts to accompany your glasses (this looks really cool!).

6. Then melt your black candy melts (Or your white chocolate with black food dye) and do the same step with the piping bag. This time outline the glasses, making sure each line is connected otherwise when it comes you decorating it will all fall apart... and no one wants that. (That would be like 'getting killed or worse.. expelled') Once you've done all the lightning bolts and the glasses, leave them for around 10 minutes at room temperature and then put them in the fridge until you need them again.

7. Onto the butter cream - put your 110g of unsalted butter into a bowl and mix with an electric whisk until it is pale and creamy.

8. Then gradually sieve in your icing sugar (i.e. add a bit in mix it, add a bit in mix it, etc) I normally use 400g however the recipe I follow says to use 500g. 400g works fine for me but its your call! ^_^ If after you have sieved in all of your icing sugar the butter cream is a little dry just add a little bit of milk or water to loosen it up.

9. Add in your 1 tsp of Vanilla Essence.

10. Add your yellow food dye to your butter cream mix. Then place the butter cream into a piping bag and pipe your butter cream on top of your cake. Make sure you go from the very edge round into the middle. This will allow orange/red sponge to be a little Gryffindor surprise! Then simply take your chocolate decoration and place them carefully to the centre of your cupcakes!

And as if by magic you are done!

These cakes would be perfect for any Harry Potter fan (like me!) and would be exceptionally good for parties as they are so simple to do. Also, I'm sure Harry, Ron and Hermione would like these cakes too!

I hope you enjoyed my little post about my Harry Potter cupcakes - I'm ever so proud of them because I've been waiting and waiting to make some Harry Potter cupcakes - but I guess I just wanted to do my favourite books and films justice! If you do have a go at this design please let me know as I would love to see them! But thank you all the same for taking the time to have a nosey at this post - I really appreciate it.

As always have a lovely day.. or evening!

Ricicle x

POWERPUFF GIRL CUPCAKES! (With homemade marshmallow fondant!)

'Sugar, spice, and everything nice, these were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girls...'

Okay, so maybe the sugar, spice and everything nice was more like caster sugar, flour and eggs - buuuuuuuut we still have three perfect little girls - Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup - they're just in a more edible form! 

So this idea started when I decided I wanted to have a go and making my own fondant icing! And after having a good ole' google it seemed that marshmallow fondant was the way to go - and 'thus the powerpuff girl cupcakes were born!' (get the reference? heh) The Powerpuff Girls was one of my all time favourite TV shows when I was younger, I had all the toys, played all the games and people used to compare me to Bubbles a lot - she was my favourite too which made it even better! Basically I HAD to try and make some cupcakes powerpuff themed!

If you'd like to make my powerpuff girl cupcakes you will need -

FOR THE CAKE - 
- 110g Self Raising Flour
- 110g Caster Sugar
- 110g butter (I use Stork!)
- 2 eggs
- 2-3 drops of Vanilla Extract
- Food colouring - (Blue, Green and Pink!) I use ProGel!

FOR THE FONDANT - 
- 450g little marshmellows
- 600g-900g icing sugar (reason I put it between 600-900 is because when I made the fondant I only used 600g and it turned out fine however the recipe I followed said 900g!)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract!
- 1 1/2 tbsp cooled boiled water
- Food Colouring - (Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange, Red, Black, & Peach)
- Some white fondant - (just in case your homemade fondant goes pink - if you used pink marshmallows!)

+ I used some Betty Crocker butter cream for the fondant just to ensure it was all stuck together!

HEADS UP -  I just thought I'd better mention that these cakes are quite time consuming. For me these cakes took up two days - so be prepared! But have fun! 

♥ METHOD ♥ 

(For this recipe I wont put pictures on detailing the cake mixture - if you are unsure for the cake mix on how it should look my previous posts (Whimsical Rainbow Cupcakes + Cute as a button cupcakes) have the cake mix well photographed ^_^) I'll still put the recipe on here so don't worry! Okay so lets fight crime by making some powerpuff girls!

FOR THE CAKE - 

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.

2. So first things first you will need to cream your 110g of caster sugar and 110g of butter together until it looks nice and fluffy & lightly coloured!

3. Beat your eggs in a separate bowl and then add them to your mixture gradually - at this point you can add in your vanilla extract too!

4. Now you'll need your 110g of Self Raising and sieve it into the mixture gradually (add some, fold it in, add some, fold it in - the cycle continues!) For folding I normally use a spatula as it just guarantees that every bit of the mixture has been dealt with and it also makes it easier to get every little bit of the mix into the cupcake cakes!

5. And that's the mixture itself done! (Yay) Now you need to split your mixture roughly into 3 bowls, and add the different food dye's to the different bowls. So one bowl with have blue cake mix, one will have green and the other pink!

6. Now all there is to do is to put your coloured cake mix into the cupcake cases! You can use whatever colours you like however I used 2 yellow and 1 blue for Bubbles, 2 orange and 1 pink for Blossom and 3 green cases for Buttercup! This is only because it fitted with with the PPG theme!

Nine Powerpuff Girls coming your way!

Normally this cake mixture would make 12 perfect cakes however because of how I wanted the decoration to look I wanted them to have a domed appearance on the top so I added more mix into the cakes than normal. (I hope I worded that right..)










7. All there is to do for now is to put your cakes into the oven for 15-20 minutes! My cakes are normally done around the 15 minute mark however they have been known to need a little more. Basically just keep an eye on them after 15 minutes! ^_^

♥ 15 minutes later... ♥

And here we have nine coloured cupcakes! Now it's time for the fondant! Dun dun dun! 

♥ THE FONDANT ♥

Remember when I said this recipe would be a little time consuming? This is where it happens! But its fun and we like to try things so lets go! Also, this is the recipe I followed as it was my first ever time making my own fondant! Aaah!

1. So to begin with you need to put your 450g of marshmallows into a microwaveable bowl and put in the microwave for 30 seconds. (this filled up my entire bowl and after microwaving it didn't appear like anything had happened - so don't worry if yours does the same!)

Look at all those marshmallows! (I might have pinched one or two to eat... sh!)

2. Now add the vanilla extract and the 1 1/2 tbsp of cooled boiled water. (I literally boiled it and put it in the freezer for a like a minute) Then grab a spoon - put some butter on to grease it - and stir the mixture so far. (The reason you need to grease it is because it goes SO sticky)

3. Put your marshmallows into the microwave for another 30 seconds and keep doing this until the marshmallows have all melted and are nice and smooth. (so basically heat in microwave, stir the mixture and see what its like, repeat if need to). I tallied the time I did this step and I had to put my marshmallows in the microwave three times until it was nice and smooth. 

 <- In mid melt!

<- All melted (and in a different bowl)

4.  Gradually add in the icing sugar ('stirring after each addition'). For this step I added the icing sugar in 200g intervals and even that seemed a lot. I tried to fold it in the best I could have and then proceeded to add another 200g. The recipe I followed said to use 900g of icing sugar but by 600g I had icing sugar that was not going into the mixture at all and my fondant seemed to be pretty firm anyway, so I just used 600g of icing sugar in the end. However it is up to you and whether you want to go all in for the 900g or cut it a little short is your call! (Sorry, that step was a bit 'waffley' wasn't it?)

5. So in the recipe I followed it said to 'grease hands and work surface. Turn out and knead until smooth and no longer sticky' - I didn't do this. (Rebel) All I did was treat it like a normal fondant and I sprinkled icing sugar on my work surface and onto my hands and kneaded it that way. It worked out fine however I provided the actual recipes step so you can follow it in whatever way you wish. ^_^

<- My fondant! 

6. For the normal recipe this is where your marshmallow fondant is done! However because we are making powerpuff cupcakes we need to add some colour to this fondant! Here is where the food dye comes in. First of all split your fondant into the amount of colours you want to use - so for me I had to split it into 8 chunks (I kept the biggest chunks for the main colours - blue, pink and green!). Add a colour to each chunk and knead it in. This step can get messy for your hands so be prepared!

<- And there are all my colors! (I think I needed to knead some of the colours in better in retrospect - but hey for a first time it wasn't bad right?)

7. And now you are done for the day! Wrap up your fondant tightly in some clingfilm and place in a airtight container and leave to firm up overnight!

♥ DECORATION ♥

And here we are! The last and most frustrating (but fun) part! I will show you guys how I made my favourite powerpuff girl (Bubbles) and then you can just simply follow the steps regarding the eyes and background for the other girls. (Just remember to change the colour). This was my first time making my own fondant and this was my most ambitious idea ever regarding cakes so some of the steps may not be done in the best way it can - but here is how I made these super cakes! 

1. So Bubbles - the 'joy and laughter'. Her main colour is blue and that was the first colour I used in order to make the background for the faces. I kneaded my fondant first just to get it all soft again and then rolled it out until it very thin. (Simply so when they were eaten no one would get a big mouthful of fondant!)


Once it's all rolled out and smooth you need to cut out a circle (or three as that's how many Bubbles' there will be in total) that fits nicely over your little cake. I luckily found something that was exactly the right size.

Then put a little bit of butter cream on your cake (So it acts like glue) and pop your circle on the top!

                                                           

                                                           Like this ->

2. Put the blue fondant away for now but keep it nearby as you will need it again for the eyes. However for now you will need the peachy colour fondant as this will be the face. Cut out a circle that is smaller than the circle you did for the blue - as you want the face to sit nicely in the middle - not so its squished in. Cut out nine of these circles. You can use the other 6 for Blossom and Buttercup!

(This reminds of that episode of Doctor Who where people had no faces? Anyone?) 

3. This is where it gets 'fiddley'. For this step I used an edible black pen (these can be purchased at Hobbycraft) and drew on the outline for the face. I drew where the hair would be and the mouth and also filled in the black parts of the eyes. If you don't have a edible pen the same can be done with your black fondant - it will just be a little harder. 

Left - The just drawn out face. Right - the filled in with icing faces!

4. This is where you need to bring back your blue fondant and also get the white. With the blue fondant first get a teeny little bit of fondant and make a little sausage shape big enough to fit in the outline you have drawn - or iced - on your eye. Do this again for the white. For the pupil I made a hole and then made a little white fondant ball and simply put that where I made the hole. Do this carefully as if you have filled in the black with edible pen it may not be dry yet. (I realised this too late and one of my Bubbles went a bit smudged!)

5. Next step is the hair! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during this process (Sorry) But Bubbles' hair was pretty simple! For the fringe I cut out two almost 'tear' shaped pieces of yellow fondant and fitted them into the outline I had drawn on the face. (If it doesn't stick on by itself use some butter cream to help glue it on!') And then all that's left was the pigtails. Which again were like a tear shape just more curved at the ends. (I'd recommend using a image for reference).

6. And that's a Bubbles face done! All there is to do is to put a little bit of butter cream on your blue background and stick the face on! The pigtails might also need a little bit just to ensure they stay where they should be! I also used a icing instrument (but you can use anything with a sharp pointy end) to place little dots around the edge - simply for no other reason but just to add a little 'something'.

AND NOW YOU HAVE DONE A BUBBLES!

You can use the same steps for the background, faces and hair for both Blossom and Buttercup. Just make sure to use their colours and their hairstyles. (Also Buttercup tends to have a more angrier looking face), But hopefully I've shown you the basics! (I've tried my best hehe) 

P.S. When making the circles for the background - I made a sort of triangle shape (for each colour) so that when they are all together with a cake at the top they look like they are flying. (in the style that the powerpuff girls would fly!) Like this; 

Cool huh? 

So that is it! I really hope you enjoyed my powerpuff girl cupcakes post - I tried my best to make it seem as simple as possible and I'm sorry if there were any mistakes or confusing parts! I am personally really proud of myself as these were my first attempt at fondant faces and my most ambitious cakes to date. I felt they came out really good and were better than what I could have imagined! 

Yet again thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy your own Powerpuff Girl cupcakes! Maybe we should make some Rowdyruff Boy cupcakes too... 

Have a lovely day.. or night!

Ricicle x

P.S. I am now on Bloglovin'!

POWERPUFF!

Take On A Bake - (Off!) / Madeira Cake

Hi guys! So this is the first of my little series called 'Take on a Bake - (Off!)'. This is inspired by the new series of The Great British Bake Off - a show I really enjoy. Each week I will choose a recipe that was attempted by the contestants on the show and basically 'have a go at it'. This is purely for fun and I hope you enjoy seeing my attempts. So anyway on with this week!

This week one of the challenges was for the contestants to make a Madeira Cake. If you're a little bit of a history nerd like me and want to know the history of the Madeira Cake - CLICK HERE. So here we go with our attempt at the - dun dun dun - Madeira Cake!

For this recipe I actually used the very same recipe that one of the contestants used - Marie's! I felt this made it more 'Bake Off-y' (my attempt at word play) as it was from one of the contestants! I have provided a link to the recipe but if it makes it a little bit easier for you I will copy what you will need so you don't have to open too many links! (Just know that all credit obviously goes to her!)

LOOK AT ALL THE COLOURS

Okay so these are all the ingredients you will need -

• Caster Sugar
• Unsalted Butter (However I used Stork because Stork is my favourite butter to use for cakes)
• Self Raising Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 3 Oranges
• 2 Lemons
• Icing Sugar 
• A pinch of salt!

P.S. Ignore the pineapple chunks in the picture! (I had already uploaded the picture before I realised - silly me!) 

Okay the first step in Marie's recipe is;

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/165C Fan/Gas 4. Grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin with butter and line with baking parchment. 

Pretty simple stuff - so now for the second step;

2. In a bowl, cream the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Fold in the flour, a pinch of salt and the citrus zests.

I photographed each stage of this step so hopefully it will give you a guide at what the mix should look like.

After creaming the 150g of caster sugar and the 150g of butter!

Adding in each egg one at a time (I didn't pre-beat the eggs - I just cracked them straight into the mix and beat them from inside that - but one egg at a time).

The recipe didn't say whether the flour needed to be sieved in but I did anyway. #Yolo

- Additionally when it comes to folding in flour I tend to use a spatula as I think it allows me to make sure every little bit gets mixed in!

After folding in the 200g flour!

This is where you also add the pinch of salt!

ADD IN THE ZESTS AND MIX IN WELL!














Onto step 3! -

3. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, smooth the surface and bake for 1 hour. Check the cake after 40 minutes, if it is starting to brown too much cover with aluminium foil for the remaining cooking time. The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

 All ready to go!

ONE HOUR LATER ...

It went ok guys!

We have one half of a Madeira Cake! Hooray!

So continuing on from Marie's recipe we have step 4 -

4. Leave the cake to cool in the tin while you make the sugar syrup.

Another simple step - we like those. 

5. To decorate, cut the lemon and orange rind into very thin strips. Add 100ml/3½fl oz water and the caster sugar to a saucepan over a low heat, stir gently until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil then add the rind to the pan, reserve a few strips of rind for decoration. Cook for about 5 minutes until a syrup forms and the rind is translucent.

Like I did for step two I will include images so it will give you a rough idea of how it should look. 

My very thin strips of both the orange and lemon skins! (rinds)

 The 100ml of water and 75g caster sugar. The caster sugar will eventually dissolve!

After the caster sugar has dissolved you need to wait for the water to boil and then add the orange and lemon bits. After a time it will begin to bubble and turn into a syrup! This also smells delicious!












Step 6 now!

6. Brush the syrup over the still-warm cake and set aside to cool completely. When the cake is completely cold, remove it from the tin.

Looking pretty yummy

At this point I was getting really excited because I've never made this type of cake before and I was pretty chuffed with the candied fruit and syrup. But anyway, now is time for the final step - step 7!

7.To make the icing, mix the citrus juices. Mix the icing sugar with enough juice to make a thin icing. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake and finish with a few thin strips of citrus rind.

For the first half of the step I didn't take any pictures however it was pretty simple, I just added a teeny bit more icing sugar as the icing wasn't as thick as I would have liked it - but once I got icing I was happy with it looked something like this; 

Shiny!

I chose to not add any more strips of citrus rind for the top of the icing as for me the ones in the syrup were enough.

Anyway once all that properly dried I tidied it up a little and here is the finished product - 

So I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed baking the cake! I have never attempted this kind of cake before so I am pretty proud of myself. Like I said this 'Take on a Bake (Off!)' series is inspired by the show 'The Great British Bake off' and the credit for the recipe goes entirely to the lovely contestant Marie. (To whom I wish all the best for in the show) 

As far as I'm aware next week's episode revolves around biscuits so that should be fun! 

Thank you for reading and if you are a fan of the Great British Bake Off be sure to let me know who your favourite contestant is! (I'm so far undecided - however my past favourites were Howard and Norman!) 

Ricicle x