Han Solo Cupcake

chocolate cupcake, red cocoa frosting, chocolate Han Solo in "carbonite", chocolate pop rocks

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Lawyers, counsellers and doctors oh my!!

Well, here I am and the shock of my marriage break up dulled by being caught up in lawyer, counsellor and doctors appointments. 

Like Han Solo I'm trapped, not in carbonite but in a swirl of paperwork that binds me to my husband. Hopefully I'm not on my way to Jabba the Hutt!!

Now, lets talk chocolate :) 

Silicone ice-cube trays double as moulds for your chocolate creations, today I've used the large Han Solo mould for my cupcake topper. Your chocolate tempered or otherwise doesn't have the "high shine" finish of using hard plastic moulds, but this is more than made for with the plethora of designs that are available in silicone. 

Han Solo ice-cube tray

I half filled the mould with melted chocolate, sprinkled on chocolate pop rocks, then filled the rest of the mould. You end up with a "Choc Rock Han Solo Block"... or something like that.

Chocolate pop rocks

Use food paints and lustre dusts to colour your finished pieces. I sprinkled extra pop rocks and chocolate rocks on the frosting.

Thank you everyone for your messages/comments of support. I have read them all, please forgive me for not replying at the moment and I'm going to give Valentines cupcakes a miss this year too... but I'll be back in March with "bunnies" and Easter goodies.

The Lone Baker xx

Christmas Rush Raspberry Tuiles

Two ingredients (rasberries and sugar) Rasberry Tuile Topped mini cupcake

Good griefl, I swear I had black and silver cases in "medium", but all I find was mini's. This left me with toppers that were far too large and since I'd already applied silver leaf to black choc candy coated balls I had to come up with a different topper. 

Two ingredient 'Raspberry Tuiles' have a long oven drying time, but other than that were simple and quick to make fitting in perfectly with "Christmas rush" mode that I'm well and truly in!! 

Now I did burn the first batch, second batch I reduced the cooking time by 20 minutes and they worked perfectly. I used a metal ruler and a sharp knife to cut strips; I then bent the strips and pinched ends whilst still warm.

The strips dry quickly to produce a crispy tuile that is intense in flavour, colour and is also vegan and gluten free. They are best made close to serving and perfect to top a range of desserts.

You just need raspberries and sugar for these... do give it a try and watch chef *David Carmichael the Executive Pastry Chef at The New York Palace demonstrate how the make the tuiles (recipe included).

*Note: chef Carmichael uses 4 pints (8 cups) of raspberries, I halved the recipe.

 if you use a silpat you will end up with a waffle pattern on the shiny side.

Happy Baking :) and Christmas preparations!!  

A Spun Sugar Purple Christmas

spun sugar purple christmas tree mini cupcake

Goodness me, I must admit I haven't enthusiastically embraced my husbands choice of "purple" as a Christmas theme but I thought I should make an attempt and produced a batch of fondanted cupcakes... I stood back and they looked far too "menopause mauve". 

Instead I'll go with purple spun sugar Christmas tree toppers for my mini cupcakes. Watch out for tea light holders in your chosen theme, they make for fab mini cupcake stands like the one I've used today. 

cream horn form

To make the spun sugar tree you will need cream horn forms and follow the instructions for one of my earlier posts; blue sugar springs. Instead of using a spoon to create a spring use a kitchen fork to produce threads to wrap around the form. Start of third of the way up and scroll to the top. 

I used an empty egg carton to hold the cream horns whilst sugar is drying. Sprinkled on edible lilac disco glitter and star sprinkles. 

Storage: like all sugar pieces trees are best made on day of serving. Sugar work breaks down quickly in a humid enviroment. 

 Have fun, happy baking :) and Merry Christmas!!

Not enough purple for you? Try purple butterflies.

Snow Cherries

                                         snow cherry cupcake

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A quick little fresh cherry decoration today, that I think is so pretty... hope you do too.

It's summer in Australia and fresh cherries are in season. "Snow cherries" are a lovely decoration for your cupcakes, cakes and plated desserts for all your Christmas occasions. 

You'll need...

room temperature cherries with unbroken skins

white fondant

white disco glitter

small dry artists paintbrush

small piece of dampened new foam

Thinly roll out your white fondant, cut small sections and shape. Dampen one side of your fondant shapes with the foam. Pop a cherry in the centre of each piece of fondant and fold up to  attach. Using the dampened foam again, dampen the outside of the fondant and sprinkle with edible disco glitter. Brush off excess glitter that falls on the cherries with the dry brush. Allow to dry.

Cherries will keep at room temperature for 6 hours (though I have held them as long as overnight). 

Happy Baking :)

or what about making mini choc pudding cupcakes?

you might also be interested in...

Ode to Bounty Bars Coconut Chocolate Cupcakes

Three French Hens Cupcake

                               

On the third day of Christmas, 

my true love sent to me...

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Goodness, birds were just "the gift" in the 1700's if the English carol 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' is anything to go by. As a lady in the 1700's your true love brought you geese, hens, doves, turtle doves, calling birds, swans and a partridge of course... but wait you thought at least there was jewellery?? The "golden rings" most likely referred to golden ring necked birds. But at least you also got some "leaping lords"! All the birds were eaten in era so could have been destined for the pot. 

Whilst where here, verse four is actually "colly birds" not "calling birds" as often sung; colly birds are a smallish blackbird. French hens in the era were either the Crevecoeur, Houdans or the La Fleche breeds.

Alternative lyrics: There is Australian versions of the song using Australian animals such as "dingo's dancing", a religious rewrite of the lyrics, though there is no documented religious link to song. I even had the pleasure of hearing a heavy metal version of the song on the weekend... unless you are a Twisted Sister fan I'd give it miss. 

Want to make your own hens? 

Black fondant is rolled into egg shapes then shaped into nesting chickens.

With fondant or modelling paste use red to make wattles and combs and orange for the beaks. Black rolled out thinly is used to cut feathers from. White is rolled into small egg shapes to make the eyes and thinly rolled mauve is used to make the eyelids. Attach all pieces to hens bodies with water using a small paint brush, starting with feathers, then comb/wattle, then beak and eyes. Use a black food marker to finish the eyes. Allow to dry.

Happy Baking and Singing :) 

Gold Fish Cupcake

fondant goldfish cupcake pick tops a fondant covered jasmine tea cupcake

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I loved my goldfish, I truly did. I lugged around my fish tank, filters, pumps and paraphernalia from apartment to apartment when I was young. Then the inevitable happened the fish tank sprung a leak and my father said to me "don't worry I'll come over and get your fish and put the fish in my pond" and so he did... where his giant fish proceeded to gobble up my fish in 39.9 seconds! 

Today we are making a fondant goldfish, mine is flat backed but you can make it 3D the same way. I've added a toothpick to turn it into a cupcake pick.

Okay let's get started.

You'll need:

Fondant (with some *CMC added) or modelling paste in colours of choice

lustre or petal dusts in colours of choice

toothpicks painted with food colour of choice

cake/flower glue (optional)

leaf glaze (optional)

Start by making an egg shape with your fondant and shape it into a "fish" shape.

Add scale indents with the tip of piping nozzle or similar. I wanted lots of texture on my fish, but if you want a more realistic fish make your indents further apart.

Role out some of the fondant laced with CMC as thinly as you can. Cut fins and tail with a small knife or small scissors, adhere to your fish body with water. Shape slightly to give add the illusion of movement.

Use plastic wrap or small pieces of foam to support shaped tail and fins.

Add a ring for the eye socket, add a small piece of thin fondant for the gills, cover the join of the tail with another piece of thin fondant and blend in. Check whether you need to add more scales or any finishing touches. Make a hole in the underneath of the fish with a toothpick. Allow to dry, 6 hours to overnight.

Once dry take a small dry paintbrush and dust with colours of choice, starting with the back of the fish. I used white lustre dust and red petal dust. Blend, blend, blend with your paintbrush until you have desired finish. You can let the base colour show through like I did or fully cover with the dusts. 

Dip you toothpick into cake/flower glue or dampen with water and insert into the base of the fish. Add the eyeball to your fish with a little black fondant, glaze with leaf glaze if desired. That's it! You have your self a fish cupcake pick.

Happy Baking :)

*CMC powder, modelling paste, leaf glaze, cake/flower glue, lustre dust and petal dust are available from cake decorating suppliers/shops. 

or how about going a little Japanese with a chocolate goldfish covered in gold leaf

Then there is roses made from Starburst fruit chews.

An Australian Kind of Christmas Cupcake

                an Australian kind of Christmas cupcake

Without a large showing for Halloween and no Thanksgiving, Australians go into "Christmas mode" very early. Christmas work parties are on, shopping centres are crowded and puddings are being boiled. 

Blue skies promise a hot and sunny Christmas and your not Australian if you haven't sat outside perspiring on a 40 Celsius (104 F) Christmas day, swatting away flies and eating a steaming hot bowl of your Aunt's special Christmas Pudding. 

Regardless of the hot weather we hold onto our British heritage, so along with the BBQ prawns and couscous salad there will be a hot roast turkey dinner or two, puddings, shortbreads, fruit mince pies and national dishes from the many different nationalities that make up Australia. 

It can all make for a hodge podge type of meal, but I love it and it's "us"... we have hot roast turkey and duck fat roasted potatoes and all the trimmings plus we have cold seafood and salads. Chocolate peppermint ice-cream pudding for dessert, with left overs and hot puddings to be served on Boxing Day. 

Today's Koala holding onto a Christmas pudding cupcake is topped partly with fondant and part fondant/modelling chocolate. The 50/50 fondant modelling chocolate is easy to work with when making figures, I do like white fondant for the white details. Happy Baking :)

The modelling chocolate recipe I used is here

Hubby Mark is 41 and still hasn't seen snow... but he does love Frosty the snowman.

Seahorse cupcake and bubbles in silicone moulds

                                     seahorse cupcake

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Goodness, sorry I'm sooo behind in answering mail... I'm answering one today, and I can hear many saying "about time!!!". It's a question about using a gas torch to remove the bubbles created in pieces of isomalt when you are using silicone moulds. 

hi, I tried to use a butane torch like you did on the butterflies on my isomalt pieces but I couldn't get rid of the all the bubbles and created a melted mess. What am I doing wrong? 

Vicki

Hi, Vicki you didn't say what moulds you were using but I presume it's something small or with finer detail? I thought I do an example piece today to illustrate... 

An isomalt seahorse straight from the silicone mould. Tiny air bubbles cover the surface of the piece. 

To remove the air bubbles wave the flame of a chef's gas torch over the surface of the piece.

You can see in this shot I'm part way through torching, I've lost a little of the detail but not much. The fin of the seahorse is thin, I give it another quick flash of flame but I won't keep going to remove all the bubbles as I would be risking melting the piece. 

Note the photo on top of page, I photograhed in front of white card so you can see how there still is few small areas of bubbles. However to the naked eye they are difficult to see. 

Finally, my torch is very small it is possible your torch is more powerful? If that is the case, perhaps invest in a small chefs torch as they are relatively inexpensive nowadays. Hope this helps you Vicki.

Happy Baking :)

You might also be interested in Sugar Glass Butterflies 

White Chocolate Plastique (Modelling Chocolate)

chocky rocky, fondant, modelling paste and white chocolate plastique

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Well it's happened, after 18 years of marriage my husband Mark has a new and younger love; gone is his "man crush" on the looking slightly worse for wear Sylvester Stallone, replaced by the much younger action star... Jason Statham.

For his birthday this weekend Mark wants a slew of "Jason" movies ... hence a teary farewell cupcake for Rocky, Rambo and all that is Sly. Well that and I wanted to show you what a 50/50 ratio mixed together modelling paste and modelling chocolate looked like.

white chocolate plastique rose, dusted with gold lustre dust

Today I have an easy and excellent icing sugar (confectioners sugar) based white chocolate plastique for you to try. With no cooking involved you can whip this up in minutes, ready to create flowers or figures. This plastique can also be added to your precoloured fondant.

White Chocolate Plastique (Modelling Chocolate)

suitable for modelling figures and flowers, not for covering cakes. 

Ingredients

25g (0.88oz)white chocolate (I used couverture) 

100g (3.5oz) icing sugar (confectioners sugar)

75g (2.65oz) cocoa butter

100g (3.5oz) glucose syrup

Method

In the bowl of a food processor combine the first three ingredients, until well blended. Add the glucose syrup and blend. Depending how warm your kitchen is, you will now have a ball of mixture or coarse breadcrumb like mixture... either way, tip contents onto non stick mat and knead until smooth and elastic. *Your chocolate plastique is now ready to use. 

Uses

The chocolate plastique can be rolled paper thin, perfect for petals.

roll paper thin with a plastic rolling pin

Use it to create figures. Knead in food colours as desired.

Mixing half and half with pre-coloured modelling/flower paste will give you the flexibility of the plastique combined with the strength of the paste. Depth of colour is easily reached by over tinting your modelling paste before knead together with plastique. 50/50 is the ratio I usually use, however in hot weather I use 70 modelling paste/30 plastique. 

Storage

Keep leftover chocolate plastique well wrapped in plastic wrap and in an airtight container.

*Troubleshoot: if you have hot hands, your plastique might seperate a little... just leave to one side for 10 minutes & then try kneading again. A few minutes of refrigeration can also help.

Glucose syrup if you haven't used it before is extremely sticky, have a scrapper on hand if any adheres to the inside of your bowl to make sure you get it all out and incorporated into plastique. 

Happy Baking :)

You might also be interested in liquid sweeteners and syrups

Baby Blue Birds of Happiness Cupcake

                                baby blue birds of happiness cupcake

The Bluebird of Happiness; It is a widely accepted symbol of cheerfulness, happiness, prosperity, hearth and home, good health, new births, the renewal of springtime, etc. Virtually any positive sentiments may be attached to the bluebird.

blue bird of happiness wikipedia

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"Egg birds" a quick little fondant bird that you can pop in a nest. Today it's bluebirds, though I also make white versions of these birds with a closed beak and an added comb for Easter chickens. 

Start by rolling small egg shapes out of blue fondant. 

Then roll out modelling paste/flower paste in different shades of blue. With small scissors (I have two pairs of nail scissors in my cake dec kit, one pair curved and one straight) cut feather shapes for the wings. Make incisions in each feather shape to mimic a real feather. Attach three feathers to each side of your birds with water or cake/flower glue. 

Roll a small amount of white fondant into balls for the eyes and attach. Shape a small amounts of orange fondant or modelling paste into beaks and attach. Allow to dry for a few hours before drawing black dots on the eyes with a food marker. My egg birds don't have feet, but of course you could add them if desired.

For the nest, using a clay gun extrude brown/chocolate fondant or modelling paste with the finest hair disc. Shape sections into nests, keeping a few single strands to one side. Allow to dry for a few hours before attaching to the top of your cakes with cake glue. Tuck in pieces of your reserved strands to create a "twiggy" nest look.

Put a small rolled round (dampened both sides) piece of fondant inside the nest, position your birds in the nest. Allow to dry for a few hours. 

Oh, and if you would like to make marbled fondant it's very easy, just twist together your desired amount of colours. The more you twist, the more muted the colours will become. Roll out.

Happy Baking :)

You might also be interested in all the shapes a clay gun can make!!

Dippy Hippy and Clay Gun Shapes

Update on Monday, October 3, 2011 at 12:51PM by The Lone Baker

Oh, my "Baby Bluebirds of Happiness" and "Dippy Hippy" cupcakes cake/s are on the wonderful Cupcake Takes The Cake!!!