Fruit Chews part two

Twice the size of the actual cupcake, a close up view of a Starburst fruit chew rose on "Spring burst cupcake"

Two months ago I posted a blog entry on how to  colour and shape Starburst Fruit Chews, today is in answer to queries about what else can you make with the softened fruit chews;

           Starburst fruit chews

Roses

You don't need any special cutters or ingredients, just fruit chews & a microwave oven. Great for beginners to try their hand at flower making and for the more experienced a pack of fruit chews in the pantry will serve you well in the emergency "I've run out of modelling paste" moment, also great for when you need a particular flavour for your flowers.

Take your softened fruit chew & roll a small piece to form the centre of your rose.

                        

Roll other small pieces and wrap around your centre piece one at a time, pinching the bottom of the rose to join as you are forming until you have a fully formed flower. Trim any excess fruit chew from the bottom of the rose with scissors. I used a centre & four petals to make the pink rose (uncoloured strawberry Starburst) on top of today's cake. 

Ejector cutter blossoms                                             

All your ejector cutters will work with the softened fruit chews; here I used a tiny blossom ejector cutter to cut blossoms from rolled out fruit chews & then ejected them into foam to produce a shaped flower. 

Cherry Starburst rose and coloured strawberry Starburst blossoms

Each Starburst fruit chew produces one rose plus 24 blossoms. Do keep in mind the flavour of your cupcakes, cherry Starbursts are great with Chocolate cake... not as great with peppermint cake!

Have Fun!!

You might also be interested in;

 Fruit Chews part one

Pavlova Cupcakes

lychee, raspberry & rose syrup pavlova cupcake

Not much in the way of dessert making on MasterChef as yet, but there was a pavlova courtesy of guest judge Donna Hay. Sooo, to mark the return of MasterChef I thought I'd make mini pavlova's for cupcake toppers.

Ingredients

12 baked cupcakes in flavour of choice (I used vanilla buttermilk cupcakes)

3 egg whites (room temperature)

165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar (superfine)

2 tsps cornflour (cornstarch)

1/2 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp pure vanilla essence/extract

Decoration Ingredients

300ml (0.63 pint) of cream, whipped. Flavour the cream with liqueur if desired

Topping can be anything you like, I used lychees, raspberries & a drizzle of rose syrup.

Other topping suggestions are; passionfruit & flaked white chocolate, strawberries & kiwi fruit, dark chocolate curls and hazelnuts, crushed peppermint candy, milk chocolate & peppermint liqueur cream, mango/paw paw/banana and coconut, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries & red currants, peaches with raspberry puree drizzle, chocolate dipped strawberries, orange and chocolate, fresh or preserved stone fruits.

Method

Preheat oven to 120c/250F (100c/210 fan forced)

Line a cookie sheet with baking paper, trace 12 6.5cm (2.5in) circles onto the paper & reverse the paper on the tray so the ink won't touch the food.

In an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar is fully dissolved between additions... this will take a few minutes.

It should be looking like this now...glossy and shiny meringue

Fold in the cornflour, vinegar & vanilla.

Divide the meringue between the circles drawn on your baking paper.

Bake for 45 minutes or until cases are firm.

Cool totally in oven with the door slightly ajar; use the handle of wooden spoon to keep the door ajar.

Pavlova's will have a white thin crispy shell and soft marshmallow interior

Just before serving spread a little cream or frosting on the centre of the cupcakes to attach the pavlova. Place pavlovas on the cakes and topping with cream and desired topping.

You might also be interested in;

                            Violets are blue pavlova  

Cupcake Cases, Liners, Papers & Wrappers

Cupcake liners can match your theme, just be pretty or act as an inspiration like these pretty ruffled cupcake cases from Wilton.

I received a couple of requests last evening about the cupcake cups I used in the 'I'm not in Paris Wombat Cupcake'. The cases are from Wilton and are available in three colours; teal, white and rose (which is red).

My husband immediately thought of "Christmas" when he saw them, I thought of Paris! They would be gorgeous for baby showers and weddings too.

They are lovely baking cups, bake beautifully & are best used with light coloured cake batter.

close up of ruffling

I got mine from Fancy Flours (US), elsewhere request them from your local cake decorating store, Wilton stockist or check Ebay.