Show me a person who doesn’t like cupcakes and I’ll show you a mystery of the universe. Cupcakes are delicious! They’re delicate, small and tasty. Plus, since you can decorate them any way you like, they make a starling addition to any occasion — like, for example, a bridal shower.
And you don’t have to be a baking queen to make them look good. All you need is a few basic ingredients, an hour or so, and a zip-lock bag. Bada bing, bada boom – cute bridal shower cupcakes.
The batter
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 8oz unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat oven
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2: Mix butter and sugar
Place the softened butter and sugar into a big bowl and beat them until they get fluffy.
Step 3: Add eggs
One by one add and mix the eggs into the mixture. Make sure to beat well between each addition so that the mixture is light.
Step 4: Add flour and milk
Add the baking powder and a third of the flour and mix lightly, then add the vanilla essence and a third of the milk and mix again. Alternate between the flour and milk, each time mixing lightly until everything is blended. Be careful not to over-mix.
Step 5: Spoon into forms
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake forms.
Step 6: Bake
Bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes. You can test if they’re ready by sliding a wooden stick into the center – if it comes out clean, they’re done.
Step 7: Cool cupcakes
Allow the cupcakes to cool and prepare the icing!
Icing
Ingredients:
- 4oz butter
- 2 ½ cups icing sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- 3 teaspoons rose syrup
- Food colouring
- Zip-lock bag
Step 1: Mix butter and icing sugar
Mix the butter and icing sugar until they form a smooth paste. If you’re worried about your mixer spraying the icing sugar all over the kitchen, and don’t have a guard, you can knead the butter and sugar together with your hands until they’re somewhat blended, then mix.
Step 2: Add milk
Add a tablespoon of milk and mix. If the mixture is still too stiff, add another spoonful.
Step 3: Add food coloring
Separate the icing into bowls and add the desired food coloring until you achieve the colors you like – you’ll need one color for the base, one for the leaves and at least one for the flower petals. I went with white, green and pink.
Step 4: Add rose syrup
Add a teaspoon of rose syrup to each of the colors of icing and stir it through lightly.
Step 5: Make base
Spread the base color of your icing mixture over the cupcakes.
Step 6: Make piping bag
Cut a triangle out of the corner of a zip-lock bag and fill it with the green icing.
Step 7: Make leaf
With the fold of the zip-lock bag facing up, squeeze out the icing. As you do so, move the bag slightly forwards and backwards to form the veins on the leaf. Here’s a brilliant YouTube tutorial by howtocookthat.net that’ll show you exactly what to do.
Step 8: Repeat
Repeat the process until you have two leaves on each of your cupcakes (except if you’re making mini ones, in which case one should be enough).
Step 9: Make petals
Wash out your piping bag or make a new one, and fill it with your flower icing (in my case, pink). Begin the same way as with the leaves, by squeezing out the icing, but rather than zigzag-ing in and out, squeeze lightly and pull the bag away and up, to form the petals.
Step 10: Make flower
Using the technique in step 9, work your way around the cupcake until you’ve completed a circle. Then make a smaller circle on the inside, and another one, until you reach the very center.
Step 11: Repeat
Repeat the steps until you’ve completed your cupcakes. For a bit of variety you could make other frosting colors, or vary the size of the flowers you make. Have fun with it!
