Sunday, September 16, 2012

Birthday Cupcakes


This week, it's my turn to to tick over another year, and to celebrate, I had a party (because it was a more momentous birthday than usual).

Ever over-ambitious, I decided to make my own cupcakes, and of course, I wanted fancy-ish.  Accordingly, I went on a mission to reproduce the Whimsical Cakehouse bow cupcakes by myself.  I used pre-prepared chocolate fondant for the bows - and by the end of it, I was pretty sick of making them, because they are quite fiddly.  The chocolate fondant was significantly stiffer than the white fondant, making it a bit of a pain to work with. 

The end result of my labours was an awful lot of these: 

 
Oh, and  I made a gluten free, dairy free version of the cakes using this recipe and plain white chocolate in place of ganache for Craig.  That version was a little scary as the cake was crumblier  and generally more fragile, and the white chocolate doesn't take to hot-knifing at all.  In the end, I got something that looked like the other cakes and decided to leave it at that. 

For my party, I went all crafty and covered a cardboard cupcake stand in keeping with the brown colour scheme of my invitations, and made some ball on stick decorations from fondant and gold lustre dust: 



It was a fun night, and the only reviews I have received of the cakes have been good - so I will believe them, despite the cakes being far from perfect.  

Hope you have been having a relaxing weekend.

16 comments:

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

I love the look. Gluten-free is a bit more crumbly but it still amazes me that the baked stuff is so good.

Cindy said...

Happy birthday! Your cupcakes look so elegant.

CurlyPops said...

Happy 40th Birthday. Hope you had an amazing celebration!

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Cindy and CurlyPops - appreciate your well wishes.

Jill said...

Happy birthday! The cupcakes look really elegant, and I love the cake stand and colors for your decor. I hope you enjoyed your party!

Johanna GGG said...

happy birthday - your cupcakes look perfect for a sophisticated celebration - I love your style with presenting them with the decorations

Anonymous said...

I think they look fantastic!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Happy, happy birthday!!! Wow, your cupcakes look perfect! But I know I'd be cursing up a storm if I was the one making them :) Beautifully done~

Blond Duck said...

So cute!

Jennifer said...

The happiest of birthdays to you! Your cupcakes look fabulous!!!!!

Cakelaw said...

Thank you all for your birthday wishes! They are much appreciated.

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Lorraine and Finla for your well wishes. Don't know what happened, but your comments have disappeared.

Paula @ Vintage Kitchen said...

Happy very-belated birthday! Those little bows are impeccable, beautiful cupcakes!

Alison Cook said...

Hey - happy birthday! the cup cakes look great.

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Alison!

Kayte said...

Oh, Gaye, it all turned out so beautifully...the cupcakes are so elegant and just perfect. I love your display board...very very nice. Happy 40th! Celebrating in style was just the thing! xo