Birthday Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes last year for my youngest nieces first birthday and thought I would share. 

Firstly I made the vanilla cupcakes

Ingredients (12 cupcakes)
175g self raising flour
125g softened butter
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbs milk

Method
-Preheat the oven to 170 °C and place cupcake cases on a baking tray.
-Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and the sugar until it is pale, light and fluffy.
- Gradually add the eggs a little at a time followed by the vanilla.
-Sift the flour into a bowl and gradually add to the mixture folding in gently with a metal spoon. Add a little of the milk after each addition of flour.
-Using a spoon or ice-cream scoop divide the mix between the 12 cupcake cases. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden on top and a skewer placed into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Let them cool completely on a wire rack or plate before decorating.

So here are the decorated cakes:

I should have made the white icing sugar mix a bit thicker as you can see the cake through the icing, but apart from that I really like how these came out. For Peppa pig and the flowers I used ready made Renshaw icings from hobby craft in pale blue, pink, red and white.

I went a bit crazy with the little flowers as I brought a new set from hobby craft called flower blossom plunger cutters to make them. Simply roll the icing out, press in the cutter to make the shape and press out the flower by pressing the plunger. You can make these flowers in advance as they are easier to handle once they dry a little and get harder. You can then add a ball of icing to the middle if you want, to make the centre of the flower.

The Peppa pigs were fairly simple to make but time consuming. I simply traced the shapes I wanted onto baking paper and then used them as templates to cut them out in the icing. I placed them on the cake using a small amount of water as "glue". Be careful not to use too much water. I used a pink decorating gel by wilton to outline Peppa and draw on her mouth, nose and cheek. I used a jet black food pen to do the eyes.

I also did some other simpler cupcakes. This was my first time swirling icing, I think I need some practise.

Thanks for reading x