Easter Flower Cupcake Food

EASTER FLOWER CUPCAKE

Steps:

• Frost the cupcake. Top with pink sanding sugar. Place Jordan almonds on top in a flower petal pattern. Press a jujube candy in the center of the flower. Cut the fruit-by-the- foot to make the flower stem, press onto the cake.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners. (To avoid cupcakes sticking if they overflow slightly, lightly spray the tops of the pans.) Put tins on a baking sheet. Set aside.
• Process sugar and butter in a food processor until very creamy, scraping sides as needed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs and yolks, one at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add the milk, water, and vanilla and process to blend.
• Whisk both flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients, in 3 batches to the wet, pulsing, and then scraping batter off the sides of the processor as needed after each addition. Process until the batter is very smooth and pourable like pancake batter, about 2 minutes.
• Evenly pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling them 3/4 of the way full. Bake until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and the tops are golden, 18 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly in tin, and turn out of tin when cool enough to handle. Cool cupcakes completely on a rack before frosting.
• Whisk the milk and vanilla extract together in a small bowl.
• Slowly beat the butter and sugar, in another medium bowl, with an electric mixer until incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.) Add the fluff and salt and reduce the speed to low. Add the milk and vanilla mixture, scrape the bowl down, and mix until fully incorporated. Raise the mixer to high and beat briefly until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Frost cupcake immediately.

FLOWER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
• Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
• Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Fill the cupcake liners to the top with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
• For the icing, mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, mixing just until smooth. Spread the frosting generously on top of each cupcake.

CHOCOLATE EASTER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the brown sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Whisk the eggs, oil and milk in a jug. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, whisking until smooth. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases. Divide the mixture between them, then bake for 20 mins until risen. Leave to cool in the tin.
• Meanwhile, make the icing. Beat the icing sugar and butter with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Whisk in some of the milk to loosen to a pipeable consistency, if needed.
• For the chick decoration, colour a small piece of fondant orange using a drop of food colouring gel and another small piece black. Colour a few tablespoons of the icing yellow and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. Pipe a yellow blob in the centre of the cupcake and a smaller one on top. Roll the black fondant into two small balls and place them as eyes. Roll a little cone of orange fondant for the beak. For each foot, roll three small, longer pieces and pinch them together at one end. Push the feet in beneath the body, hiding the pinch.
• For the bunny, beat the cocoa and 1 tbsp milk into a few tablespoons of the icing. Spread over the cupcake. Spoon a few tablespoons of the plain icing into a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle and pipe a small blob on top. Stick a mini marshmallow on top of that for a tail. For the feet, shape two small pieces of white fondant into ovals and press down to flatten. Colour a small piece of fondant pink and form two balls and six smaller ones. Press the balls into the flattened ovals in a paw pattern. Place the feet on either side of the rabbit's bottom.
• To make the sheep, colour a piece of fondant black and shape a small piece into an oval. Use a skewer to press nostrils into the bottom end. Pinch two smaller pieces into ears and stick these on using a little water. Roll two small balls of white fondant and two smaller black balls to make eyes. Cover the cake with a layer of plain icing and fix the face in the middle. Surround with mini marshmallows for the woolly coat.