Piped Shells And Pearls Cupcakes Food

PIPED SHELLS AND PEARLS CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cupcakes to make level. Add 1 drop gel-paste food coloring to 3 cups buttercream. Stir well to combine. Add more food coloring, a drop at a time, stirring constantly, until desired color is reached. Transfer remaining buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a coupler. Frost tops of cupcakes with yellow buttercream in a smooth layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes until set.
• Make the shells: Fit the pastry bag with drop-flower tip. Holding bag at a 45-degree angle, with tip about 1/4 inch from center of cupcake, squeeze out frosting, lifting tip slightly, then pulling bag toward you. Stop squeezing to end in a pointed tip, stopping short of edge. Continue piping, touching each shell slightly to the next, and rotating cupcake as each is piped.
• Make the pearls: Switch to a small plain tip, and pipe a series of pearls (or dots) in a U shape. Starting at tip of 1 shell, work out toward edge of cupcake and end at tip of next shell. Repeat until all shells are linked with pearls. Repeat with remaining cupcakes and buttercream. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

CUPCAKES WITH PIPED FLOWERS

Steps:

• To make the cupcakes:
• Preheat the oven to 350degreesF with a rack in the center of the oven. Line muffin tins with 16 "Texas" liners or 24 regular cupcake liners.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
• Combine the melted butter with the sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla, mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
• Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix to combine on low speed. Add half of the buttermilk and mix to combine. Repeat with another third of the flour and the rest of the buttermilk, ending with the last third of flour, mixing after each addition. Mix the cake batter on medium-low speed for 1 minute.
• Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, not filling more than half way. You may end up having to fill a few more cupcake liners, but don't overfill.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating.
• To make the Frosting:
• Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar until perfectly smooth. Add the cream one tablespoon at a time until it is nice and creamy, but still holds its shape. Cover tightly if you don't use it immediately or it will develop a crisp crust.
• You can use it white or tint the frosting with food coloring. I usually divide the frosting into a few bowls and color each a different color. Cover the frosting when not using.
• To decorate your cupcakes with roses:
• Using a disposable pastry bag, fitted with a large rose tip (Ateco #128) and an extra large rose nail (Ateco #914) you can create these large colorful roses.
• Start by lining up the narrow end of the rose tip with the seam of the pastry bag. Place a thin line of the food coloring along the seam of the bag, that leads to the narrow end of the tip. Fill the bag half way with the frosting.
• Once your pastry bag is set up with frosting you will create a mound of frosting on the rose nail. This will be the base of your rose. If the mound is too small your rose will tip over as you are piping it. Making it nice and broad along the bottom is key.
• Hold the bag at a 45degrees angle, wide end of the tip touching the mound you just created, near its top. The narrow end of the tube should be nearly straight up and pointing toward the center of the nail.
• Squeeze out a ribbon of frosting and turn the nail, holding it between your thumb and forefinger, counter clockwise; swing the rose tip up, around the top of the mound and back down to the starting point. This creates the rose bud.
• Now make the first row of 3 petals. Hold the tip so the wide end is touching the mound about half way up, starting right where the bud finished off. Tilt the narrow end of the tip slightly away from the center. Squeeze out the frosting, turning the nail counterclockwise and move the tip up (increase the pressure) and then down (decreasing the pressure) in an arch. Form all three petals in this way, starting each one where the last petal finished.
• Pipe a second row of 5 petals, under the row you just finished. Tilt the tip out even more with this row so the petals appear to be opening up. Overlap the petals to hide any openings between them.
• You can stop at this point or continue on with a third row of 7 petals.
• It may take you a few roses to get the hang of it, but then it will go together very fast. Once you are happy with the size and shape of your rose, take a pair of kitchen shears and cut the base of the rose off of the nail. You will want to cut only part way through, so you can lift up the rose on the blades of the shears. Then place the rose on the cooled cupcake. You can pipe leaves at the base of the rose with a leaf tip.

CATERPILLAR CUPCAKE

Steps:

• Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 28 cups of standard muffin tins and 1 cup of a jumbo muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Add brown sugar, and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in sour cream. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and mixing until just combined after each.
• Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until tops are firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
• Decorate cupcakes: Tint fondant with green gel-paste food color, and roll out to 1/8 inch thick on a work surface lightly dusted with cornstarch. Using cookie cutters, cut out one 4 1/2-inch round and twelve 3 3/4-inch rounds. Divide 2 cups buttercream into two bowls; tint half yellow and half pale blue with gel-paste food colors. Transfer to pastry bags fitted with small plain tips (No. 3). Tint 1/4 cup buttercream red; transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a fine plain tip (No. 1). Spread cupcakes with a thin layer of plain buttercream, and transfer remaining untinted buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with another small plain tip (No. 2). Place a fondant round on top of each cupcake, pressing gently to adhere, and mold to fit smoothly.
• To make the head, pipe two yellow dots for the eyes on top of jumbo cupcake, then pipe tiny white dots for pupils. Using a skewer or toothpick, poke two holes above eyes, and insert mini candy canes into holes for antennae. Use red buttercream to pipe the mouth. Pipe dots all over other half of cupcake, alternating between yellow and pale-blue buttercreams. Continue to pipe yellow and blue dots all over remaining cupcakes, then pipe tiny white dots on top of each. Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set. Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day at room temperature in airtight containers.
• Arrange 12 standard cupcakes side by side in a curving line, with the jumbo cupcake at the front. Serve remaining cupcakes as desired.