Cupcake Decorating

The theme for meeting number two was Cupcake Decorating and we all dragged some extra bodies along to join us to grow the club to a comfy number.  Everyone had to bring a dozen un-iced cupcakes and a little something else that contributed to the effort on the evening.  We had some photographical inspiration to help us try some different techniques and ideas (thank you google images!), we whipped up a couple of large batches of buttercream and set to.

Here is a sample of some of the photo's from the evening of the lovely cupcakes we produced

We had a huge amount of fun, learnt a few tips along the way and, as a bonus, had very happy children the next day as they got to take the coolest cupcakes for their school lunches.

August meeting: decorating biscuit shapes with royal icing.

Photo's and info from the inaugral meeting

Better late than never!  Though I had better post these before I post them from the second meeting.

First - the recipe of the very yummy chocolate orange petit fours.  A very true orange flavour coming through on them which we all loved.  We are assured that it is easy to make...

Chocolate Orange Petits Fours

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
2 tbsps cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/2 tsp salt
7 ozs bittersweet chocolate (unsweetened finely chopped)
1/4 cup unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
2 eggs
2 tsps orange zest (finely grated fresh)
1/2 cup heavy cream (chilled)
1 tsp sugar
4 orange segments (navel, membranes discarded from each and fruit cut into 1/4 inch pieces)
2 round (special equipment: 2 12 inch long sheets of parchment paper; a 1 1/2 inch, fluted cookie cutter)

Method
Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl.
Melt chocolate and butter in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and stir in eggs, zest, and flour mixture until just combined. (Dough will be soft.)
[At this point I added probably about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of flour as the dough was waaay too soft and would have gone everywhere!]
Roll out dough between parchment sheets into an 8-inch round (1/2 inch thick). Transfer round (still in parchment) to a large baking sheet and chill until firm, at least 1 hour, or freeze at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Remove top sheet of parchment paper and replace it loosely. Flip over paper-enclosed round and discard paper now on top. Cut out about 20 cookies with cookie cutter and arrange about 1 inch apart on a buttered large baking sheet. Reroll scraps between parchment sheets and cut out 12 more cookies (chill or freeze dough as needed if it becomes too soft to handle).
Bake cookies in middle of oven until matte (dough will start out shiny and turn dull), about 10 minutes, then transfer with a spatula to a rack to cool completely. (Cookies will have a fudgy consistency.)
Beat cream and sugar with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Top each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon cream and a piece of orange.

Other photo's from the evening:

Madeleines

Madeleines, I have discovered are a bit trickier than they look.  My thoughts of 'why do you need a madeleine pan, surely a muffin tin will be fine' proved to be wrong and I have discovered exactly why a specialised tin is recommended and how important the buttering and flouring of said tin are.  However, even though my first attempt did not produce a perfectly presented product, they still tasted damn fine!   So therefore, I present to you.....

Madeleines

100g unsalted butter (or regular butter)
1 T golden syrup
2 eggs
1/4 C caster sugar (vanilla sugar good if you have it)
pinch salt
1/3 cup flour
1 t baking paper

Preheat oven to 170 C. 
Melt the butter and use a little to brush the madeleine tray and dust with flour
Add golden syrup to melted butter, heat until able to be well mixed, then let cool
Combine eggs, sugar and salt in cake mixer and beat until very pale
Sift in flour, BP and salt and mix until combined
Drizzle in the butter/golden syrup and mix until well combined
Refrigerate mix for at least 1 hour
Spoon the mix into each mould, almost filling to the top
Bake 10 mins until golden brown and springy to touch
Turn out onto a wire rack and cool for 10 mins then toss in caster sugar
Best eaten fresh.

So why the Madeleine pan - these little cakes are very fragile and stick quite easily to the pan.  The idea of the madeleine pan is that they are much easier to slip out rather than trying to dig out of a muffin tin.

Creations in Blue

Here are a few of my 'creations in blue' in buttercream and blue jelly.  I'll try and recreate on a smaller scale on a cupcake in July.

-Michelle

Welcome to the Narbada Bake Club

Welcome to the Narbada Bake Club

The inaugral meeting was held last night with the theme of "Petit Fours".

Here is a record of our successes (and failures) and any requested yummy recipes.