Birthday cupcakes

We went to a 1st birthday party recently  and they had the cutest little cupcakes!

 

The glitter covered raspberries are just genius - im def stealing that idea!

Caramel Cupcakes

I made these delicious salted caramel cupcakes for the folks at work and they went down a storm! I used this recipe by Created by Diane but i added dulce leche to the icing and drizzled it on top rather than caramel - nom nom nom...

Doilie cupcake wrappers

I love cupcake wrappers but i can never justify the cost of them, not when they'll only get ripped off to get at the cakey goodness underneath! So i thought i'd have a try at making my own from doilies

I just cut off the outer edge of a doilie, wrapped it around the cupcake and secured it with a bit of tape.
Its certainly not my finest work but i think its an interesting start.
The way i cut the doilie left it vulnerable to ripping, i should have left some of the solid paper attached at the bottom, this would have reduced the chance of the lacey part ripping
The doilie being curved made it difficult to wrap it around the quite straight sided cupcake. Not sure how to fix this - less straight sided cupcakes, fold or pleat the doilie to accomodate the curve, wrap multiple doilies around then they wouldnt all have to be precise as long as together they looked good....
A few more attempts required i think!

Cupcake box

I saw this free take out box pattern for by designs by mega tunridge and i knew it would make cute little cupcake boxes. I printed it onto kraft card and then stamped the work cupcake on it in gold - so cute!

Birthday cupcakes

It was my birthday last week and i made cakes for the folks at work. Chocolate marble cakes (recipe to follow) and vanilla cupcakes (receipe here). I only managed to take this picture after most of them had been snaffled! I'll take that as a compliment :)

Frosting practise

I love beautifully decorated cakes, im just not very good at it! So i thought id have a go and try and get some basics down. I used this tutorial at Glorious Treats and her American Buttercream recipe. 

So heres my attemp...

Some are better than others but i think my favourites are the rose style one (middle row, left and middle), really easy and very pretty. 

Cupcakes galore!

I went to Amsterdam last weekend for a couple of days and i stumbled across this amazing bakery/sandwich shop. They had every kind of cup cake and macaroon and i was in heaven! i stupidly didnt write down the name of the shop though - doh, but its on Westermarkt, just near Anne Frank house. I'll have to find it again next time im there...