"Hot Chocolate" Cupcakes for Baby Shower Party

by Diary of a Ladybird

Recipes & How-To - Now that's a cupcake. Thrill your guests. Perfect for your Baby Shower.

To give you an idea of the actual size, here is the cupcake pictured next to a regular size teacup.

 

1. To make these cupcakes I first made a batch of vanilla cupcakes. Then, once cooled, peel off the cupcake papers.

Cupcake Recipe - a Planet Cake recipe, makes 12
175g unsalted butter, softened
160g caster sugar
1 tsp natural vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp Madeira (optional)
2 eggs
160g SR flour
100g plain flour
200ml milk
 
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with paper cases.
2. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and a pinch of salt until light and creamy.
3. If adding madira, add now until well combined.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Sift the flours together. Fold in the flour and milk alternately into the creamed mixture.
6. Spoon into paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cupcake.

7. Leave to cool in tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

 

2. Smooth white chocolate Ganache over the sides, leaving the base and top uncovered.

White chocolate and vanilla bean Ganache
1/2 c pure cream
300g white chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
2. Heat the cream to boiling point then remove from heat.
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until combined, then add the vanilla bean paste.
4. Allow to cool and set (ideally) overnight.
 
A few tips

• You can store extra ganache in the fridge for up to a week, but ensure your cream has at least a week's shelf life from the date you use it. Then when you need to use it, remove it from the fridge and soften it by warming it up in short bursts (10 - 15 seconds) in the microwave.
• If you are make a larger amount of ganache, you can store it in the freezer in smaller containers. Then just take it out and let it come up to room temperature before you need to use it. You can then soften it in the same way you would if it were straight out of the fridge.
• If you want to pipe ganache over cupcakes, it can be whipped. Just be careful not to take it too far.. Stop as soon as it reaches the desired consistency and before it starts losing its gloss.
• The sweetness of the white chocolate Ganache is balanced out with the vanilla bean.

3. Once the ganache had set (about 30 minutes), I attached a measured strip of white RTR fondant. The strip was wide enough to match the height of the cupcake and to give room to hold the cupcake icing to follow.

4. To attach the cup handle I lay the cupcake on their sides and attached a small strip of fondant with a little water.

5. Next I made the italian meringue icing (see below), which I coloured brown with brown food colouring.

6. I then carefully spooned the icing into the 'cups' and smoothed gently then topped with miniature marshmallows.

 

Italian Meringue Icing (AWW recipe)

A beautiful and versatile icing, Italian meringue is creamy, soft and voluminous.

1 c (200g) caster sugar

1/3 c water (80 ml) water

2 egg whites

 

1. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan, and stir over heat without boiling until the sugar is dissolved.

2. Boil uncovered without stirring until the syrup reaches 116 degrees on a candy thermometer. The syrup should be thick but not coloured. Remove from heat and allow the bubbles to subside.

3. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer to soft peaks. With the motor running, add the hot syrup in a thin, stead stream.

4. Beat on high speed for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and glossy.

In this picture, you can see how lovely and shiny this icing is...

Note from the Recipe Creator - So there you have it, a little bit of fondant fun. I don't think I'll ever get bored of playing with ready to roll fondant - it makes me feel like a kid again!

Happy baking, dear readers :)

Ladybird x