Tuesday 22 June 2010

Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes


Last week I was honoured with the task of making 21st birthday cupcakes for a colleague's daughter, Alice. Alice (a befitting name!) is a big Alice in Wonderland fan, and she celebrated her milestone birthday with an Alice on Wonderland themed party.

The cupcakes were a big hit and, most importantly, they brought a big smile to the birthday girl's face :)


In designing the set, I did some research about the story as it was so long since I had read it. I also remembered a recent NQN post.

Clocks, teacups, toadstools, hearts, rabbits - just some of the iconic imagery from Alice in Wonderland.

Toadstool

Wonky Clock

Queen of Hearts

The cupcakes were a mixture of chocolate and vanilla and to ensure the cupcakes stayed moist for the party, I topped them with ganache and allowed them to set for several hours before decorating with fondant.

Ganache is so wonderful on cupcakes and it is very easy to make. You just need to give yourself some time for it . Here are my own ganache recipes for you to try. The sweetness of the white chocolate ganache is balanced out with the vanilla bean, and the chocolate ganache is lovely and rich without being bitter.

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.

Rich chocolate ganache
1/2 c pure cream
110g dark chocolate (I use 70% cocoa)
90g milk chocolate

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.
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.


Happy baking, everyone :)

Happy birthday once again, Alice - I'm glad you enjoyed the cupcakes!


Ladybird x

31 comments:

  1. Having seen them in real life... these were amaaazing! It is no surprise that the birthday girl loved them - how could she not?!!!

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  2. these look absolutely cute! They are SO good. I'm jealous of your cup caking skills.

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  3. These cupcakes are gorgeous Anna!
    I loveeee Alice in Wonderland

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  4. You did a perfect job! Im not suprised that they were a huge hit.

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  5. Gorgeous - I love Alice in Wonderland themed things!

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  6. well done!!! They look perfect! I can totally understand why the birthday girl was happy :-)

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  7. Thanks, everyone! They were such a lot of fun to make.. I can't wait to do it all over again for someone else :)

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  8. Love the photo with all the cupcakes together. Great work with design and colour. Fantastic - I bet Alice was thrilled to bits.

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  9. These are so lovely, you can tell you put some effort in planning the overall effect and theme. I do adore anything Alice in Wonderland themed.

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  10. Abolutely gorgeous! And you did a brilliant job -you don't need any cake decorating class to do those! :D

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  11. I have a question about the ganache. I would like to try and make those coffee cup cakes you did, and will need to make white chocolate ganache. You mention letting it rest overnight. Doesn't it get too hard then? And, do you then just flatten it with a rolling pin?

    I hope to have cupcakes made this saturday so any answer is welcome! :D
    Thanks alot!

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  12. Hi Sophie, When the ganache 'sets' overnight, it should become spreadable in consistency. If it is a little hard (depends on how cold your kitchen is I suppose), then you can slightly soften it in short bursts in the microwave. However, take care as it should not be runny. You spread this on top of the cupcake and then the rolled fondant goes on top of that.

    Good luck! x

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  13. Hello!
    I'm also trying to make the hot cocoa cupcakes and was wondering if the vanilla bean paste is necessary for the ganache?

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  14. Hello! It's not entirely necessary, but it gives a nice flavour :) Good luck!

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  15. hi!
    Thanks for the recipe. My mom will try it, for that I had to translate it to Hungarian, since she doesn't speak English. Will tell you, how it went.
    We are planning to make them for the 50th annviersary of my grandparents :)

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  17. Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. A fantastic read. I'll certainly be back.

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  18. I just happen to google " Alice in Wonderland" cupcakes and your popped up! They're beautiful , hopefully mine will be too. Thanks for posting them!!!!!!

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