Celebrating Diary of a Ladybird's 1st birthday & the 100th post!

It's giveaway time!

Very quietly and discretely, on August 8th, this little blog of mine turned one. Awww... To top it off, this just happens to be my 100th post!

On such an occasion, it is only appropriate that I say thank you to all of you, my wonderful readers. When I first started this little blog I thought, Who's going to read it? Is anyone interested in what I'm blogging about? Then slowly but surely, my readership grew and I started receiving more and more hits and comments. And not visits and comments from friends and family who pity me, but people whom I've never met in my life! So thank you for interest in Diary of a Ladybird; for your encouraging words; for your own blogs that bring a smile to my face; and, for the sense of community that I have found in the blogging network. You are all amazing!

To celebrate Diary of a Ladybird's first birthday and the milestone of my 100th post, I am giving away a copy of 200 Cupcakes by Joanna Farrow.

This is a great little book with loads of beautiful and inspiring cupcake recipes. This book laughs boldly in the face of anyone who dares call cupcakes boring! There are great everyday cupcake recipes, as well as cupcakes for children, adults, special occasions and savoury cupcakes too. I have been using this book a lot recently, including my recent Red Velvet Cupcakes post.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is become a follower of my blog.
If you're unsure how to do this, click here.

It doesn't matter whether you're based in Australia, the US, Malaysia or... anywhere! You could win :) If you are already a follower, you will automatically be entered into the draw to win.

The winner will be randomly selected on Sunday, September 19 at 10pm AEST.

*** This giveaway has been drawn. Congratulations to Jen of Truffled Pink! ***

Thank you for reading my 100th post. I look forward to bringing you hundreds more to delight your senses :)

Good luck!


Ladybird x

Red Velvet Cupcakes

The red velvet cake was said to be a signature dish at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York during the 1920s. According to urban legend, a woman once visitng the hotel asked for the recipe in the 1960s and upon request for bill realised she had been charged a hefty fee for the recipe! Her revenge? Spreading the recipe across the country in a chain letter. Nice.

Who knows whether or not the story is true, but it remains clear that it is a very popular cake flavour in the US. It is characterised by its red-brown colour. Where does the colour come from? Well, the key ingredients in a red velvet cake are: buttermilk, cocoa and (some say) traditionally, beetroot. Nowadays, however, red food colouring is usually used to enhance the colour.
 
Red velvet cake is not a common flavour in Australia, and so I wanted to try its *supposed* original form with the beetroot. The result was a light and moist cake, much like carrot cake but the beetroot was hardly distinguishable. If you wanted to intensify the red colour you could add a couple of drops of red food colouring to the batter.
 

 
Red Velvet Cupcakes (from '200 Cupcakes' by Hamlyn)
Makes 12 small cupcakes
 
150g self raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100ml buttermilk
1 tsp vingear
50g lightly salted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
1 egg
50g raw betroot, peeled and finely grated
 
Icing
200g cream cheese (Philadelphia)
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g icing sugar
12 fresh cherries (to decorate)
 
1. Prehet the oven to 180 degrees celsuis. Line a muffin tray with paper cases. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate soda in a bowl and set aside. Mix together the buttermilk and vinegar in a jug.
2. Beat together the butter and caster sugar in a separate bowl until pale and creamy, then beat in the egg and the beetroot.
 

3. Add half the flour mixture and mix gently with a large metal spoon. Stir in half the buttermilk mixture. Combine the remaining flour mixture, then the remaining liquid.

4. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and bake for around 20 minutes or until risen and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
5. To make the icing, beat the cream cheese, vanilla extract and sifted icing sugar until smooth and creamy.
6. Swirl the icing over the cooled cupcakes and top with a cherry on each.
 

Ladybird x

Fondant fun: Hot chocolate cupcakes

Now that's a cupcake.. get it? get it?! Cup!Cake! Bahahaha... Ok, ok, I'm sorry.. that was lame :P

Recently I entered a made these little hot chocolate look-a-like cupcakes.. it was one of those Sunday afternoons when I got the creative itch, but it had to be something different. I really enjoyed making my Little Macs (Cheeseburger Macarons) last month, and I thought another look-a-like baking activity would be fun.

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

Unfortunately I don't have step-by-step photos for these.. Sticky hands, much valued camera.. you get the picture. So hopefully these instruction will give you an idea of how I created these cupakes.

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

2. I then smoothed white chocolate ganache over the sides, leaving the base and top uncovered.

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 volumous.

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...

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 (RTR) fondant - it makes me feel like a kid again!

Happy baking, dear readers :)

Ladybird x

Independence Day Cupcakes

To everyone in the US, and to Americans abroad - Happy Independence Day!

Today I set out to have some fun with cupcakes and fondant, and seeing as it's the fourth of July, I though nothing else would do - it had to be stars and stripes...

For a good basic cupcake recipe, click here.

The stars

There weren't quite 50, but certainly a lot for a batch of cupcakes! The blue was tricky to achieve.. I found a tiny touch of black food dye helped a lot - it took the colour from 'mediterranean holiday' to 'star spangled banner' in less than a drop.

The stripes

The stripes cupcakes were a lot less fiddly to make. I used a simple white background with three strips of red fondant laid across. To achieve fondant to fondant all you need to do is dap a little water on one and attach it to the other piece. In this case a brushed a tiny amount of water on the back of the red strips before laying them across the white background.

Put together - an edible tribute to the American flag...

So dear readers, did you make anything special today to mark Independence Day?

Ladybird x

Cardamom and Rosewater Scented Cupcakes

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice, and all things nice 
(including rosewater)

Just like these cupcakes...

It's been a little while since the first instalment of Cupcakes for Charity, and it was that time again in my office today. For today's sale I made Cardamom and Rosewater scented cupcakes. The proceeds of today's sale went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Australia (MS Australia). MS is a debilitating disease that affects the central nervous system. It affects thousands of Australians, yet its cure remains elusive. In short - a worthy cause.

These delicate cupcakes were scented with two of my favourite flavourings - cardamom and rosewater. For me, the heavenly scents of these ingredients are luxurious, and reminiscent of beautiful sweets from South Asian and the Middle East. These ingredients have been used for centuries, and not just in cooking. During the days of the Mughal empire, palaces were filled with such aromas. Rosewater flowed in fountains and was used to cool sleeping chambers - now that's decadence!

These cupcakes were made using a classic vanilla cupcake recipe with a quarter teaspoon of freshly ground cardamom added along with the vanilla extract. If you're trying this recipe, don't be tempted to buy ground cardamom - it is a waste of money. Buy green cardamom pods, pop them open and grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle just before you start baking. The result is well and truly worth the little extra effort :)

To top the cupcakes I made a Rosewater Glacé Icing and topped them with little rosebuds and silver cachous. You can get dried rosebuds safe for cooking purposes at tea stores like T2.


Ingredients
320g icing sugar
1 tsp butter (or vegetable oil)
approx 2 tbsp boiling water
2 to 3 tsp rosewater
red food colouring
Plus - silver cachous and 12 dried rosebud

Method
1. Sift icing sugar into a heatproof bowl; stir in butter (or oil) and enough hot water to form a thick paste.
2. Place bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until spreadable.
3. Add the food colouring a drop at a time, as well as 2 teaspoons of the rosewater. Add a further teaspoon if you want a stronger flavour, but bear in mind it should be delicate (we're not making potpourri here).
4. Spoon carefully over cooled cupcakes, then top with rosebuds and cachous. The icing will set firm to touch.


Happy baking, readers! Till next time...

Ladybird x

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

Cupcakes for Charity - The Heart Foundation

As a regular baker, I often think about how I could use my skills for the benefit of those in need. With cupcakes being so popular in my office, I thought.."Why not sell them and put the money towards a good cause..." So with that, I have come up with the concept of Cupcakes for Charity.

My aim is to do a Cupcakes for Charity sale at least twice a month, and each time I will choose a different charity. For the first instalment of Cupcakes for Charity I chose the Heart Foundation. Cardiovascular disease remains one of Australia's biggest health problems... The Heart Foundation relies on gifts and donations to continue its lifesaving research, education and health promotion work, so it is a very good cause.

It seemed only right that the cupcakes be decorated with love hearts. Cupcakes with heart.. awww! ;)

Ladybird x

http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/

Classic Vanilla Cupcakes

When a birthday rolls around in our office it means a cake or cupcakes are just around the corner. I made these on Wednesday night to celebrate a team mate's birthday...

I went the extra mile and topped mine with buttercream and ready to roll (RTR) fondant, but they would taste and look just as good topped with piped buttercream.

Some food snobs think cupcakes are plain boring, but for me you can't beat a classic vanilla cupcake. It's an item every baker has to have in their repertoire, right?!

Cupcakes - 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.

Buttercream
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1.5c icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
dash of milk

Method
1. Beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla until fluffy.
2. Add a dash of milk to thin out the icing if desired.

Love,

Ladybird x

Australia Day Cupcakes

There is no doubt that the lamington is an Australian icon. Among other things, the beloved 'lamo' is an favourite food item on Australia Day. So how can a classic be improved upon?.. Turn it into a cupcake of course!

Here is my original Australia Day Cupcake recipe...

Cupcakes (makes 8)
125g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g self raising flour
1 tbsp hot water
 
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius and put 8 liners in a muffin/cupcake tray.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour with the second egg.
3. Mix in flour and water until just combined - don't overmix.
4. Divide the mixture among the 8 cupcake liners and cook for around 12-15 minutes, but keep an eye on them. Cupcakes should be golden and springy, do a skewer test to check they are cooked.
5. Remove from oven and allow to sit 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

In the meantime, start preparing the Chocolate Dipping Sauce to coat the cupcakes. Here is what you'll need:
150g icing sugar
20g cocoa powder
2 tbsp hot water
2 tbsp milk
dessicated coconut

1. Combine icing sugar and cocoa powder (no need to sift).
2. With a fork, gradually mix in water and milk until the sauce reaches a smooth consistency.
3. Pour a generous amount of coconut onto a large plate ready for coating the cupcakes.

Now for the fun part - Coating and decorating!
1. Peel the paper liners away from the cupcakes and set the cupcakes aside for dipping and coating.
2. Coat the cupcakes in the chocolate sauce using forks to help you turn them. Allow excess sauce to run off.

3. Transfer cupcake to plate of coconut and turn to coat using clean forks. Carefully set aside.
4. Repeat process for remaining cupcakes, then top with whipped cream and glace cherries.

The spongy cake soaked up the chocolate sauce beautifully, keeping the cupcakes delectably moist. I was delighted with how these turned out, and Mr Ladybird enjoyed them too, proudly declaring that henceforth I should make these cupcakes every Australia Day!

 So tell me readers, do you have any special Australia Day recipes? I'd love to hear about them :)


Happy Australia Day!

Ladybird x

Quick Mud Chocolate Cupcakes

I flew out  to Brisbane after work yesterday to see my family over the weekend, so on Thursday night I decided to whip up a few cupcakes to bring with me. They were also the perfect opportunity to use my ladybird toppers that I had been saving for a special occasion. My dad is known to love a good cupcake with his morning tea, so I was hoping he'd like these...

When I first read this recipe from Women's Weekly  I thought it was very strange that the chocolate was melted with water. Surely that should be a cardinal sin of baking?! But it worked, and it was a very quick and easy recipe. The below recipe makes 12 cupcakes which you can top with your favourite chocolate icing.

Cupcakes
Ingredients
60g dark cooking chocolate
2/3 c. water
90g softened unsalted butter
1 c. firmly packed soft brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 c. self raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 c. almond meal

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius.
2. Put water and broken up chocolate and microwave on low heat in a medium bowl, stirring intermittently until melted and as smooth as you can. It will not combine perfectly - but don't worry.
2. Cream butter and sugar, then mix in eggs.
3. Stir in sifted flour, cocoa powder, almond meal and warm chocolate mixture.
4. Divide mixture between 12 cupcake liners and bake for 25 mins.
5. Stand cakes for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.

Here an adapted recipe for the ganache I used. I like a semi-sweet ganache, so I mixed dark and milk chocolate.

Chocolate Ganache Icing
Ingredients
1/2 c. cream
90g milk chocolate
110g dark chocolate

Method
1. In a small saucepan, bring cream to boil then remove from heat.
2. Add broken up chocolate and stir until smooth.
3. Allow mixture to cool (refrigerate for 30 mins if necessary), then whisk until a good texture for icing your cake/cupcakes.

The cupcakes went down a treat :) The cake itself was rich and moist, and quite light. Combined with the ganache, the flavour reminded me a lot of the Sara Lee chocolate cake! Mum used to buy the Sara Lee cake sometimes when we were young, and in those days the cake was a bit smaller and she would divide it with precision among the 8 of us to avoid family arguments over dessert.. The slices were about a quarter the size of a cupcake and we would savour every delicious last crumb! :)

Love,
Ladybird x

Cupcake Decorating Class

A couple of months ago I started looking for somewhere to learn more about cupcake decorating, and with that I set about my cyberspace hunt for cupake decorating classes in Sydney.... and then I came across a blog called Wee Love Baking. I was immediately impressed by Sharon's talent and skill in cake decoarting, especially with cupcakes. Then I started reading some of her earlier posts and saw that she held private cupcake decorating classes!

The search was over, and so I contacted Sharon to ask her about my friend and I doing a class with her. She said yes, and Jacqui and I arranged to have a private class with her. We were delighted, and started counting down the days till our class :)

So yesterday that day finally arrived, and Jacqui and I headed for Sharon's place in the city, ready to start the class at 11am. We started by talking about the theme for our cupcakes, and we thought that a Spring theme would be nice. Little animals, pastel colours, flowers, etc.

Of course, one of my favourite parts of the class was learning how to make ladybirds... All the materials (incl. actual cupcakes) were provided as part of the course fee. We decorated a set of 12 cupcakes each, and we were so happy with how they turned out!

I learnt so much about working with fondant - it is not as difficult as I imagined it might be, and it was really fun! On top of being just lovely, Sharon is a great teacher with lots of useful tips, and seeing some of her work was truly inspiring. I can't wait to go and get some materials for myself so that I can start getting creative at home.

Sharon is a full-time marketer by day, and cake decorating extraordinaire by every other waking moment! She recently started her own business doing custom designed cakes, cupcakes and cookies. To check out Sharon Wee Creations, go to: http://www.sharonwee.com.au/

Love,

Ladbird xxx

Ps - Thank you to Sharon for sending these pics through!

RSPCA Cupcake Day

RSPCA Cupcake Day has been a resounding success in my office. Jacqui and I hosted a cupcake morning tea and we sold 84 cupcakes in 15 minutes! yay! All of our proceeds will go to the RSPCA.

Jacqui made beautiful vanilla cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache and very creative fondant animal cut-outs - very cute! There were ducks, cats and dogs.

I made 4 varieties of cupcakes:
Lovely lemon
Vanilla with rosewater glace icing
Vanilla with vanilla buttercream and a shortbread dogbone
Gluten free chocolate w strawberries and cream



Then it seemed that all that sugar couldn't go to waste, so the girls went crazy with the RSPCA balloons...

It's great to be able to combine my love of cupcakes with a charitable cause. What a great way to start the week :)

Love,

Ladybird x

PS - My photos do leave a bit to be desired today, don't they?! I hereby resolve to take better photos for my blog!