If you've seen my other post, you'll see that I made pig and sheep cupcakes to tie into the cake theme as well as the main cake. I think everyone assumes that you must have the best equipment to make cakes like this at home, well I use a wooden spoon and bowl..no fancy food mixer in our house. I sometimes use the hand mixer for a very quick blast to make sure all combined but generally speaking Tabatha is helping me so by hand is best. These cakes are so simple, here are the recipes...
Pig Cupcakes
CAKE
6oz butter
6oz caster sugar
3 eggs
6oz self raising flour
ICING
5oz butter
10oz icing sugar
Pink or red food colouring
Tsp milk if required
DECORATION
Large pink marshmallows
Pink wafer biscuits
Raisins
Piping bag
1. Set oven to 180 degrees (fan)
1. Beat butter and sugar (never understood the "until creamy" bit, just beat them together for a couple of minutes if by hand, it should go slightly paler. To be honest my best sponge tends to be the ones that were more rushed!
2. Add eggs and mix until combined-not very long and mixture will probably look a bit curdled/separated, don't panic!
3. Pour in flour and mix until just combined, this is where I tend to give it a very quick blast with the hand mixer.
4. Fill 12 cupcake cases about 1/2-2/3 full (this mixture should make 12 depending on the size of the cases)
5. Bake for approx 20 mins until tops look golden and skewer inserted comes out clean. Remember not to open the oven door until close to end time as they will collapse.
6. Allow cakes to cool on rack.
7. Beat the butter until soft and manageable.
8. Add icing sugar and use wooden spoon to work in to butter.
9. Once combined, use the hand mixer to beat for at least 5 minutes. The icing will get lighter the more you beat (you may need to add a teaspoon of milk if it doesn't combine properly and stays crumbly)
10. Add a couple of drops of pink or red food colouring until the icing is a piggy colour.
11. I use disposable piping bags, but works with either (you just may need a wide hole nozzle - technical term, to put inside of you are not using a disposable bag). Fold the top back on itself about halfway down to the tip.
12. Hold the bag with your hand inside the fold and fill the piping bag with the icing. The fold will stop you getting covered in icing
13. Unfold the top of the bag and give it a jiggle to work the icing down to the tip and get rid of any air.
14. Twist the open end so that it firmly pushes the icing to the tip and you can hold onto the bag.
15. Cut the bottom of the piping bag so that a hold approx 1-1.5cmacross is made. Doesn't really matter too much.
16. Pipe into the centre of each cake giving it a big of a wiggly as you squeeze so that the cake is covered with icing (you could just cover with the icing by hand with a pallet knife and not bother with the piping bag)
17. Cut the link marshmallows in half across there middles so that they remain circular but not as fat/tall and place each half in the centre of each cake to make the pig nose.
18. Put two tiny specks of pink icing on the marshmallow to create the nostrils.
19. Cut two flecks of raisins to make the eyes and the wafers into tiny triangles for the ears.
Sheep Cupcakes
**Exactly the same ingredients for the cake and icing as above...follow instructions above
You will also require a bag of mini marshmallows-preferably all white but doesn't matter too much, I just hid the pink ones underneath as much as I could.
You will also need:
12 big marshmallows
Black food colouring
Modelling paste or fondant icing
1. Once the cakes are cooled, place the large marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and place on top of a saucepan of simmering water (or use a banmarie if you have one), stir until melted - it will be really sticky!
2. Use a knife to make a circular hole in the top of each cake and put a spoonful of the melted marshmallow into the hole
3. Mix the mini marshmallows-the majority of the bag, into the icing and spoon it onto the cakes.
4. Colour a small ball of fondant/modelling paste with the black food colouring and roll into small balls
5. Push down to flatten the balls into a head shape
6. Use two small flattened balls of white fondant/paste to make the base of the eyes and a tiny speck of black pressed onto the top for the eyeball. Use a tiny amount of water on a brush to stick the pieces together.
7. Place the heads onto the sheep bodies and there you have it!
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