Flower Birthday Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

I made this flower birthday cake with 12 cupcakes for my daughter's birthday. I used the following buttercream icing to decorate, which was easy to work with and tasted delicious. 

For the buttercream icing you will need

4 oz butter unsalted

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

pinch of salt

2 tbsp milk*

Berry Muffins

We can use any of the Dorset cereals mueslis for this Berry Muffins recipe that I adapted from the Hellmann's website. We are very impressed how tasty the muffins turned out. 

1 1/2 cups flour 

3/4 cup Dorset cereals

3/4 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar 

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp cinnamon optional

1 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries** 

1 cup milk 

1/2 cup Hellmann's® mayonnaise dressing 

1 egg 

*I used frozen mixed berries 

In a large bowl combine flour, Dorset cereals, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in berries. 

In another bowl beat together milk, Hellmann's® mayonnaise dressing and egg. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined. 

Spoon mixture into 12 paper lined or greased muffin cups. Bake in 375F preheated oven for 20 minutes or until muffin top springs back when lightly touched and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Hellmann's mayonnaise founded on the principle of real, simple ingredients such as egg, oil and vinegar is celebrating their 100th anniversary. More than 80% of the ingredients in Hellmannʼs are sourced from within Canada and the brand is committed to using 100% Canadian Free Run Eggs in all their products by 2020. Everyone in our home enjoys mayonnaise, but we didn't know about the nutritional benefits associated with it. Mayonnaise is a wonderful substitute for traditional cooking oils since it locks in flavour and moisture, giving added benefit of omega-3 and a polyunsaturated fat.

• Good fats like omega-3 fats help our bodies to absorb vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K. Vegetable omega-3 fats are an essential part of a healthy balanced diet because our bodies do not produce them. We can get omega-3 fats through foods like canola and flaxseed oil, walnuts, or mayonnaise. 
• Nutrition guidelines suggest that we should choose more mono and polyunsaturated fats, like those found in vegetable oils, soft, non-hydrogenated margarine and mayonnaise, instead of saturated fats found in butter and cream. Trans fat, found in hydrogenated oils and shortening should be avoided as much as possible.
• Canadaʼs Food Guide recommends eating a small amount (30-45 mL or 2-3 tbsp) of unsaturated fat each day. This includes oil used for cooking, salad dressings, margarine and mayonnaise.

I used the delicious Dorset Cereals in these muffins that gave it a fabulous taste and texture. The mueslis mixture recipes are made with a blend of oats, flakes, fruit, nuts and seeds. Their muesli and honey granola are not only delicious to eat for breakfast with yogurt, but also to include in all types of desserts. 

The different blends of Dorset cereals have unique combinations of nuts, fruits and grain to suit everyone's preference.

• simply delicious muesli (raisins, sultanas, sunflower seeds, dates, brazil nuts, roasted hazelnuts, multi-grain flakes) 
• simply nutty muesli (multi-grain flakes, almonds, dates, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds) 
• fruit, nuts  & seeds muesli (raisins, flame raisins, dates, sultanas, banana, pumpkin, sunflower seeds, flaked almonds, whole hazelnuts, multi grain flakes) 
• super high fibre muesli (toasted cereals, raisins, flame raisins, dates, sunflower seeds, toasted coconut, chopped roasted hazelnuts) 
• really nutty muesli (cashews, brazils, hazelnuts, almonds, sultanas, dates, flame raisins, multi-grain flakes) 
• super cranberry, cherry & almond muesli (cranberries, cherries, almonds, raisins, sultanas, sunflower seeds, flame raisins, toasted cereals) 
• honey granola (oats, sunflower seeds, flaked almonds, rye flakes, pecans, pumpkin seeds baked in honey with a hint of vanilla extract* alcohol based) 

Their mueslis do not have added preservatives or sugar. It is high in fibre and has whole grains. Dorset Cereals can be bought in many countries. 

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Making Cupcake Bouquets

I took a cupcake bouquet class at Le Dolci, as I was curious how cupcake bouquets are made. I found the experience fun, as the instructor explained us how to pipe three different flowers. She taught us how to make roses, carnation and daisies using the tear drop shaped tip. I have experience piping so I found it easy to follow the instructor, and had fun making these flowers.

After practicing for an hour on parchment paper, we got to decorate 12 mini-cupcakes that were pre-made for us. The buttercream icing was made with only butter and not shortening, so I found it was too quick to melt for my warm hands when I was piping :) 

I like that the icing only had butter and not shortening. Here is the recipe for the butter cream icing from Le Dolci, which I am looking forward to make at home to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
1 cup butter 

2 cups icing sugar 

Use room temperature butter and whip it for 2 minutes. Add the icing sugar slowly. 
It is optional to add a few drops of vanilla. For thinner consistency we can add water or milk a tsp at a time.

To make the cupcake bouquets, we need 

bamboo skewers 

clay pot 

craft flower arranging foam* 

knife and scissor 

*found in the dollar store and craft shops 

We cut up a piece of craft foam to fit into a clay pot so the cupcakes will have more balance when placed. The skewers were cut into 3 and placed in different heights. I pierced the cupcakes with a skewer lightly, but not all the way so it could be easily placed on the skewers.

I really liked how the bouquet looked after it was complete. I am glad that Le Dolci packs the goodies we make there to take home. My family thought it looked really pretty and enjoyed the bouquet of cupcakes. 
I usually think icing is just for the looks and not encourage my children to have a lot on their cakes, so I removed most of the pretty icing before they enjoyed the cupcakes.

I think it is always better and fun to learn a skill by having hands on experience. Le Dolci offers many different classes so we can learn to make cake pops, croissant, macaroons, cookie decorating truffles and more. Check out their website to take a look at the upcoming classes.

All rights reserved on photographs and written content Torviewtoronto © 2010 - 2013 unless mentioned. Please Ask First

Carrot zucchini cupcakes

Carrot zucchini cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar 

1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs

1 cup shredded carrot (1 large)

1 cup shredded zucchini (1 small)

1/3 cup milk

Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  In another bowl whisk the sugar, butter and eggs separately.  Add the shredded carrot and zucchini to the egg mixture with a spatula and beat until it is mixed. Stir in the flour mixture and milk alternately in three additions beating until smooth.

Scoop the batter into a prepared muffin pan and bake in a 350F oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and tops of the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

For a variation we can add 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut to the batter.

This recipe is from the book 150 Best cupcake recipes by Julie Hasson.  Cupcake fans will really like this book.  There are lots of recipes to choose from depending on our preference and mood. The content of the book is separated into introduction, chocolate, fruit, nuts, adults only, kids, with spices, new twist, vegan and frostings. The sources and the index are very helpful.

The author explains the basic tips and techniques on how we can decorate, the tools and equipment, types of ingredients and the differences between different chocolate, coffee, diary etc.  This is good for people who are learning to decorate and novice bakers; it may also refresh the knowledge of advanced bakers.

The recipe is excerpted from 150 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson © 2012 Robert Rose Inc.www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. All rights reserved on photographs and opinion of the written content Torviewtoronto © 2012 unless mentioned. Please Ask First