Twilight, Travel, and Treats

My youngest turned 5 recently and wanted a Lego birthday. I debated between making him a Lego cake covered in fondant or doing something easier. Since he loves chocolate I decided to make chocolate Lego men on cupcakes instead.

I started out with a Lego figurine ice cube mold from Lego.com (thanks Santa).





Since I was making these for kids I opted to melt chocolate chips rather than really going through the task of tempering chocolate. The chocolate chips can result in an oxidized waxy look after a couple of days but the kids wouldn't care.





Since I'd be refilling the piping bag very often and remelting the chocolate I used a ziploc bag with the corner cut off instead of my standard parchment paper cones.
Goes in the freezer for 15 minute and pops out of the silicone easily.





Stays smooth and shiny for a day so if you care about this don't make then too far in advance.





Where are the Lego CSI guys? Note overfilling the mold is hard to fix unless you remelt them - or just let the birthday boy eat your mistakes!





Finished products on vanilla Italian meringue buttercream (Martha Stewart recipe) on devil's food cupcakes.

All in all a hit with boys young and old.

My sister-in-law JL recently had a baby. You know my friends DQ and JR love throwing a good party so we had a blast. DQ was such a sweetheart she did all the invites and the favours herself.

See how pretty?

Check out these matching hand iced sugar cookies. They were delicious too.



We were ecstatic to welcome a new baby girl into our lives since JR and I both have two sons and DQ's youngest is already three.

By the way, take a look at the menu JR made up. Our preggie girl is a huge fan of Paris so we thought a French food theme was in order.



The food JR made was amazing as always and she managed to make sure even the fancy cheeses were pasteurized and pregnancy friendly.

See the cute wheelbarrow? My father-in-law made that on short notice just for his baby girl. So sweet.

Okay, onto the cupcakes.

Not actually JL's real name :)

I made Coconut Cupcakes - Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten.

This is a tried and true favourite of the mom-to-be. Note - I tried increasing these by 50% - did not work well. I think the ratios must have been off.

Almost considered tossing the lot because I thought they were a bit dense. But the cream cheese frosting saves everything! This recipe makes 30% more frosting than you will need.

Fondant Toppers

JL's favourite colour is blue and her baby room is a wonderful turqouisey teal colour. I was going to make a flat 2D graphic bird. Way too hard for me to cut things out with an exacto or use the Cricut. Actually easier to hand sculpt these guys.




The brown fondant is actually the new Duff's (as in Ace of Cakes from food network) Chocolate fondant at Michael's. Very easy to work with and tastes quite good. I got a kick out of staring at Duff's face while I was working on these.

The birds were inspired by these ones from Wilton's but I actually like mine better.

If I had time I would have toasted the coconut before sprinkling and shaped them into little nests. Alas next time...

Okay another travel post about Florence is coming up this week.

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Now that we finished making the cupcakes in part 1 now we move on trying to replicate this guy.

Birthday boy's favourite stuffy

Here's the final product.

Learn to make these

First thing is that I had to figure out if these monkeys were intended for decoration only or for consumption. Fondant is for eating and gumpaste is for looking pretty. Also, I use toothpicks usually to hold the heads up so it's good to know ahead of time how easily it will need to be removed.

Gumpaste is what you normally see used to make those hard realistic leaves and flowers on cakes at weddings. You can roll and mold it into very fine and thin pieces and it will hold its shape. It dries out very quickly so usually I keep any pieces that I am saving to work on under a small bowl to keep them from drying out.

I use the Satin Ice brand because it comes in big tubs which are cheaper. For a beginner, you can buy gumpaste to start at Michael's and the price is good if you have a 40% off coupon from their email list. This stuff is technically edible but it is chewy, doesn't taste so great but it's a bit sweet, and frankly I don't think it's very good for your gastrointestinal system.

You can make flowers like these and there are lots of tutorials online.

gumpaste flowers from bakinguntilgolden.com

Fondant is usually used to cover wedding and birthday cakes for a smooth finish. It is also good for figurine making but it takes longer to harden and it is harder to make small or thin pieces. If the figurines are intended for consumption then I'll use fondant instead of gumpaste.

Colouring gumpaste or fondant

Orange wiltons gel colouring added to the gumpaste with a toothpick - made the night before I plan to make my figurines so I can see the colour darken overnight and add any if I need to.

Store gumpaste or fondant airtight in saran wrap overnight and in a tupperware to see the final colour as it deepens.

Making the figurines

Using orange gumpaste we have just coloured and also white or a slight beige gumpaste I have already made.

I work on parchment paper which doesn't stick to the gumpaste.

I usually will make a sketch and then a trial figurine. Once I'm happy with the trial I'll weigh it so I can know how much gumpaste to allot for each piece.

Another way of making sure your limbs are even is to roll your gumpaste into a snake shape and then divide it evenly into the number of pieces you need. No weighing needed but visually super easy to do.

First trial, hands are way too big

Using fondant glue or just water with a very fine paintbrush to attach the parts. Fondant glue is a small piece of fondant dissolved with a few drops of water.

Parts include oval head, trapezoid body all made of orange plus 2 long arms, 2 short legs, and a tail all with white gumpaste blended in at the end. You take the long piece for your limb and at the end place a small piece of white (about the size of a piece of Nerd candy) and then roll them together a few times in your palm. The warmth will melt them together quite seamlessly.

The only tools I really use are my hands plus rounded and pointed toothpicks. Honestly the hardest part to do is putting on the ears and making sure they don't fall off.

I break a toothpick in half and stick it into the body first and then the head on top. Also remember to use some water or fondant glue under the head.

For the ears take a small orange ball and indent with rounded toothpick then place even smaller white ball inside and repeat with rounded toothpick. Pinch off the pointy tip and then stick the rounded ear onto the head, using glue or water as mentioned below and your toothpicks to apply pressure. My sister in law uses tweezers but I like using toothpicks and my fingers instead.

Final product isn't he cute?

See above for how to blend the white into the tail

I use Wilton Edible Food Writers (food colouring pens) fine tip to draw on the eyes and mouth. This part makes me the most nervous because there is no easy redo unless you take the head off and do it all over again.

Here is the group of monkeys I made (it's about 3am by the time I'm finished - can't start until the kids are asleep).

About to attack

I placed them all on disc of orange gumpaste and then onto squares of parchment paper.

Transport

This is the part that strikes fear into any baker. Even if you make it how do you get it there in one piece?

I pack all the figurines on parchment squares in individual gladware or tupper containers. Right before I load them into the car (after they have been drying at least overnight) I gently pack a bit of paper towel around each one to prevent shifting.

In gladware waiting for paper towel to be packed around each one to prevent shifting

Then I load them onto a baking tray lined with a silpat (either use silicone or a wet towel to prevent slipping around in the car).

Onto the cupcakes I made in Part 1 of this post.

Fondant polka dots

I use a Cupcake Courier and I love it. My sister in law/baking partner JL managed to find them at our local Winner's store (kind of like Ross but with household stuff in addition to clothes) for about $25 Cdn each - steal!



The only downside is there are no trays so far for mini cupcakes. I will have to use my cricut to cut out some plastic adapter sheets later on.

This handy thing fits perfectly in my trunk with one of the third row seats half folded.

Delivery and Set Up

Managing to slow way down around corners and trying to choose the least steep streets to my destination, I finally made it. Mad rush since the Olympic torch was coming down this street in less than 90 minutes and I wanted to be out of there before traffic got too busy.

I brought my ceramic cake stands for set up as well and birthday boy's mommy (who is also the sister of a long time friend) swore to keep my stands safe.


Final set up - Birthday Boy's mommy almost cried, like full on "this is just what I wanted" tears. That made staying up until 3:3oam totally worth it.

Monkey cupcakes finally done!

I'll be updating my Flickr cupcake pics very soon and send out a shout when they're up.

Enjoy and let me know if you have questions.

I was asked to do chocolate cupcakes with blue icing and monkeys on top for a one year old birthday celebration.

Not to be anti-climactic but here is the final cupcake product just so you know what I'll be getting to.

Follow my instructions to make these

Part 1 will be the cupcakes.

Part 2 will be the monkeys.

This monkey was the original inspiration for these guys.

Birthday boy's favourite stuffy

I'll list the original recipe first. Then my changes and photos after to make it easier for you to cut and paste if needed.

First we have to make cupcakes.

Learn to make these

Chocolate Cupcakes (Recipe Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cake)

Ingredients

Makes about 45 regular cupcakes (or 2 eight-inch square or 3 eight-inch round layers)

• for cake (not cupcakes) - unsalted butter for cake pans
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (plus more for cake pans)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (substitute 1 1/2 tbsp topped up to 1 1/2 cups with regular milk - let sit 5 min)
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If making cupcakes, just fill the cupcake/muffin tins with liners. If making cakes butter round or square cake pans, and line bottoms with parchment; butter parchment, and dust with cocoa.
2. Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, stir in eggs, 1 1/2 cups warm water, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla until smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. For cupcakes, fill with a large ice cream scoop filled to about 1/4 inch from the top. Bake about 25-27 minutes until toothpick comes out clean and dry. (For cake, divide batter among prepared pans. Bake, rotating once, until tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes for 8-inch layers, depending on amount of batter.)
4. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely, right side up on rack.

I used Fry's cocoa and 2% milk

Love these brown cupcake liners

You can buy brown cupcake liners online at Confectionery House. I was lucky a local baking supply store Scoop-N-Save in Langley, B.C. (I know, sounds like a kitty litter place) has them in stock.

Dry ingredients all in - very full bowl Be careful to go slow with the mixer

A very wet batter = very moist cupcakes

Fill a large ice cream scoop to slightly below the top

Filled about 2/3 of the way (best to use ice cream scoop method above)

Cooling - don't eat them yet even though they'll smell divine

Perfect small dome for this project Not a huge muffin top

They can't all be perfect - the kids and Mr. TC love eating the rejects

You could adapt these to mini cupcakes and probably reduce the baking time to ab0ut 17 minutes. Try it out in your oven and use your toothpicks to test for doneness.

Icing

Even though this was a kids birthday I chose a slightly less sweet icing recipe. This buttercream takes a bit more finesse to make but it is worth the effort as it is light in texture but still sweet enough for the kids). You will need a candy thermometer.

Italian Meringue Buttercream (Recipe Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

Makes 4 1/2 cups

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 5 large egg whites (buy pasteurized egg whites in a container to reduce risk of salmonella)
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled cut into small chunks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and 2/3 cup water to a boil. Continue boiling until syrup reaches 238 degrees.on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage). As soon as it hits this point, race over to your mixer.
2. Meanwhile you will have to prepare the egg whites. Place egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks but not dry; do not overbeat.
3. With mixer running, add syrup to whites in a stream, beating on high speed until no longer steaming, about 3 minutes. Add butter bit by bit, beating until spreadable, 3 to 5 minutes; beat in vanilla. If icing curdles, keep beating until smooth. If you just use the whisk the icing never looks smooth. So after beating for at least 5 minutes with the whisk use your paddle attachment for another few minutes until it looks like most air bubbles are gone and icing is smooth.

On high until 238 (soft ball stage)

Egg whites with cream of tartar beat into stiff peaks before adding sugar syrup

Beating with paddle attachment to finish off - almost all air bubbles gone

Next to colour the icing. The birthday boy's mom had a very specific blue in mind. It's always hard to tell what the gel food colouring will actually look like so I had to try a few. You can use liquid food colouring instead but I only have gels because they work well with fondant and gumpaste.

This was the final choice - Royal Blue

Sky blue a bit too teal

Cornflower blue too gray

Baby boy blue

Using a 1M tip for a pretty swirl

Using a piping bag and icing tip is really easier than just using a butter knife and spreading it on. Here is the Wilton's page of how to frost with a 1M tip.

I don't hesitate to use a butterknife to scrape off frosting and redo a cupcake until it's perfect.

Cupcakes done, now onto the monkeys

By the way, birthday boys mom also loves polka dots. So I rolled out some brown fondant very thinly and used the tip of a large round piping tip to cut out some polka dots and sprinkled them over top of the cupcakes. Do this step right after icing them. Otherwise it's hard to get the polka dots to sit well in icing that has hardened.

Fondant polka dots

These are great basics for any party and bake sale. Now if you want to step it up then head on to part 2 - Monkey Figurines.