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Bluebell Bakehouse Bluebell Bakehouse is based in Worcestershire and specialises in cupcakes and children’s baking parties. Our homemade cupcakes are made to order and will make any occasion a success! Our baking parties are heaps of fun and great value too. Quote ‘Mirror’ for 10% off your first order. becky@bluebellbakehouse.co.uk www.bluebellbakehouse.co.uk
Everyone loves cupcakes – whether you buy them or get creative and make them at home
Nobody can resist a cupcake – they’re a whole wickedly indulgent cake in miniature – just for you!
Bluebell Bakehouse
Pat-a-cake Bakery Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake Bakery .... bake me a cupcake as pretty as can be ....! Delicious & decadent our cupcakes come in a wide range of fabulous flavours, toppings and decorations – we promise every cake is a little cup of happiness. www.patacakebakery.co.uk enquiries@patacakebakery.co.uk 07881523032
Pat-a-cake Baker y
Bake180 "Bake180 provides bespoke, personalised, extra special looking cupcakes and other edible gifts around Tamworth and the midlands area, cookie gift boxes can be posted all over the UK, we also do Childrens Cupcake decorating parties and Adult workshops to learn your own tricks of the trade". www.bake180.co.uk 07599 403 600
Cupcakes are so small, tasty and irresistible with their delicate frostings and pretty printed paper cases that they suit any occasion, from mid-morning coffee to an after dinner snack and anything in between. Whenever you bring them out you know you’ll be greeted with smiles of pleasure from friends, family or work colleagues. The basic Vanilla Cupcake with Sprinkles recipe on the right is simple to make but the real fun starts when you play with different toppings – that’s what makes a modern cupcake so completely irresistible. For a start, you can ring the Top tip for making changes with coloured icings or the perfect cupcake frostings that you can drizzle, gradually mix in spoon, pipe or swirl onto the beaten egg cupcakes. It’s a chance to get alternating with the really creative in the kitchen. flour to stop the mix There are so many unusual food from curdling. colourings these days – even lilac! Alternatively, you can use melted white or dark chocolate or a glacé icing made from icing sugar and lemon juice or you can really go to town with buttercreams, chocolate ganaches, cream cheese or even smooth peanut butter. You can mix and match the colours and types in each batch for the maximum wow factor. Once your cupcake has been well and truly smothered with topping, you can create swirling and piping effects with whipped cream and creamy thousands to tiny sugar shapes in hearts, stars custard. Then comes the final part – the decoration and flowers. These can all be easily bought from – and this is where you can use all your ingenuity. For supermarkets or on specialist baking sites on the simply decorated cakes, place a few sweets, a whole Internet. Other decorations include sugar and rice nut or a glacé cherry in the centre of the cupcake paper flowers, firework sparklers, fresh berries and and you’re done. sugared rose petals. You can even buy edible clear If you feel like going further, there are pretty sugar sparkles that look just like ice. sprinkles that you can scatter over frosted muffins, If you want a smoother, more professional look, from the traditional multi-coloured hundreds and
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buy ready-to-roll fondant icing from supermarkets. This can be tinted with food colouring, cut into rounds and draped over cakes for a neat finish. If you think about it, cupcakes seem to have become very popular very suddenly, even though the earliest mention of the word “cupcake” was in Eliza Leslie’s cookbook in 1828. In the 1970s and 80s the decline in home baking, the health food movement, the rise of the speciality food shop and the gourmet coffee trend all led to the creation of a new standard of “luxury” cupcakes. Now, people love to get together to make and enjoy cupcakes at birthdays, parties and hen do’s – it’s so great to join in and decorate them. Nobody said that you couldn’t get creative with the icing! There are lots of specialist websites to help you set up your own event. For example, you can buy a complete cupcake decorating kit for £12.75 from www.cakescookiesandcrafts.co.uk and you can get lots of little extras from sites like www.cupcake style. co.uk, where you can buy 12 Boo! Hallowe’en cupcake picks for £1.29 and 18 Hallowe’en Pumpkin chocolate discs for £2.65. At these occasions, it’s always fun to personalise the cakes that you make. You can pipe on names, messages or decorate your cupcakes with paper flags glued to cocktail sticks with ‘glitter’ on. When it comes to weddings, white or pastel cupcake “towers”, presented on linked silver platters and each decorated with lace bases and a sugar rose, have begun to make serious inroads into the traditional wedding cake market. This year’s top wedding style features one truly enormous cupcake on the top layer, with cascades of little ones underneath, as featured in www.wedding-cakes.co.uk. If you feel inspired, Cupcakes and muffins are so popular that in 2010 you can find all alone, one high street baker kinds of courses bought 48m Belgian chocolate on the Internet. If you’d like to buy chips to use in its choccie a book, Mark and muffins! Even celebs are Spencer’s Easy getting in on the trend, Nicole Cupcakes, £3.50, Ritchie and Katie Holmes have marksandspencer. been papped with com, is highly cupcake in hand. recommended and very easy to follow.
Family Recipe
Charming Cup Cakes Fancy learning how to bake and decorate beautiful cupcakes adorned with glitter and hand-made edible decorations, including 3D shoes, handbags, flowers, butterflies? Then book yourself on a fun filled day class for £99 with The Charming Cupcake Company. Children’s baking/cupcake decorating parties also available. Visit www.charmingcupcakes.co.uk
Vanilla cupcakes with Sprinkles Ingredients:
• 150g butter, softened • 150g sugar • 3 eggs, beaten • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 150g self-raising flour, sifted • 1 tbsp milk For the frosting: Betty Crocker Vanilla Flavour Frosting, 450g, £1.68, Tesco.
kes Charming Cup Ca
Or, if home–made:
• 75g butter, at room temperature, 150g icing sugar, 1 tbsp milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, • A selection of food colouring, choose your favourite colours To decorate: • Multicoloured sprinkles
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. 2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light, fluffy and pale. 3. Gradually mix in the beaten egg, alternating with the flour. Finally, stir through the vanilla extract and milk 4. Place 12 paper cupcake cases into a muffin tin and divide mixture. 5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Cool on a rack. 6. Frost. Set for at least 30 minutes.
Taste Of Home Taste of home produce an exciting range of homemade cupcake designs and flavours, using only the best qualityy ingredients, because we believe that taste is everything. From traditional and dessert cupcakes to Christmas and specially decorated cupcakes, all are freshly baked to order www.taste-of-home.co.uk 0121-354-1875.
Taste Of Home Sweet Success Sugarcraft Why not have a go yourself? Sweet Success Sugarcraft supply all you’ll need to create your own stunning cupcakes – ready to decorate cupcakes, cupcake cases, icings, sprinkles, and more. All delivered direct to your door, or visit their fantastic specialist cake decorating shop in Nottingham. www.sweetsuccess.uk.com 0115 845 0660
The Craft Company The Craft Company is the UK’s leading supplier of Cupcake and Sugarcraft products. **FREE Delivery on all items when ordering a Cupcake Courier – Use Voucher Code: MIRRCC** Baking Cases • Carriers • Boxes • Stands • Tins • Sugar Decorations • Icing • Moulds • Glitters • Sprinkles • Fondants • Wrappers. Personal service and fast delivery. www.craftcompany.co.uk 01926 888507
Cupcakes By Louise Cu Cupc Cupcakes by Louise is an exclusive Birm Birmingham based business, offering delicious deli homemade cupcakes customised cust to suit every occasion. Using Usin the finest ingredients, Louise offers offe simple classic flavours using awarding awar winning homemade jam and curds so her cakes taste just as good as they look! www.cupcakesbylouise.co.uk ww 07824 0782 700765
Wedding Acrylics Kiera’s Cupcake Factory Join in the new trend and spend a day learning how to make beautiful cupcakes and fabulous decorations. Then let your creative side go wild decorating your cupcakes, glitter and sprinkles galore. Take them home and impress!! www.kierascupcakefactory.co.uk 07949 310929
If you’re searching for that unique display for a wedding, party or celebration our large variety of acrylic stands will look fantastic in any setting. Use this promotional code (Mirror 1010) to get an extra 10% off on our website, free to all Daily Mirror readers. www.weddingacrylics.co.uk 02920 813817
Poppy's Cupcakes Poppy’s Cupcakes Irresistible, pretty as a picture cupcakes handmade in the Midlands by Poppy’s Cupcakes. Using the finest ingredients dients we create cakes of your dreams, a little taste of heaven. en Whatever the celebration or event Poppy’s will make your day extra special. Personal tasting sessions arranged. www.poppyscupcakes.co.uk 07752451152
Blue Door Bakery
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Fancy learning to be a cupcake expert? This gem in the Midlands is the ultimate experience for cupcake fans, a workshop to learn top tips from the professionals. A perfect gift, vouchers are available too. Book online at: www.bluedoorbakery.co.uk www.facebook.com/ bluedoorbakery
Blue Door Bakery