As always, collaborating with Becca of Cake. and Sherry Heck is a dream - a very, girly sparkly dream in this case. We shot these photos in my recently renovated office and I've been sweeping up plumes of glitter ever since (just how I like it!). We shot these with Valentine's Day in mind, but color scheme would be equally lovely for a shower or birthday party. Enjoy the recipes and make something glittery today!
Vanilla Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Cupcake Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring the eggs, milk & butter to room temperature (don’t skip this step, it’s very important!) In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and pale. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Sift (yes you must, sift!) together flour, salt and baking powder together. Stir together vanilla and milk Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to mixing bowl, scraping down after each addition. Start and end with dry ingredients. Fill paper-lined muffin tins with batter 2/3 full. Bake at 350° for 18- 20 minutes.
recipe adapted from Amy Sedaris
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring the eggs, milk & butter to room temperature (don’t skip this step, it’s very important!) In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and pale. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Sift (yes you must, sift!) together flour, salt and baking powder together. Stir together vanilla and milk Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to mixing bowl, scraping down after each addition. Start and end with dry ingredients. Fill paper-lined muffin tins with batter 2/3 full. Bake at 350° for 18- 20 minutes.
recipe adapted from Amy Sedaris
Frosting Ingredients
1 lb unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
8 egg whites
1 cup crème friache or sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Seeds from 2 vanilla beans
Directions
Combine sugar & egg whites in mixer bowl and whisk together over simmering water until hot to the touch and all of the sugar has melted and no longer grainy. Transfer bowl to mixer stand and whip on high until fluffy & cool – about 10 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated. Add in vanilla, crème fraiche or sour cream, and vanilla beans. Beat until smooth (it may look curdled, but just continue to mix & it will be come together!).
Homemade Gumdrops
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1 box powdered fruit pectin (1.75 oz)
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp citric acid
¼ tsp natural citrus oil
a few drops of gel food coloring
Supplies
Pan spray Candy molds
Sugar for coating
Disco dust (if desired)
Directions
Prepare your molds (you can use chocolate or hard candy molds) by liberally coating them with pan spray. Mix the sugar & corn syrup together in a medium saucepan. Mix water, pectin & baking soda together in another saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and cook for approximately 8 minutes, until the foam from the baking soda mixture has died down. Pour the baking soda mixture into the sugars and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the citric acid, citrus oil, and food coloring. Working quickly, fill your molds with the hot liquid. If you wait too long, the mixture will begin to gel and is difficult to pour. (Alternatively, you can pour the mixture into a 8” square cake pan and cut out shapes). Let your gum drop set up in the molds for several hours. When they are firm, coat them in sugar (with a pinch of Disco Dust for sparkle if desired). Enjoy!
recipe adapted from Sew Can Do1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1 box powdered fruit pectin (1.75 oz)
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp citric acid
¼ tsp natural citrus oil
a few drops of gel food coloring
Supplies
Pan spray Candy molds
Sugar for coating
Disco dust (if desired)
Directions
Prepare your molds (you can use chocolate or hard candy molds) by liberally coating them with pan spray. Mix the sugar & corn syrup together in a medium saucepan. Mix water, pectin & baking soda together in another saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and cook for approximately 8 minutes, until the foam from the baking soda mixture has died down. Pour the baking soda mixture into the sugars and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the citric acid, citrus oil, and food coloring. Working quickly, fill your molds with the hot liquid. If you wait too long, the mixture will begin to gel and is difficult to pour. (Alternatively, you can pour the mixture into a 8” square cake pan and cut out shapes). Let your gum drop set up in the molds for several hours. When they are firm, coat them in sugar (with a pinch of Disco Dust for sparkle if desired). Enjoy!
Truffle Pops
Ingredients
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
½ cup whipping cream
2 oz Brandy (or other liquor, if desired)
Candy Melts in your color of choice
Oil food coloring (if desired)
Disco dust (if desired)
Directions
Place the chocolate in a heat proof mixing bowl. Bring the cream and brandy to a boil in a small sauce pan. Immediately pour the cream on the chocolate and let it stand for a few minutes. Sir the chocolate with a spatula until smooth. Leave the chocolate at room temperature, stirring occasionally until firm. This can take several hours. Once the chocolate is firm, roll into balls of your desired size. Insert lollipop stick and refrigerate until hard, preferably overnight. Melt the candy melts in a heat proof bowl over a double boiler. If desired, add a few drops of oil based food coloring. Holding your pops by the lollipop stick, dip them into the candy melts and swirl to coat completely. Remove from the chocolate and tap gently to remove excess. Insert into Styrofoam block to dry. When dry, sprinkle with disco dust.
Macarons
Ingredients
125 grams almond powder (ground blanched almonds)
225 grams powdered sugar
100 grams egg whites
25 grams of sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
Gel food coloring if desired
Directions
Separate the egg whites the day before you want to use them and leave them covered at room temperature. Put the almond powder & powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade and pulse until well combined. Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar and 2 drops of food coloring (if desired) until glossy peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the almond mixture until combined – approximately 50 strokes. Pipe the batter into 1 1/2” diameter circles on a Silpat or parchment lined sheet pan. After piping out the macarons, give the baking sheet a whack on the counter and let them sit for about 30 minutes before baking (this helps develop their “feet”). Bake for approximately 15 minutes at 300°. After they are cooled, pipe center on 1 cookie with buttercream
Absolutely fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI love the cupboard and the cakes look fab!x
So cute and girly. I wouldn't mind sweeping up glitter behind this one. I think I'm also going to get up the nerve to make Swiss meringue buttercream, you make it sound easy.
ReplyDeleteI think that its a great idea to use Pink,Gold, and Glitters all over the sweets. I think that it would look more fabulous and glamorous with all that accent on the sweets. I know that many women love that kind of presentation on candies and chocolates.
ReplyDelete