So back to Cupcake Day. I checked out some ideas on the Internet and came up with these cupcake prototypes:
To make the base you will need:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup SR flour
100mL milk
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 12 cupcake tin with paper cases.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time.
3. Beat in a little of the flour and the all of the vanilla essence. Then beat in the rest of the flour.
4. Add the milk and mix well.
5. Fill each cupcake case about 3/4 full. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cooked in the centre.
6. Put on a rack to cool after 5 minutes.
To make the decorations, you will need:
250g cream cheese
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
large chocolate buttons
yellow, orange, brown and green chocolate M&Ms
biscotti
Fru-chocs
Black icing pen
spaghetti or noodle strands, cut into 4cm lengths
1. Beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence with electric beaters until smooth.
2. When cupcakes are completely cool, spread a generous layer of icing on each cupcake.
3. To make a dog cupcake, place a chocolate button in the eye position. Affix a yellow or orange M&M on top of the chocolate button for the pupil. Put a small dot of black icing in the centre of the M&M to make the pupil. Add a matching M&M and dot of black icing for the other eye. Put a Fru-choc in the nose position. Draw in the mouth with the black icing pen. Finally, affix two biscotti for the ears, using a dab of icing mixture to hold each ear in place,
4. To make a cat cupcake, place two orange or green M&Ms in the eye position. Pen in a vertical line of black icing on each M&M to create the cat's pupil. Cut two large chocolate buttons so as to make two triangles. Position the triangles in the ear position. Next, put a brown M&M in the centre of the cupcake for the nose. Pen in the mouth using the black icing pen. Finally, add some spaghetti or noodle lengths for whiskers.
Anyway, so on the big day, I went in to work early to get a head-start on icing the cupcakes. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing (I think I had a case of cupcake performance anxiety.) I shouldn't have worried, though, because Birgit helped me decorate the cupcakes and others brought in their own nice, yummy cupcakes:
While not as many people came as I had hoped for, we did end up raising $113.75 (thanks to some very generous donations). All in all, not a bad effort.