Bake Me I'm Yours … Cupcake Fun - over 25 cute cake characters. Carolyn White

amount of sponge. Smaller cupcake or fairy cake cases are not suitable for these projects.

      Basic decorating toolbox

       Non-stick work board with non-stick mat beneath to prevent slipping – to roll out icing and cut out and model paste shapes

       Non-stick rolling pin – for rolling out sugarpaste (rolled fondant) and flower (petal/gum) paste

       Icing spacers – to achieve an even 3mm (1⁄8in) thickness

       Large disposable plastic piping (pastry) bags, 46cm (18in) or 53cm (21in) – for piping frostings

       Paper piping (pastry) bags – made from baking (parchment) paper for small quantities of royal icing/applying details

       Piping tubes (tips) – fine for piping royal icing details; large for piping frosting (see applying frostings)

       Scissors – to snip the ends of piping (pastry) bags for tubes (tips) to fit snugly

       Large and mini palette knives – large for buttercream; mini for cutting, turning paste and lifting paste shapes/features

       Paintbrushes – a selection of sable (no. 3 for glue) and pony (no. 8 for glitter) are handy

       Set of 11 circle cutters (Ateco) – nos. specified count outwards from the smallest, no. 1

       Icing smoother – for smoothing and polishing sugarpaste (rolled fondant)

       Sugar glue – for attaching decorative elements

       Cocktail sticks (toothpicks) – for applying colour to icing and creating tiny indentations

      Specialist decorating items

       Shaped cutters – ovals, hearts, square, star, triangle

       Kemper mini plunger cutters – 4mm (1⁄8in) circle and heart are used in many projects; PME blossom set comes with a foam pad to push the plunger against to cup the paste

       Ball tool and smile tool (PME) – for adding detail to paste characters

       Dresden tool – for scoring lines into paste and adding texture

       Paint palette – for mixing colours and blending gold/silver lustre dust with alcohol

       Dusting brush – for brushing lustre dust onto paste

       Foiled cake board – for storing made-ahead paste discs

      Recipes

      Now that you have all your basic equipment to hand, you are ready to begin your preparations for baking. You can use almost any recipe for the decorated cupcake projects in this book, and I have listed some of my special favourites here for you to choose from.

      Cupcake Recipes

      First, get to know the Golden Rules of Baking before you proceed. I always use a stand mixer and where possible give easy ‘all-in-one’ recipes, but if you wish to make your cake mix by hand, cream the fat and sugar together in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy before gradually beating in any liquids and finally incorporating the flour with a large metal spoon.

      Golden rules of baking

       Let all your ingredients come to room temperature before you begin to make your cake mix.

       Before starting to make your cupcakes, read the recipe right through to familiarize yourself with the method.

       Preheat your oven and check that it is reaching the correct temperature by using an oven thermometer.

       Prepare tins (pans) before starting to make your cake mix so that it doesn’t have to sit.

       Ensure you weigh the ingredients accurately – the key to great cupcakes!

       Never cream your mixture on full speed – start on slow and work upwards.

       Eggs are best used when they are at room temperature.

       Add eggs one at a time or gradually to prevent curdling, adding a tablespoon of the flour if it looks like the mixture may be starting to curdle.

       Always fold in the flour. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment (flat beater) on the slowest speed.

       Generally fill the muffin baking cases (liners) two-thirds full for a flat top and to allow room for frosting.

       If your oven has a hot spot, rotate the pan halfway through baking.

       Use a wire rack to help your cakes cool quickly.

      Cupcake troubleshooting

      Peaked – either too much raising agent or the oven temperature is too hot

      Sunken – not cooked for long enough or oven door opened too soon

      Sloping – check with a spirit level that your oven shelves or even the oven itself is level

      Some cooked but others not quite – your oven may have a hot spot, so the muffin tray (pan) needs to be rotated halfway through the cupcake baking time

      Dense or heavy texture – mixture not thoroughly mixed together and the raising agent hasn’t been distributed evenly; can also be caused by overbeating the mixture

      US cup measurements

      If you prefer to use cup measurements, please use the following conversions.

      (Note: 1 Australian tbsp = 20ml.)

      Liquid

      1 tsp = 5ml

      1 tbsp = 15ml

      ¹⁄₂ cup = 120ml/4fl oz

      1 cup = 240ml/8¹⁄₂fl oz

      Butter

      1 tbsp = 15g/¹⁄₂oz

      2 tbsp = 25g/1oz

      ¹⁄₂ cup/1 stick = 115g/4oz

      1 cup/2 sticks = 225g/8oz

      Caster (superfine) sugar/brown sugar

      ¹⁄₂ cup = 100g/3¹⁄₂oz

      1 cup = 200g/7oz

      Icing (confectioners’) sugar

      1 cup = 115g/4oz

      Flour

      1 cup = 125g/4¹⁄₂oz

      Ground almonds

      ¹⁄₂