... and Sugar Animal Cupcakes!

We have another guest post for you today! Our good friend Karen made these lovely cupcakes for a special girl's 1st birthday party - Karen is an amateur baker but we think she's done an amazing job! Here's what she did:



"I originally got the idea from a book called Sugar Animals by Frances McNaughton.

• First, I baked a batch of lemon cupcakes

• The icing is made from royal fondant icing made into a very thick paste. I coloured the icing adding a small bit of food colouring at a time – if you go too far, just add more white icing!  
• Once happy with the colour add tylo powder (you can buy this online or from a cake shop) - this makes the model go hard after about 10 minutes. For a small ball shown here I would use about ½ a teaspoon – if it hardens too quickly add a couple of drops of water... its best to have a practice!!

• Cut out the monkey's face with a heart shaped cutter and trim to size if needed. Make the rest of the body out of well rolled balls of icing – pinch and squeeze them to create shapes. I used the end of a pallet knife to mark toes and fingers and a candy stick to help support the body.

• Whilst making them I found the best way to stop them sticking to the table was to place them on a unneeded cupcake case opened up – this means they will not fade in colour as they do if you put them on an iced surface.

• For the topping on the cupcakes (the "grass"!) I used the same fondant icing, flavoured it with lemon, coloured it green and added tylo powder. I used a cocktail stick to create the grass effect.
• Finally, I sprinkled with edible glitter!"

These cakes were a big hit at the party, and we think they look fab! Well done Karen!

Would you like to do a post for us yourself? Please contact us and we will make it happen!!