I may like talking about (or sometimes even buying) copious amounts of shoes and clothes, but believe or not sometimes I do other stuff too. Last week I had a baking fest for my brother and his wife's UK wedding party - I said I'd make cupcakes, not thinking how long it would take to make 70 odd of the buggers (a long time, I found out).
I used this book as my guide - if you are at all into baking this is a wonder and you should buy it now. I've followed many books over the years, but for cupcakes this is pretty much the only one you need (although conspicuous by it's absence is the Red Velvet) - it makes dense, moist cupcakes of just the right size (somewhere between the fairy cake and the muffin). I know it's meant to be all about the whoopie pie right now, but the appeal of cupcakes still holds strong for me, mostly because they remind me of childhood - how many of us Brits can say that about the whoopie pie, huh?
These were the results - Earl Grey (purple), Lemon (with citrus decorations), Rose (pink), Vanilla (Green & Peach) and Lime & Coconut (white).
I also made personalised gingerbread men people for all the guests. The grownups seemed to enjoy finding their own biscuit as much as the kids.
I love baking. The only down side of it is then you have lots of yummy things to eat that are far to hard to resist, and you make yourself a bit sick. I need an entourage or a kids play group to feed all the sugar and butter creations I want to make.
