My Cupcake Journey

You may have noticed from my blog description that part of the reason for starting this blog was to show some of my baking creations, and apart from a couple of 'cake-spiration' posts, I've not really done that yet! So as this blog is still relatively new, I thought I'd do a post showing off some of the cakes I've made so far i.e. all the ones I've took photographs of!

I started making cupcakes a couple of years ago when a friend bought me the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook for Christmas.  My first attempt didn't turn out particularly great, I think I ended up with about 8 cupcakes, instead of the 12-14 I was supposed to! I persevered, and it wasn't long before I got better results, and I started experimenting with the more interesting recipes in the book, including the delicious marshmallow cupcakes! I also own the Cake Days book which has even more recipes, some of which are very strange indeed! I've now started making cakes for friends if they're having a party or something, which I really enjoy, and who knows, maybe I'll have my own little business one day!

First successful attempt! / Marshmallow Cupcakes in the background / Easter Cupcakes / S'more Cupcakes

As you can see,  I got a lot more from my second attempt! I kept the colours and decorations similar to the Hummingbird style too.  The second picture is vanilla, along with marshmallow cupcakes.  The have melted marshmallows in the centre, along with mini marshmallows mixed into the icing.  S'more cupcakes are more adventurous still; chocolate cupcakes with melted marshmallows on top, which are then toasted and sprinkled with crumbled digestive biscuits. Yum!

Caramel Cupcakes / Back to basics with paste colouring / Rocky Road / Cookie Monster!

Caramel cupcakes were a recipe from the Cake Days book. This was my first try at piping the icing on, as opposed to smoothing it on with a knife like they do at the Hummingbird Bakery! As you can see the next cakes are a lot brighter, thanks to discovering paste colouring! The Rocky Road cakes went down very well, not surprising when they were decorated with marshmallows, maltesers, fudge pieces and melted chocolate! Very naughty indeed! The Cookie Monster cupcakes were for my Godson's 5th birthday party were a lot of fun (as well as very tricky!) to make, but I think they're my proudest creation to date!

Easter again / My Birthday /Naming Day Cupcakes / Bit of a mix! / 30th Birthday Cupcakes

I made these Easter ones purely to get another use out of the nozzle I'd bought to make the Cookie Monster cupcakes with.  I had the help of my boyfriend for these ones, and you can just make out the smiley face cupcake he insisted creating! The next ones are the ones I made for my birthday and were the most I'd ever made in one go; I did three batches which got me around 45 cupcakes and it took me forever, I don't know how the professionals do it because I was shattered! I blogged about being asked to make some for a Naming Day ceremony and these are the cakes I eventually made! The mixture of designs in the next picture were actually just before the Naming Day cakes, and were a bit of a practise run as I'd not made any in a while and also an excuse to use some of the decorations I'd got as a birthday present! Lastly are my most recent creation, a mix of chocolate and vanilla I'd made for my friend's 30th birthday party. I went all out with these ones, using pretty foil cases and decorating with glitter which is rather messy but adds a lovely bit of sparkle, and we all love a bit of sparkle don't we?!

As you can see, they're by no means perfect, but it's something I do really enjoy doing and I'm always trying to improve.  I think I have improved a lot since I first started backing, but I wouldn't say I was ready to open my own business any time soon!  I quite like being a hobby baker, and making for friends and family if and when I can, fitting it in around my hours at work.  If I can't make some cakes for someone because I'm working, I can say no, and that's fine.  Maybe this will change in the future, but I'll stick to honing my 'talent' for now I think!