Last week we took on Karen Tack’s clever cupcakes from her book, Hello Cupcake! The book really emphasizes using everyday things to create wow pieces. What I love is each cupcake invites a whole conversation on how it was made and everyone is always amazed when discovering what the ingredients are.
Top: Shark Attack, Sunflower
Bottom: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Slumber Party
Prep! Candies, frosting, snacks, and a lot of cupcakes
Twinkie…turned into
Jaws!
Smile! Above is my display cupcake. The frosting consistency was a bit too soft, hence, the somewhat ferocious, rather than cute, looking teeth.
Difficulty: 4 out of 4
Tips: Whipped (vs regular) frosting works better for dipping the shark. It’s not as dense and when melted its smoother and coats better. Make sure your twinkie is frozen before dipping. We didn’t have enough in-between time for that so some broke apart in the dipping process. For the teeth, I would pick a stiffer frosting to have more precision when piping.
Naked marshmallows…
into… Slumber Party cupcakes.
This was probably my favorite one to make. I love the variety of food mediums used, from the Teddy Graham bear, to the Nilla Wafer head, to the marshmallow pillow. The Starburst blanket was fun to roll out.
Difficulty: 2 out of 4
Tips: The only hard part was melting and rolling out the Starbursts. Melt in two intervals of 5 seconds. Check after each interval (careful because they get hot). The Starburst keeps its shape so its hard to see when its softened. If it bursts, its a little too gooey, so I would re-melt another.
My giant sunflower. I love desserts that look impossible but are really simple to do. This piece was like that. I especially like that the top is not made of globs of frosting. It’s just an oreo with frosting petals on the edges. Two desserts in one. The lady bug M&M was fun to make as well.
Difficulty: 1 out of 4
Tips: Use stiffer frosting for the petals or if the frosting softens, place in the fridge for a little bit. As you can see, some of the petals started drooping.
Spaghetti & Meatballs cupcake. It looked scarily realistic and so easy to do.
Difficulty: 1 out of 4
Tips: use sugar free jam for the sauce because it has a brighter, redder color.
All four display cupcakes
Deliciously Noted is a food blog documenting my life in San Francisco, eating, baking, meeting artisans and chefs and when in need of an escape from the fog, sharing about my getaways to New York or Paris.
Peruse, enjoy, leave a comment or two!
[...] Hello Cupcake: Hello Cupcaking at Sur la Table Shark Week! and more cupcakes From Jenn You're at deliciouslynoted. Whether you're a baker, [...]
[...] Hello Cupcake: Hello Cupcaking at Sur la Table Shark Week! and more cupcakes Hello…again Cupcakes: Penguins & Butterflies [...]