Cupcakes for Kingy

This recipe is known in our family as the 'Birthday Cake' Recipe because it is our go-to recipe when we have to make a birthday cake.  Aaron was good at making and decorating cakes so I thought this was a perfect choice to make for him - in Hawthorn colours of course.

The recipe is usually put into a 20 cm tin and baked for 35- 45 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.  I however decided that mini cupcakes were the go and made 1 1/2 batches of the cake mix which gave me about 75 (give or take) mini cupcakes.  I hope you enjoy them.

Birthday Cake Recipe:
125g butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup milk
2 cups SR flour

Method
Preheat oven to 180 C.  Prepare mini cupcake cases in mini cupcake tins.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy
Add eggs, one at a time, beat well
Add half of the sifted flour, then half of the milk alternately into the mixture.
Repeat with more flour and milk, mixing well.
Using teaspoons, spoon mixture into cupcake cases.
Bake in oven for 7 - 10 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

For the icing I used this American Buttercream Frosting recipe which iced all of my cupcakes so if you are planning on making a smaller batch you may want to reduce the quantity of icing you make too.

I topped my cupcakes with malteaser balls but they are also delicious (and not quite as sweet) with fresh raspberries which I made at Christmas and for Chloe's Birthday.

So Kingy I know you would have outdone me if we had a decorating competition but these are the best I could come up with  for a Hawthorn theme.

Also,  I had them sitting in containers and on a platter ready to go and Chloe thought she had hit jackpot when she discovered them when she should have been sleeping.  There were holes poked through the glad wrap and squished cakes - I didn't know what to say I was frustrated my work was destroyed and had to re-ice the cupcakes that were not squished flat - hubby reckons you would think it was cute and Kobe probably would have done the same.  That made it all okay :)

Cute as a Cupcake

After Sarah was born we had a beautiful delivery of custom cupcakes from some lovely friends (Thanks Tim and Helene) but the days have been going by so fast I haven't had the time (or energy) to post about them until now. 

They were super delicious from The Cupcake Fairy and I highly recommend them!!! 

In other news Chloe is much better now.  While sick she did have a nap or two through the week ( a rare thing these days) so it was nice to take advantage of them and rest myself.  On one of these days she decided the puzzle basket would be comfortable and grabbed some play silks for her blanket :).

 Being the kind sharing sister that she is she even gave Sarah her cold :s - which has made nights VERY bad. 

On Sunday we took Sarah to hospital after she brought up a significant amount of mucus along with almost all of her previous feed.  So we have been monitoring her, giving her lots of cuddles and had the vaporizer out to ease the congestion and fingers crossed she will be better soon.  Until then we are living on very little sleep, still trying to get into routine while keeping up the usual activities with older sis so she doesn't feel neglected but I wouldn't have it any other way :)  I love being a mum!

Easter treats to enjoy, make and buy

After browsing the net one day I found these Easter goodies I just had to share that you can enjoy, make, download or buy.  I hope they inspire you to try something new this Easter :)

I have never learnt to crochet but if I could this would be on the top of my to do list to make Chloe for Easter.

crochet bunny found here

These cute little origami rabbits found here look much more manageable for me.

Do you think you could have a go at making these gorgeous cupcakes both found here 

and wrap them with this sweet little bunny cupcake wrapper found here

What do your little ones collect the eggs left by the Easter bunny in?  What about making this cute Easter basket

This Easter egg hoop would look fantastic in my sewing room!  How about yours?

I have a thing for kids shoes - they are so cute and small (Chloe has numerous pairs) so I had to share a pair of these sweet little rabbits.  Do you love them as much as me?

And lastly, I'm sure your little girl might love to play with these cute little Easter paper dolls.

PS. I have purposefully left off chocolate eggs as I kinda LOVE Easter chocolate so will leave that for another post - after the Easter bunny has visited ;p

Renos. and Simple Brownies

Okay now with the giveaways over I can post some new things! For those of you that know us will be aware that we have been renovating our home for a little while now. Well today we have had the wardrobe guy over installing built in wardrobes in both the main bedroom and ‘the babies room’ (although she is not really not a baby now! :) ). Yay I am so excited!!! I can’t wait to see the final product and finally get some order in the house!

On another note I also made some brownie cupcakes :). Who doesn’t like chocolate right?! This recipe is PERFECT if you want something that is pretty quick and SO TASTY.

BROWNIE CUPCAKES

1⅓ cups plain (all purpose) flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup cocoa power
2 ¼ cups caster sugar
4 eggs
250g melted butter

Optional extra:
Mini marshmallows
Chocolate chips

Method:
Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder.
Add sugar, combine.
Add eggs and butter, Mix together until smooth.
Place into cupcake pans. The easiest way to do this is using an ice-cream scoop- you will get the same size every time and it makes far less mess! (top with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips)

Place into the oven at 170°C (330°F) for about 25 mins. When cooked, brownie tops will be firm on the outside and a little mixture will stick to a skewer (you want the inside to still be moist!)
If you have topped with marshmallows they will be beautifully toasted. I use this recipe all the time and change it with different toppings such as dried apricots, nuts etc. and usually include some form of melted chocolate (to help the toppings to stick). Another favourite is to top with rocky road once cooked - I will share this recipe at a different time.
Now ENJOY your yummy brownie cupcakes!!!