National Cupcake Week and GBBO week 4

16-22 September 2013 is National Cupcake Week here in the UK. National Cupcake Week aims to promote the popularity of cupcakes and it supports Clic Sargent, a charity for children with cancer.

I’m not making any cupcakes this coming week, but I thought I would share a few of the cupcakes I’ve made since Cakeyboi started – one for each day of the coming week.

Firstly, one of the first cupcakes I made here on Cakeyboi – Chocolate Cola Cupcakes. The flavour of cola really works well with chocolate, especially in these cupcakes and their frosting. Always go for full-fat cola (as I call it) when making these.

Second up and it’s my Disney or Mickey Mouse Cupcakes. These were for the Disney Store in Dundee’s 15th birthday. They were vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting on top, dyed red(dish) and two mini mallows plonked in. The chocolate cookies in the shape of Mickey ears really topped them off nicely!

Halloween is coming soon, so these Wicked cupcakes are a must for that time of year! The cupcakes were chocolaty with mint flavoured marshmallowy frosting piped high. I then made a witches hat from a Hershey Kiss, a chocolate disc stuck to it – then added a mint matchmaker to look like the witches broom. And if you haven’t seen the musical Wicked – you must!

My Red Velvet Snowball cupcakes are different to most red velvet cakes, as they contain no cocoa. This makes the red VERY vibrant. I topped these with marshmallowy frosting and dipped them in coconut, just like a Snowball treat. They are very festive and great for Christmastime.

Another chocolaty cupcake, but this time flavoured with Guinness. These were for St. Patrick’s Day. The Guinness really adds a depth of flavour, and if you aren’t a fan of the drink, don’t worry, you can’t actually tell it’s there! And the salted caramel frosting is great on any cupcake!

My Disco Bunny cupcakes were a bit of fun for Easter and were a plain vanilla sponge with rainbow sprinkles mixed in, topped with, you guessed it – marshmallow frosting! I dunked the frosted cupcakes into Rainbow Drops, bright coloured little puffs of sweet rice, You could used crushed Froot Loops too here. And I stuck in some foam bananas to look like rabbit ears!

Last, but certainly not least, my Salted Fluffer cupcakecones. They were inspired by an ice cream treat I had whilst on holiday in New York, called a Salty Pimp. They are vanilla sponge, baked in wafer cone cups. I then piped marshmallow frosting high, swirled this with caramel then dusted the top slightly with salt. The cupcakes were then dunked in a chocolate bath, before being popped in the fridge to set. The crack of the chocolate when biting in is very satisfying!

I hope you have enjoyed my wander down cupcake memory lane for National Cupcake Week!

 And my Great British Bake Off thought of the week; Ali didn’t have a good week, but I think what let him down mostly was the fact he looked like he was trying to be Benny from Crossroads with that green woolly hat on his head! This reference probably doesn’t mean much to any of you under 40! So go and Google Benny from Crossroads now!!