Any mammoth baking job requires careful planning and preparation - especially when Destructor is only getting cheekier by the day! So, this post is going to focus on all the prep needed for when you want to do a big-arse batch of cupcakes.
Firstly, you need to work out exactly what you're making. How many, the flavours (cake and frosting) and decoration. For my sister's cakes, she wants a purple and gold theme, so I sat down and did some sketches and plans:
I started off with the cake flavours and frostings
Then, I worked out how many batches of each that I'd need to bake (based on how many cupcakes a packet of cake mix would make):
After that, it was the quantities of frosting:
And finally, how I'm going to decorate them:
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| Be kind - I'm really not great at drawing... |
Next, I worked out a timeline - when would I get stuff done and in what order. My list looked like this:
1. Decorations
2. Ingredients
3. Make buttercream
4. Bake cakes
5. Make marshmallow frosting/decorate
I went with getting the decorations first as I needed something very specific (edible purple hearts) and knew that I'd need to buy them online if I couldn't get them in-store. And of course, ordering anything takes time, as does the delivery. So, I didn't want to leave that til the last minute!
Luckily, the cake decorating shop that I go to (CW Cakes in Malvern) had a little pack of coloured hearts that included purple, so I was off the hook. They also had gold sprinkles (although technically they're gold mini sugar balls) and gold glitter (the non holographic kind).
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| Yay! No running around for me!! |
Tonight, I'll be tackling buttercream. It keeps beautifully in the fridge for aaaaages. Love it! This way, all I need to do is pop it out on the bench on the morning I'll be decorating, and it's ready to go by Destructor's nap time.
Baking can't really be done until a couple of days beforehand, as you don't want to be decorating stale cakes. For me, this means I'll be baking on Thursday night, in preparation for decorating on Friday. Once the cakes are decorated, they'll be fine for a couple of days (though in this case I'll be serving them Saturday night). The buttercream keeps the cake nice and moist, provided you cover the whole top of the cupcake in buttercream.
The marshmallow frosting is also something that I'll be doing last. While it still tastes great after being refrigerated, it doesn't pipe so well. It comes out all gross without a lovely shine, which is fine if you're serving people who don't eat with their eyes (or your family/friends who love you enough to overlook it)!
While doing all this planning, I made sure I looked at my calendar. Some days I have enough time to make buttercream/bake during the day, but others, I just don't. And even then, some nights I know I'll be buggered, so doing anything then will be out of the question.
It's so important to look at the week before your cakes are 'due'. If you can't 'borrow' enough time during the days/nights, you may have to cheat even further (like using pre-made frosting from the supermarket) or simply admit defeat (and buy a cake).
Personally, I can get about 4 batches of cupcakes baked in an hour and a half. Decorating that many cakes (provided I've made the frosting) would only take about half an hour....an hour if I wanted to really take my time. So, it's totally possible to do over three days, or one day and two evenings.
Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted with how everything goes...
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| Who doesn't love licking the beaters? |
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