Bon Bon Cupcake

Isn't she cute?

"Born on Valentine's Day, Bon Bon is an ultra-mod Japanese-French girl
who's ultra-mad for Vespas, Pop Art, space age lounge, and 60s sounds."

Bon Bon was created by Noel Tolentino, a staff artist at Cosmic Debris.

Mod Target for a Mod girl.

He Said/She Said: Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes

Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes

Written by Martha Stewart and Wendy Kromer

ISBN 13: 9780307394538

ISBN 10: 0307394530

Publisher: Clarkson Potter

Hardcover: 260 Pages

S: Summer time! Weddings! Cakes! Don't forget the popular wedding cupcakes too!
H: This is a great ideas books to me. It contains page after page of great designs.
S: The subtitle is More than 100 inspiring cakes, an indispensable guide for the bride and the baker. And that is exactly what the book delivers. A very helpful guide book that informs brides on choosing their wedding cake. Or, if you're daring or experienced, you can make your own wedding cake! There are instructions and recipes in this guide.

H: What really sells this book is the beautiful food styling. The photography and design of the book is done with care. I really like the full pages of coloured photographs. Something we look for in all cookbooks. Especially if the book is going to focus on decorations - you just have to see the final outcome.
S: You can get a quick sample of her designs by doing a photo search of "Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes." Dozens of beautifully decorated cakes will immediately show up.

H: This book is in three main parts: choosing your cake, the large and important section of cake designs, and "making a wedding cake."

S: The first section is really a useful guide. For those who don't know that much about cakes, it tells you a cake's component, about how a cake should be presented, and tips for finding the perfect baker to collaborate with.

H: Next, the "album of cake" is sure to astonish you! The tiny, tiny piping details and the intricate (oops, almost typed intricake there) designs will have you shake your head and wonder how long it must have taken.

S: The cake on the cover is a seven-tier classic cake... seven! (page 49) This cake is seriously a test of skill and patience. The bottom tier has royal icing roses and drop strings, the next tier has ruffles, tiny grapes, and shells, the next level has the impressive cross-hatching, etc. etc!!!!
H: The wedding cupcake tower is on page 83. The cupcake stand is quite beautiful and I was surprised to read that it was only made from Styrofoam, cake boards, and doily. Overall, the book is very handy and has so much information in it.

S: The information is all presented in a great way and the photographs aren't there for the sake of it, they do help enhance what is being said. This book is a great addition and with minor tweeking, the cakes don't have to be categorized as only for "weddings."

H: We both agree that this is a 5/5 guide book.

Dust Ball Cupcake

Hello there! This is a cute little dust ball from My Neighbour Totoro.
I've lost count of how many times I have watched this wonderful film.

This little character was fun to make!

1. First, dye your fondant black. If you have pre-coloured fondant (we highly recommend getting red and black fondant, everything else can be easily dyed from white fondant), roll it into a nice ball, about the size of a slightly larger marble.
2. This is optional, but I added some texture by rolling on a dimpled pattern.
3. Two small pieces of white fondant for the eyes. Rolled them into tiny balls and flattened it on the "body."
4. Pressed in brown sprinkles for the eyes. Finally, the fun part, sticking pieces of sprinkles randomly onto the dust ball!

Iron Cupcake: Earth - Summer Berries

Happy Father's Day!
Happy first day of summer!

Here we fused the two celebrations for our Iron Cupcake: Earth entry! This month's ingredient is Summer Berries! Me thinks you know which berry we picked:
Delicious, fresh, sweet red strawberries. We had tried strawberry buttercream for a previous Iron Cupcake challenge, so this time we decided to bake the strawberry in the cupcake!

Pineapple-Strawberry Upside-Down Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from John Barricelli and Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
(Makes about 24 regular cupcakes)

1 1/4 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of strawberry yogurt

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have all ingredients at room temperature. Also have your cupcake liners and pans ready.
2. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out rounds from pineapple slices. Then use a 1-inch cookie cutter to cut out a hole in the center of the pineapple.
   
3. Using the 1-inch cookie cutter again, cut out rounds from strawberry slices.
4. Place the cut fruits in a sieve to drain any juices.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat 2 tablespoons of butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Using a spoon, divide the mixture into your baking cups to create an even base. Set aside.
   
   
6. In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
   
   
7. Place the 2-inch pineapple round into your baking cup. Add the 1-inch strawberry round into the center.
   
   
8. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Then on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in two parts. Add in the strawberry yogurt between the two flour mixtures.
   
   
9. Pour the cake mixture into your baking cups, on top of the pineapple and strawberry slices.
10. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. There may be lovely caramel bubbling out, this was a good sign for us that it was ready!
    
    
11. Let the cupcakes cool for a tiny bit, invert, and serve with vanilla ice cream! The perfect summer and Father's day treat!
    The pineapple-strawberry upside-down cupcake was so good! Loved this easy way to make caramel with the melted brown sugar base! The pineapple and strawberry combination was delicious and the cupcake was nice and fluffy. This fruity treat was great with or without the ice cream topping!
    

You can vote for us HERE between June 28th to July 6th. The winner will receive the awesome June Prize-Pack:

• A cupcake ID bracelet from Etsy artist INSANEJELLYFISH
• A groovy linocut piece from Etsy artist BLOCKHEAD PRESS
• A sweet surprise from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY
  
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• An apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• Books from TASTE OF HOME
• A T-shirt from UP WITH CUPCAKES

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers. You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

Yummm! This was berry good!

How: Hedgehog Cupcake Set

How to make our little Hedgehog Cupcake Set!

1. Bake 9 cupcakes of your choice. You can do 12 or any number, but we think that the square-shaped setup is cute.
2. Gather some tools. Here, in the photo below we have: some brown jimmies/sprinkles, a stitching tool, a circle shape cutter, a veining tool, a tiny heart cutter, and leaf cutter. Not pictured, but will be needed are: rolled fondant, a roller, gel paste, toothpicks, a utility knife, a tiny circle cutter, and a practice mat.
   
   
3. Let your cupcakes cool. Make some buttercream or frosting of your choice. Dab a good amount onto your cupcake.
   
   
4. Using a metal spatula, smooth out the buttercream into a flat or dome shape. It doesn't have to be perfect, since it will be covered and smoothed again with fondant.
   
   This will do!
   
   
   
5. Next, using your gel paste, dye a small ball of fondant green, a large ball of fondant sky blue, another small piece of fondant red, a medium sized piece brown, and a tiny piece dark brown.
   Note: To dye fondant, you simply use a clean toothpick, dab it in the gel and then poke it into the fondant. Never double dip your toothpick into the gel. Always use a clean one. Next, you knead the fondant until the colour is consistent throughout. If you happen to have pre-coloured fondant, that is even easier and this part is basically done for you!
   
6. Roll the green fondant onto your practice board (or workspace). Cut out 7 little leaves. Imprint a simple line through the leaf with the veining tool.
   
   
7. Roll the red fondant and cut out 2 tiny hearts and 2 tiny circles. Use the veining tool to create a dimple at the top and bottom of the circles so that they resemble apples. Then, I pushed a brown sprinkle into the fondant to create the apple stem.
   
   
8. Roll out the brown fondant and using your utility knife, cut out 2 hedgehogs. I know this part is the trickiest part because it is hard to freehand shapes. Especially on soft fondant. I find that it becomes easier to work with if you let the fondant harden for a tiny bit, but not too hard that it crumbles! Don't forget to add the tiny fondant legs! I took tiny pieces of fondant and rolled them into small cylinder shapes.
   
9. Find a small brown sprinkle and use that for the hedgehog's eye. I simply push it in, embedding the sprinkle into the fondant.
   
   
10. Using the thinner side of the veining tool, softly press little dashes onto the hedgehog's body. This will create the spines. Let all the decorations sit on icing sugar to dry.
    
11. Next, roll the blue fondant and cut out 9 circles.
    
12. Using the stitching tool, carefully create a "path" on the fondant. Watch your turns! Try to plan out your path so that they connect when placed in a set.
    
    
13. Finally, attach all the leaves, apples, hearts, and hedgehogs onto the 9 blue circles. The last step is to place the decorated fondant pieces on top of your delicious cupcake!
    

Step back, and enjoy your handiwork!