Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Vanilla Cupcakes

I bought myself the new Crabapple Cupcake Bakery Cookbook by Jennifer Graham, and followed their Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream recipe to the letter. The result is a moist but on the coarse side, crumbed, cupcake (which tastes better on the second day) and a super sweet icing, which sets with a crust. For me the icing is nothing to rave about, especially as the icing is far too sweet in its plain state. I will try it again though but in a citrus or other flavour which will cut through the sugar. As the icing sets hard and it good for transporting it might be a good one for long transportation.
The decoration is their signature swirl, which they give instructions on how to do, and its fairly easy to follow, the swirl does take practice.Crabapple Bakery usually put sugar piped daisys and sprinkles on top. But you know me and my silver ball and glitter addiction.

I have the utmost respect for Jennifer and her family, they as far as I know have been a leader in Melbourne with regards to cupcakes, starting off with the markets, then working their way to a shop at the Parhan Markets and then opening a factory/bakery in Ferntree Gully.

Over the coming weeks I will be trialing more of their recipes and seeing what makes them so special.

6 comments:

Patricia Scarpin said...

Your cupcakes are beautiful! Love the photo with the martini glass.

Judi said...

I tried a couple of different Crabapple cupcakes from the Crabapple factory and they were both stale. I gave them a second chance and bought 4 from the Prahran Market stall one Sat. morning, and again, all stale! Never again...

cupcaketastic said...

Thanks patricia

Judi - thanks for the comment. I truely believe that cupcakes are not meant to be a long lasting cake and think that 24 to 36 hours is their maximum shelf life. I have never actually bought a cupcake from Crabapple Bakery, I have been to their factory and the retail shop though but was not in the mood to sample at the time. And have you seen the cupcakes they have at McDonalds these days, I would touch one with a barge pole, they look so dry.

heather (errantdreams) said...

*Drools* Now I'm going to have to try to get my hands on this cookbook for review! Thank you so much for mentioning it.

Unknown said...

Greetings!
I found you via Flickr and have to tell you that after perusing your photostream, I cannot wait for fall season so that it'll be cool enough to bake. I want to get back into decorating. (although I'm sure I'll be nowhere as good at it as you are. You've got real talent! :-) )
I also wanted to ask you about the glitter used here in these shots. Is this an edible glitter or was it used just for the photos? If it's edible, can you please tell me who the manufacturer is? I'd love to see if I can find some here in the states.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Best Regards,
Jen

cupcaketastic said...

Thanks for the lovely comments.

Jen - the glitter is called Edible Art from Co. Durham DL 6LZ England. I use it as an edible product, it is described as non toxic and poorly absorbed. As for supplies in the States maybe you could try http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/coloring/dusts.htm (not sure if it is the same product)
or purchase from the UK.
http://www.blueribbons.co.uk/shop/7/40/index.htm
or
http://www.fairygoodies.co.uk/acatalog/Edible_Glitter_Cake_Decoration.html