Today I felt like baking :)

Today I had a whole morning to myself which does not happen often so I baked :)

First on the agenda a batch of sweet Paté brisé adapted from a french recipe I have had for years.

While that was in the fridge resting. I started the first batch of double chocolate & chocolate chip muffins followed by a batch of carrot and banana muffins for my kids lunch boxes this week.

For some reason I then had the idea to turn them into cupcake trees which i had been contemplating trying to create for some time. SO this prompted me to make a batch of butter cream icing divide it up and colour it pink, yellow and orange. Fantastic! I used my new powder colours which I bought from V a fantastic Chocolatier in Dubai who taught me chocolate basics.

Then I made a from scratch creme pattisserie and added the juice of 1/2 an orange which made it taste divine.

Once cooled and thickened I spread it in the cooked paté brisé pastry case and sliced the strawberries for the top. My son Toby and I made the star pattern on top  together (My sons were both home from school by this time!)

I iced the muffins this evening and made the cupcake bouquets. It was actually surprisingly easy. I found that putting the cupcakes in the fridge first made them more secure when attached. In the spaces between the cupcakes to hide the styofoam ball it is all stuck into I used shreaded tissue paper from my sons craft supplies (luckily we had a full and varied stock just for this type of emergency :)  and pushed it in the gaps. I used a colour which i thought worked best with the icing.

 

I hope you like them

HollyG x