Today....a new cupcake queen is visiting my blog.
Her name is Anita Kushwaha, and she is touring the world blog by blog on a book tour for her new book:
Purchase here now!
Priya Patel has wanted to become a baker since the first time she saw the light of her Easy Bake Oven. However, working as an assistant baker at Sugarplum Fairy Cakes isn’t the glamorous life she dreamed about. Priya tries to impress her boss, Helen Bouffant, with creative twists on traditional recipes but her culinary skills are completely ignored as she is forced to scrub toilets and clean up everyone else’s mess. After Priya is blamed for a major screw up at Sugarplum Fairy Cakes, she decides to throw in her apron. With the support of her husband, Arj, and a kick in the pants from her best friend, Mae, she decides to start her own cupcakery.
Just when Priya thinks she’s washed her hands of Helen once and for all, they both enter a charity bake off with a grand prize of $10,000. Priya will have to cook the most creative, delicious cupcakes of her life and defend herself against Helen, who will stop at nothing to see Priya and her cupcakery fail. The competition gets heated but there is one thing that will keep Priya going- the love of cupcakes. Does she have what it takes to win the bake-off? Whose talent will prevail?
For the Love of Cupcakes will leave your mouth watering for cupcakes and your cheeks sore from smiling.
How To Ice The Perfect Cupcake
by: Anita Kushawa
Anita's Mango Lassi Cupcake,
You can find the recipe if you click here
So, you’ve baked the perfect cupcake. It’s light, fluffy and decadent. A little mouthful of Heaven! Well, almost. There’s still the icing to contend with. When done correctly, the icing on a cupcake can truly enhance a lovely, moist cake. Furthermore, it’s often that perfect swirl onto top of a cupcake that catches our eye and awakens our sweet tooth. But the prospect of mastering that little swirl of sweetness can be intimidating.
Here are a few quick tips to help you ice the perfect cupcake:
♥Needless to say, you need to start off with great icing. (Check out my recipe for Maple Buttercream at: http://anitakushwaha.wordpress.com.)
♥ Choose the right tip. I prefer to use the Wilton 1 M to ice my cupcakes. If you’re icing average size cupcakes, you’re probably going to want to use a larger tip. For minis, smaller tips work well.
♥Practice. When I first started working with a piping bag, it took some getting used to. So, before you have to ice that batch of cupcakes for your best friend’s 30th birthday party—or some other special event—why not spend some time perfecting your technique on a piece of parchment paper? Instead of using the buttercream icing you’ve lovingly prepared, you could opt for the ready-made variety for your practice sessions. (A baker friend of mine used to use whipped shortening to practice with until she got the hang of it.)
♥ Make sure your decorating tip is firmly placed at the end of your piping bag. If your tip is loose, your icing will likely squirt around the tip rather than through it.
♥Once your piping bag is full, twist the open end and hold. This is going to be the hand that you squeeze and apply pressure with. Your other hand (i.e. towards the tip-end of the piping bag), will be your guiding hand.
♥ Imagine that you’re going to make a little mountain of icing on top of your cupcake. Start at the outer edge of the cupcake, and circle your way into the centre, reducing the size of your circle with every turn. Once you reach the top of your swirl, press down very lightly, and then pull up with a bit of flare.
Et voilà! I hope these tips and tricks help you to achieve the prefect cupcake swirl.
Wishing you sweet satisfaction,
Anita Kushwaha
About Anita
Anita was born on Spring Equinox, on the cusp of Aries and Pisces. According to the Chinese Zodiac she’s also a monkey.
She loves the creative process in its various manifestations and enjoys spending time writing and teaching yoga.. Baking gets her out of my head, a remedy for writer’s block. Anita is also a loving wife, devoted auntie and proud cat mom. Her cat’s name is Noodles. He looks a bit like Garfield.Other things Anita loves besides writing and baking are trees, whales and elephants. Her favorite color is green. She have no desire to travel to space, but a trip around the world ranks high on her bucket list. Writing is Anita’s chosen method of self-expression and has been from a young age. Last but not least, she bleeds red and white, as any proud Canuck.
♥
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