Birthday cupcakes!

Hey y'all! My baby brother's and youngest sister's birthdays happen to fall on consecutive weekends in April, which means my parents are always super hasselled during that time trying to get their parties organised (because kids these days simply have to have birthday parties *rolls eyes*) , and calling up every. single. patisserie in Sydney in an attempt to find the perfect cake for the event.

I exaggerate, but only by a little bit. Seriously, ordering a cake can be quite stressful business! And so very expensive these days. I would of course love to make the cake for each sibling's birthday (I have another younger sister), but somehow I am always the busiest with uni assignments and exams during the period they have their parties.

This year, I was determined to offer at least something to the party table, even if I didn't have the time to make the centrepiece. For my brother's birthday, I whipped up four dozen chocolate cupcakes (devil's food, to be exact), all topped with a luxurious swiss meringue buttercream frosting. The colours of the frosting were chosen to accompany his birthday cake, which was made by the talented Rochelle of Candystar Cakes & Candy Bar. It was a very impressive fondant-covered 3D cake, modelled after Lightning McQueen, of Cars fame.

Unfortunately, the prettiest cakes aren't always the tastiest ones to eat. I'm talking fondant-covered cakes in general here. And it always seems an awful waste when it comes time to chuck out the fondant (which most people don't eat because of its tooth-ache inducing sweetness). Hmm, maybe one day someone will come up with a sort of rolled icing that actually tastes good. Buddy Valastro, owner of Carlos' Bakery and star of Cake Boss, seem to use a lot of modelling chocolate in his cakes. I wonder if that tastes better than fondant.

Anyway, the cake and cupcakes were still a hit with all the children and adults at the party :D

For my sister's birthday the following week, I made cupcakes that were less flashy than the ones for my brother, but (in my opinion) had the upper hand taste-wise.

I made two types: in front, we have the infamous chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake (the recipe or which I got from The Doctor's Dishes), and in the second row are oreo cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting (an adapted recipe of the one at Annie's Eats).

For the sake of parity, we also ordered her a 3D cake from Rochelle, this time in the shape of a designer handbag! Kids these days...my 10th birthday cake was in the shape of Snoopy!

Stylish, eh?

The birthday girl and her friends had a great time eating cake. Lots of it :D