Cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream

I am not sure we are in Sweden anymore... It has been a week with really high temperatures and we have been out everyday enjoying this superb weather. It has been amazingly nice! 
Don't panic! I have managed to get some time for my baking. Cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream and fondant decorations.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
115g of butter (room temperature)
220g of sugar
3 eggs
200g of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon and a half of baking powder
120 ml of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (you can use any flavour you like)

For the buttercream:
250 g of butter (room temperature)
250 g of icing sugar
100 g of white chocolate
1 tablespoon of milk

The cupcakes.
We sift the flour with the baking powder in a bowl and we reserve for later.
We mix the butter with the sugar until they blend together and we have something like this.

We now add the eggs one by one and when everything is nicely mixed we add half of the flour and use the mixer on a low speed. We need the milk now, we mix again and then we add the rest of the flour. We will get the perfect dough mixing on low speed.
It is time to fill up the paper cases. To make sure all the cupcakes have the same size, I use an ice cream scoop and put two scoops in each paper case.

We put them in the oven at 180°C for 22-24 minutes. We will let them cool before decorating.
The white chocolate buttercream.

We melt the chocolate and we let it cool aside.

We mix the sugar, the butter and the milk in a bowl. As you mix with the electric mixer, it is a good idea to cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth so the sugar does not end up all over your kitchen. It is important to start mixing on a low speed until all the ingredients blend together. After one minute we continue on a medium speed for two minutes more.

At this point we add the white chocolate and we continue mixing for 4 more minutes. Our buttercream is ready!!

Let's start decorating. We put the buttercream in a pipping bag with a star nozzle. We begin in the centre of the cupcake and we go around until we cover it. It is not uncommon to miss a spot and the cupcake shows out of the buttercream. To avoid this you can cover your cupcakes with a fine layer of buttercream before you start working with the pipping bag.

I added some edible glitter on top of the buttercream and then I put the fondant decorations.

I only had white fondant and it was not going to look good on my white buttercream so I added a couple of drops of pink gel colouring. I used different cutters to make different designs and here is how it looks (or looked because they are all gone by now!!)

Pirate vanilla cookies

Do you remember I was waiting for the dough to soften? Well, I made the cookies and this is the result. My kids and their friends loved them!

You should definitely try the recipe. Here it goes!

This are the ingredients you will need to  make around 20 medium-sized cookies.

125 g of butter (room temperature)
1 egg
250 g of all purpose flour
75 g of sugar
5 g of baking powder
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

We start mixing the flour with the baking powder and the sugar in a bowl. 
We make a hole in the center and we add the egg, the butter cut in cubes and the extract of vanilla. 
We mix everything with the hands until we get a soft and uniform dough that does not stick to the bowl. We wrap the dough in plastic foil and we put it in the fridge for an hour. 
When we take out the dough from the fridge we let it soften for 10 minutes so it is not too difficult to work with it. I normally cut the dough in half and work with it in two different batches. 
We extend it with a roller pin until we get a half centimeter thick. Keep the other half in the fridge. If the dough is too warm we will not get a clean cut with the cutters. 
Now we choose the forms we want for our cookies and put them in a baking tray on some baking papper. We cook them in the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden. We left them cool in a rack and we get ready for my favourite part: decorating!!

You can use icing or fondant for decorating your cookies. This time I chose fondant. You find it in different colours in the stores and you use the same cutters you used for the cookies. Just with a little creativity you will have tasty cookies that will look amazing. 

I am trying to decide what to make for the next post. Any suggestions?

Waiting for the dough to soften

Hi everyone!

This is the first post of my first blog. I have just taken out of the fridge the dough for my cookies. Let me tell you about myself and how I discovered my passion for baking while I wait for the dough to soften. 

I moved to Lund (Sweden) more than a year ago with my husband and my two beautiful kids. It has not been easy but I am proud to say that we are more or less settled. 

I started baking a couple of years ago while I was living in France. At first I learned a lot of recipes and tricks watching videos on the internet and reading books. I baked cakes, cupcakes, cookies and cakepops non stop. I was fascinated. A few months ago I took it seriously and I attended several courses with Jessica, one of the best creative bakers in Madrid.

My dream is to open a little shop and atelier where I can offer all my sweet creations. Until I can make it come true I will be sharing my DeliCakes with you every week.

The dough is ready! Time to bake!