Trivuncic - Bake Me Im Yours . . . Sweet Bitesize Bakes Fun Baking Recipes for over 25 Tiny Treats

A TASTE OF:Bake Me Im Yours Sweet Bitesize BakesSarah TrivuncicBitten by the baking bug Since I became known as someone who bakes a lot, Ive noticed how peoples faces instantly light up when you talk about cakes. A shared love of making, admiring or enjoying cakes and cookies is a wonderful talking point. Most people have baked something before and many wish they were better, thinking that fancy stuff is beyond their reach. I often encourage my friends that baking and cake decorating are accessible skills with great results for anyone prepared to practise a little. Writing this book, I realized that while most people have baked sponges or biscuits, the majority will not have ventured far into cake decoration. The past three years since I started writing my blog Maison Cupcake has seen a huge surge in baking and cake decorating ranges available in high-street stores.

I firmly believe that the only barrier to succeeding in your first sugarcraft projects is gathering the right equipment and taking a little time to experiment. Once bitten by the baking and cake decorating bug, unless you have a big family or a community group to donate to, sharing treats out quicker than you can make them can be tricky. The beauty of small-scale bakes is that everyone can try a few things at once! Sarah maisoncupcake.com Tools and Equipment Shown in this section is a selection of the baking and cake decorating equipment used in this book. Some items are needed for every project and others for a few specific ones; check the you will need list for each project. GENERAL BAKING EQUIPMENT Baking parchment Sieve Scales preferably digital Rolling pin Electric mixer large stand-alone model or handheld with a large bowl Baking beans for baking pastry cases blind Small palette knife to lift cookies and spread buttercream Wooden spoon and silicone spatula Cocktail sticks (toothpicks) Wire cooling rack Baking sheets 20cm (8in) square cake tin (pan) 12-hole baking tins (pans) sized accordingly Madeleine or mini-madeleine tin (pan) Cannelle mould Metal cutters circular and heart shaped in a variety of sizes Paper cupcake cases Mini for bitesize cakes foil 20 32mm ( 1in); paper 24 30mm (1 1in) Standard used for traditional fairy cakes 25 45mm (1 1in) Muffin used for larger American-style cupcakes 45 49mm (1 2in) Lollipop sticks for cake pops Polystrene or oasis block with holes to stand cake pops in

CAKE DECORATING EQUIPMENT Piping (pastry) bags disposable, handmade paper or re-usable, with coupler Piping tubes (tips) selection of round, plus large star for piping buttercream swirls and roses or mini meringues, small star for piping mini pavlova nests Miniature non-stick rolling pin for rolling out sugarpaste Square acrylic mat to roll out small quantities of sugarpaste, also to cover cut-out pieces while working A4 plastic sleeve cut at base so you can open like a book for modelling sugarpaste petals Pins to pierce tubes (tips) if icing dries out Plunger cutters to cut out daisy and blossom shapes Piping gun with syringe nozzle for filling choux buns and fingers Cocktail sticks (toothpicks) to add food colouring to icing and sugarpaste Zip-lock plastic bags and cling film (plastic wrap) to wrap and store sugarpaste and stop it drying out Sealable plastic tubs for storing royal icing Sticky labels for identifying icing at a glance Gel or paste food colourings Lustre liquid, powder and sprays Edible glitter Cling film (plastic wrap) Miscellaneous sugar baubles and sprinkles Candy dipping tool Crystallized rose and violet petals Sugar thermometer used for fondant icing Chopstick great for making tiny circles such as babies eyes and nostrils Fine brush for applying lustre powders or liquids Latex gloves to prevent food colouring staining your hands Plastic modelling tools for shaping and modelling sugarpaste RecipesVanilla sponge cake This classic vanilla sponge recipe forms the basis of many projects in this book; this recipe will yield 32 mini cupcakes, 18 standard cupcakes or 12 muffin-sized cupcakes.

For a 20cm (8in) square cake for cutting into fondant fancies, increase the recipe quantities by 50 percent, using the table supplied. The sponge can be flavoured as desired (see ).

ingredients	for cupcakes	for a 20cm (8in) square cake
unsalted (sweet) butter, softened	125g (4oz)	180g (6oz)
caster (superfine) sugar	125g (4oz)	180g (6oz)
large (US extra large) eggs, lightly beaten	2	3
vanilla extract	5ml (1 tsp)	7.5ml (1 tsp)
self-raising (-rising) flour, sifted	125g (4oz)	180g (6oz)
milk	20ml (1 tbsp)	30ml (2 tbsp)

1 Preheat the oven to180C/350F/Gas 4. Take three 12-hole tins (pans) and line with 32 mini paper cupcake cases. 2 Using an electric mixer with a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. 3 Fold in the flour one-third at a time until just combined. 3 Fold in the flour one-third at a time until just combined.

Fold in the milk but do not over mix. 4 Evenly spoon the batter into the cases, filling them two-thirds full. 5 Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until a cocktail stick (toothpick) inserted comes out clean. 6 Leave in the tins (pans) for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Baking times If using this recipe to make larger cupcakes or a single cake, adjust the baking times to: 18 standard cupcakes 1618 minutes 12 muffin-sized cupcakes 1820 minutes 20cm (8in) square cake 1820 minutes Flavour variations To change the flavour of your sponge, try the following alternatives:
Chocolate: replace 25g (oz) flour with 25g (oz) cocoa powder (unsweetened cocoa) and replace the vanilla extract with chocolate extract. Irish cream: as for chocolate but replace the milk with Irish cream liqueur. Lemon: replace the vanilla extract with lemon extract and add the finely grated zest of one lemon to the flour. French macarons These elegant Parisian almond meringues are sandwiched together in pairs with soft fillings ganache, buttercream, crme patissire, jam, curd anything! This recipe makes up to 48 shells (24 pairs), which can be flavoured to suit (see ).