Butterflies

This morning after a late night gelling and trimming I made butterfly cupcakes using fancy flours edible butterflies. Oh my!!
What fun!!

New apps!

I'm having a little go at a new app on my new phone which allows me to publish from anywhere at anytime!
I'm trying this because i'd like to use it with my new blog, which is yet to be named, but which will follow my adventures in discovering my own cultural identity via food...
Stay tuned!

Duck cupcakes for a one year old.

Ada & her cupcake

 A few weeks ago i was having a discussion with a customer over what she wanted for her little beauty, Ada's, 1st birthday.  New to kids birthday's she didn't realise that she could theme it.  I asked her a few question's about Ada's likes and dislikes and if she'd shown a particular interest in a toy.  She was stumped, then said the only thing she could think of was ducks,  she really likes ducks! So I suggested that as a number of the attendees were going to be babies that maybe I make vanilla cupcakes with blue coloured vanilla butter cream topped with a mini rubber ducky for the bath.

Ada's mum & dad decided to continue the ducky theme throughout the party!

I Prepared a dozen chocolate cupcakes as requested

Rubber ducky cupcakes

New Facebook fanpage!

Check out my new Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Cupcakes-of-Kensington/128297173847803?v=info Hope to see you there!!

mums night out 2010 update

What an awesome night!  I had so much fun, but more importantly met up with some amazing women who supported MNO so wholeheartedly!

I enjoyed modelling the incredible Argyro Gavalas designs with La Toriana's Elizabeth and Amanda from Real Mums and the gorgeous Simone too.  The giggling going on in the dressing room was too much!  Of course this was after we'd had our makeup touched up by Briony K of Adorn. Debbie Alford did a great job of entertaining us all night long as the very versatile MC for the night, her comments during the fashion parade made me feel ten feet tall!!  We all, at some stage of the night sat  for an incredible massage by Emma McIntyre of Handprint Massage who has also generously donated hours and hours of her time in vouchers for the goody bags, which i may add where provided by The Spotty Napkin and filled with great vouchers and goody's!!

We played a couple of party games which had some real mums down on their hands and knees pairing up socks from my very own stash of unpaired socks, which, those who know me will tell you is a vast collection....  Elizabeth generously donated a weekend at the stunning Front Beach Torquay as a prize for the hotly contested game of statues!  Larna who donated some great chef's toolbox prizes made the perfect judge for the game, all she was missing was her cravat!

I managed to win the most amazing prize pack, which was one of several donated by Glitzee, it was choc-full of the most gorgeous blingy girly things which i love love love.  There was so many prizes to be won on the night, donated by so many great supporters including Norlin's devine Baubles, bubbles & bags , Mother's tool kit & What can i eat

Earlier on in the evening the real mum of the year nominee's were announced then it was awarded to the fabulous Jodi Gibson, who won some great prizes of which i must admit i am totally jealous from Chef's toolbox, a cool chocolate bouquet from Better than flowers.  Chris Owen from Pink Apple generously donated her 'cape' in the shape of a fluffy white bathrobe. Jodi's tiara was placed over her horns and her sash draped carefully across her décolletage

We enjoyed both Vanilla cupcakes and Devil's food cupcakes with buttercream frosting which i'd marbled into the realmums colours, as requested!  Frangelico AND Bailey's Chocolate shots of which were provided by the chocolatier in Ivanhoe, were downed by many of our gorgeous mums!

These pics were taken by Amanda, but our official photographer for the evening was Sarah of Sarah Louise Photography who takes the most amazing pictures!  I can't wait to see her pics from the night, I will post links here when they are available.

I have to say this, it may seem like i am gratuitously plugging these businesses, actually I am!!  They deserve so much support and attention for their own support and sponsorship of Mum's night out 2010,  I know after lots of hard work put in it was such a pleasure to enjoy the evening and have so much fun.

Mums night out 2010

Tomorrow night is Mums Night Out 2010, i've just finished stuffing goody bags with madcow herself. I can't wait, chocolate shots, a fashion parade featuring moi and cupcakes. That's right cupcakes! Which brings me to my apoligies, sort of. I've been making cupcakes so much that i haven't had time to blog. For ages and ages! I promise that will all change now. Right now. In the mean time this is a little of what i've been doing:

Wedding cupcakes

Doggie cupcakes for a launch

Gluten-free Vanilla on Vanilla for a 60th Birthday

More doggies for Mother's day!

Mum's new sous chef

For the first time ever mum let me help make cupcakes.  We had so much fun. I even helped clean up, the mixing bowl that is.  Because it was Melbourne cup day we thought we'd make Melbourne cup themed cupcakes, but i let mum do the fun stuff The decorating. I picked mudcake with butter cream frosting, a kids favorite. Mum sprinkled coconut that had been coloured green and topped it with white chocolate melts that had been decorated with cups, hats, horseshoes and flowers. When we were done, I/we took them down to the park to share with my/our friends.  I did eat a few though...

Paddy Mac, Sous Chef, Cupcakes of Kensington

New website coming soon!

I'm doing it! The new website/blog upgrade wheels are a turning!! I have engaged the services of a cool young bloke with the cool young name of Jonny. Jonny is going to revamp cupcakes of Kensington as we know it. Logo, Website, Fonts, perhaps even a tattoo(?!?) The whole kit and caboodle. So be on the look out for the new and improved cupcakes of Ken. It wont be long but in the meantime I promise to try to blog more often.

Enjoy!

Jacinta

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've been using this recipe for years and years, but as a layered cake. Originally the recipe was in an old Queenscliffe community cookbook but I did change it to suit some likes and dislikes as well as add some directions that made it easier for other's to use. I have to admit I have donated several of these cakes for silent auctions and as prizes to raffles and they were highly sought after so it can be too bad!!

I've been wanting to try it as a cupcake for a while but just haven't had the time to until finally over the weekend I made the time! They came out exactly as i hoped and have been a great hit. I'm happy to share my recipe with you, I'd love to see some of your pics too!

Hummingbird Cupcakes w Cream cheese frosting Makes 24

Preheat oven to 180 deg Celsius

2 cups Plain Flour

1 cup chopped Walnuts

1 1/2 cups Vegetable oil

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Bicarb Soda

3 Mashed Banana's

1 cup Grated Carrot

1 1/2 cups Castor Sugar

4 Eggs

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Frosting

230g Soft Butter or Margarine

230g Pure Icing Sugar

230g Soft Cream Cheese

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1. Beat the eggs in large bowl, with sugar and oil until well mixed.
2. Add carrots, nuts and banana's until blended.
3. Sift all the dry ingredients together and gradually add to the wet mixture until combined.
4. 3/4 fill cupcake papers in a cupcake pan and place in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until tested with skewer that comes out cleanly.
5. Beat together Butter/margarine and cream cheese until very pale in colour then add sifted icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Just a little note on the frosting; This recipe makes plenty, it just depends on how you would like to frost the cake. If you just want to place a dollop of frosting on the cupcake, like in the picture shown above then you would only need half the amount so halve the ingredients. But if you wish to pipe the frosting on you may need the full amount.

Enjoy!

Jacinta

RSPCA cupcake day

It's seems like it has been ages since my last post, it probably has been really! I've been very busy cupcaking for birthdays, charity days, family gatherings as well as just for fun. Recently the RSPCA cupcake day was held and it was decided that we would hold our cupcake day at my son's primary school. We held a colouring competition in the lead up to the event with awesome prizes donated by the Keren at the cupcake courier. Thanks Keren, the children were so excited to win their cup-a-cakes!!

It was great fun, we had lots of children come into the kitchen and help us throughout the day, with such wonderful ideas and so enthusiastic too! We made lots and lots of Vanilla and devil's food cupcakes but still it wasn't enough, we ended up selling out in 3 minutes!! My wonderful partner(in-crime) Ros and I both agreed that we would just have to do it all again the next week so as to ensure that everyone got a cupcake. All in all we raised hundreds of dollars for the RSPCA, a very worthwhile cause. Special thanks goes to Annie for being our official photographer!