Getting Better

After weeks of talking about it perhaps the time has come to test the crazy cupcake dream out properly.

I spent some serious time last weekend costing the basic ingredients. Sat on the deck in this glorious spring sunshine I compared the price of basic, own brand, branded and luxury flours, fats, sugars and eggs. I then calculated the cost per batch of cakes, chose a few classic flavours and ordered the ingredients and equipment required. Nothing like getting stuck in and seeing just how many cupcakes can be made in a day, how exhausting/stressful/exciting/much fun it can be. And then of course establishing if anyone wants to eat or better still buy some.

Leaving work tomorrow gives me the ideal opportunity to test things out. 6 boxes of cakes as a gift to colleagues and friends. Four batches - vanilla, fresh lemon, chocolate orange and red velvet. Baked to perfection in 38mm tall funky greaseproof cases, supported in brand new deep muffin tins.

Baking the cakes was the delightful bit - as the ingredients blended together and the cakes magically rose in the heat of my recently repaired rangemaster. The aroma of fresh baking drew Ian in from his studio, but of course they were not yet iced - that was this afternoon's task.

And that was when the "fun" started. No problem with the basic buttercream - in spite of the hand whisk having died last weekend. But the chocolate ganache set so hard it blocked the Wilton #1 nozzle I had finally sourced. Let's just say it's no longer a standard #1. Messing around with colours, cream cheese, more chocolate frosting and still no hand whisk made for an afternoon of hot water, washing up, throwing away endless disposable piping bags and wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea.

But once they were iced, and finished with edible glitter, wafer flowers and other assorted delights - wow! They started to look very good. Definitely getting better at this and beginning to believe there may be a market out there for them.

What do you think?