Sweet Fun: Sonja Ocampo’s Guide to Creating Yummy Cupcakes

Don’t forget!
•    Always cool your cupcakes before decorating them.
•    An easy, mess-free way to fill your cupcake liners with batter? Use an ice cream scoop!


Smart Tip
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to designing cupcakes. Just play around, experiment, and let your imagination fly!


Popcorn Art

Ingredients:
•    Cupcake with fluffy vanilla butter cream
•    Yellow or white mini marshmallows
•    Popcorn paper band computer print-out

Procedure:
1. Cover frosted butter cream cupcake with mini marshmallows
2. Wrap band around the cupcake, and secure with tape.

How to pipe:
1. Cut the end of a pastry bag.
2. Insert a coupler with your desired pastry tip.
3. Hold the bottom of the pastry bag in one hand, and fold about half of the bag inside-out over your hand.
4. Fill the bag with frosting using a spatula. Press out excess air, and seal with rubber band.
5. With your good hand, hold the top of the pastry bag then squeeze. Use your other hand to direct the bag.

Smart Tip:
You don’t always need to stick to a cupcake recipe to make, uhm, cupcakes. Try any cake recipe! Just bake it for less the amount of time required.

Top Tip:
Practice piping on parchment paper first. Go crazy with your designs!

Sweet reminders:
● Impress your friend by baking your cupcake batter in an ice cream cone. Spoon batter into each ice cream cone. Let your cones stand in cupcake pans and bake. Frost, then cover with sprinkles.
● Use dark-colored metal cupcake pans instead of the flimsy, light colored metal ones. Your cupcakes will rise higher and brown better.
● Don’t have a pastry bag? You can use a large Ziplock bag instead. Fill the bag, pack tight, and squeeze down. Turn the bag 45 degrees so the bottom edge is pointing directly to the floor. Cut a hole. You can also make parchment cones using parchment paper triangles.

Want more?
Cupcakes by Sonja holds small cupcake decorating parties at their store in Serendra at The Fort. Ten kids get to play pastry chef for a day, and spend an afternoon creating cupcakes of different colors and designs.

Sonja’s Create-A-Cupcake parties can also go to your homes. Just gather a group, and they’ll take care of the rest. For inquiries, call: (02)856-0308.

 

Click here to see more yummy cupcake recipes from Sonja.

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Read on to see more yummy cupcake recipes from Sonja.

 

Yummy Recipes!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:
•    2 cups all purpose fl our
•    2 teaspoons baking powder
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
•    1 cup sugar
•    3 egg yolks
•    cup milk
•    1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
2. Line cupcake pan with baking cup papers.
3. Whisk fl our, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
4. With mixer set on medium high speed, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Add egg yolks at once and blend well. Alternately, beat in the dry ingredients and milk. Add vanilla.
5. Scoop batter into muffin cups. Fill each one halfway; this leaves room for the cupcakes to puff up. Wipe any splatters from the top of the tin so they don’t burn.

Place cupcake tin in the oven, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in cupcake pan or on a wire rack.


Royal Icing for Piping:
(Makes 2 1/2 cups)
•    2 large egg whites
•    2 teaspoons lemon juice
•    3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted


Procedure:
1.    Beat egg whites with lemon juice in a mixer.
2.    Add sifted powdered sugar and beat, until well blended.
3.    Use immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container up to two days; stir before using.


Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream:
(Makes 3 cups)
To color your buttercream, add in food coloring drop by drop, until it reaches your desired shade.

Ingredients:
•    2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
•    3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
•    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•    2 tablespoons milk
•    Pinch of salt

Procedure:
1.    Place cupcake tin in the oven, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
2.    Cool cupcakes in cupcake pan or on a wire rack.


Royal Icing for Piping:
(Makes 2 1/2 cups)

Ingredients:
•    2 large egg whites
•    2 teaspoons lemon juice
•    3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Procedure:
1.    Beat egg whites with lemon juice in a mixer.
2.    Add sifted powdered sugar and beat, until wellblended.
3.    Use immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container up to two days; stir before using. Continue by piping the nose and the ears.
4.    Pipe dots with black fluffy vanilla buttercream for the nose and the eyes.
5.    5. Coat ears with pink decorating sugar.

 

Click here to learn more yummy cupcake designs from Sonja.

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Read on to learn more yummy cupcake designs from Sonja.

 

5 Girly girl

Ingredients:
•    Cupcake with fluffy vanilla buttercream
•    Pastry bag with black vanilla buttercream and #4 round tip
•    Pastry bag with white vanilla buttercream and #12 tip
•    Pastry bag with red royal icing and #4 round tip
•    Pastry bag with blue royal icing and #4 round tip


Procedure:
1. On the frosted cupcake, pipe vertical lines of black vanilla buttercream with #4 tip around the top edge of the cupcake to form the hair.
2. Pipe nose using white vanilla frosting and tip #12
3. Pipe eyes with blue royal icing using tip #4.
4. Pipe mouth with red royal icing using tip #4.


6 Star

Ingredients:
•    Cupcake with fluffy vanilla buttercream
•    Star cutter
•    Pastry Bag with Star Tip #20 and filled with Royal Icing


Procedure:
1. Press the star cutter lightly onto the top of the frosted cupcake to form a star imprint.
2. Pipe over and fi ll the inside of the imprint to form a star.

 

Click here to learn more yummy cupcake designs from Sonja.

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Read on to learn more yummy cupcake designs from Sonja.

 

7 Diamond

Ingredients:
•    Cupcake with fluffy vanilla buttercream
•    Pastry bag with blue royal icing and tip #4 Pastry bag with black royal icing and tip #4

Procedure:
1. Frost cupcake with white fluffy vanilla buttercream.
2. Pipe lines, creating crisscross patterns using the the blue royal icing and tip #4.
3. Pipe dots using black royal icing and tip #4.


Photography by Miguel Nacianceno