AB (BFF Anastasia Beaverhausen) called me a few months ago and said that a home ware store Matchbox, in our local shopping centre was holding different cooking classes. AB wanted to do the curry one but I couldn't get a babysitter for that night so we went with the cupcake one. To tell you the truth I wasn't sure how much I thought I would learn. AB is who we call the Cupcake Queen so if I have ever had any 'Cupcake Emergency' she has always been there to help.
Anyhoo, so we turn up for the class on Tuesday evening and there are 11 of us in the class. And the person running the class was pastry chef Sarah Brigden from Baby Cakes, in Tuart Hill. So knowing this I got a little bit excited. I had heard around the 'cake tins' about Baby Cakes but had never ventured there so, glass of wine in hand and camera in the other I was ready for my lesson.
Sarah was fantastic. She showed us two cupcake recipes (a base recipe and death by chocolate) which are the exact ones she uses at Baby Cakes. She also showed us a chocolate ganache (drool) and a raspberry swirl frosting (double drool). Also variations on how to use all of the recipes and tips galore about storing and ingredients. She made it all look terribly easy and the cupcakes tasted divine! The lesson went for 3 hours and then we were able to have a bit of a shop and the store gave us 10% discount on anything we bought that night. We also got a little take home gift (a whisk) and there was a raffle prize for one of us too.
So with my new recipes in hand I was ready to make some cupcakes. I mixed up a batch of the base recipe and was eager to get my cupcakes in the oven. I followed the recipe EXACTLY. To my disappointment my first batch rose too quickly so they spilled over everywhere.
Binned!
I had a slight feeling my oven may have been too hot. I had this same problem with my normal cupcake mixture. The recipe said 200 degrees but I have always done them on 180. Sarah's recipe was said 160 degrees for the little cupcakes so I turned the oven down to 150 degrees and had another go! Same thing happened but not so much.
Binned!
Not to be beaten (pardon the pun) and with AB on the other end of the phone we decided that I might have been filling the cases a bit too much. So this time I did not fill them so high but kept the temperature lower and cooked them for longer and....
Success!! Third time lucky!!
They were lovely and light and so I used up the rest of the mix and took them to the park today for the other mums I was meeting. They went down a treat! But unfortunately fellow bloggers I was so exhausted last night I didn't take pictures and when I thought of it this morning my camera battery needed recharging so I have no pictures of them :(
However, I will be having a go at the Death By Chocolate ones on the weekend and will take pictures to share with you all. Below are some pictures of the cakes that Sarah made and we all ate on the night. AB and I are hoping to book into the advanced class that Sarah holds at Baby Cakes which is hands on which I am looking forward to. Until then I will perfect my cupcakes and although you cannot taste them my fellow bloggers, just know that they are delicious!!!
Sarah Icing the Cupcakes
Death By Chocolate Cupcakes
Cupcakes with Raspberry Swirl Frosting
