Shiver Me Timbers 27.07.
These cupcakes and cupcake display were done for my niece’s 8th birthday party this past weekend. She has developed an interest in pirates lately which was exciting because it is a really fun theme to work with! The treasure box was originally an unfinished wooden treasure box which we painted black and added a pirate accent onto. The inside of the treasure chest was filled with plastic coins, plastic necklaces as well as a scroll. The cake board was covered in black foil and a pirate flag (which had been taken apart) was placed on top of it. The coins scattered on the cake board were chocolate coins, so they were edible. The cupcakes were chocolate with a chocolate ganache and the skull chocolate toppers were made using a skull mould. It’s not easy finding a skull mould in July as it is considered to be a Halloween item, but after a lot of searching, I finally did find one…PHEW!
Photos of the cupcakes from last year’s birthday…from cutesy little bugs/flowers to pirates!
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Recipe (for cupcakes used in pirate display)
(adapted from here)
Cupcake Ingredients:
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
2 cups (500mL) sugar
1/2 cup (125mL) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons (10mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1 cup (250 mL) vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups (500 mL) of butter milk
2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla
Ganache Frosting Ingredients:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
8 ounces (1 cup) heavy cream
Directions:
Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius).
To make cupcakes, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing well. Increase speed and beat for 2 minutes, until well combined. Spoon into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling slightly more than halfway. Do not overfill, they rise a lot!
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until tops are firm and toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes, then transfer to rack and cool completely.
Ganache Frosting: Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until just simmering (careful not to let it boil over). Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate in a heat-resistant bowl. Let sit for 2 minutes. Mix well until smooth. If ganache is too runny, let it cool for awhile until it’s at the appropriate consistency. Then, dip the tops of room temperature cupcakes into the ganache, letting excess drain for a few seconds before righting the cupcakes. Let cool completely.