Monthly Archives: August 2014

Marzipan Cupcake Garnish – Beautiful & Delicious!

Marzipan garnish decorating a cupcake!
Marzipan garnish decorating a cupcake!

Here is another wonderful cupcake garnish!  The flowers you see here are made from marzipan and are not only beautiful, but very tasty too!

Marzipan is made of finely ground almonds mixed with sugar to create a paste that can be molded into cake icing, wonderful candies, and cupcake garnishes!  It is very delicious and can be found in any baking aisle!

Still not sure what marzipan is?  Well, If you have ever been in a candy store, you have seen marzipan.  The beautiful miniature fruit candies found in the display case are made from marzipan that has been colored and molded into beautiful shapes, such as apples, oranges, or bananas by a skilled candy maker. Next time you see them, try one.  They are very tasty!

Creating this garnish was very easy.  Here is the short list of what is required.

Fondant Cutters – mine are from Wilton and I found them at Michaels for less than $4.
Marzipan – this comes in small cans or tubes in any baking aisle.
Gel Food Colors – these now come in the multipack – love it!

 

Coloring the marzipan!
Coloring the marzipan!

To color the marzipan:  Break off the amount you think you will need;  microwave for just a few seconds  to warm it slightly; add a couple of drops of food coloring; knead the marzipan to incorporate the color.  You may need to add a little water if it seems dry, a little powdered sugar if it seems too moist.

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Rolling out the marzipan:  Cover your surface with a light coating of powdered sugar; roll the marzipan to a thickness of about 1/4″.  Using trial and error, decide what thickness works for your project.

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Cutting the flowers:  Using your fondant cutters, cut out the flowers for your decorations. The tricky part to this, is removing the flower from the cutter.  Because the flowers are delicate, you will need to use toothpicks or bamboo sticks to remove them from the cutter.  I used both the sharp and blunt ends of the picks to accomplish this.

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The cupcakes you see here were for a wedding shower and because I needed to garnish 40 cupcakes, I made the flowers a couple of days before the event.  I stored them on wax paper in an airtight container.  The multi-colored flowers I stacked before storing them because the marzipan will dry some and it will be more difficult to get the pieces to stick together if they dry too much.  You can always use a little corn syrup “glue” when stacking flowers.  Not too much though or they will slide apart!

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I used Marzipan to decorate my Gluten-free Chocolate Ganache Cake from a previous post!  Delicious and beautiful – gotta love it!

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake
Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

Gluten-free Chocolate Ganache Cake – Made in the Microwave!

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake
Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

Last week, we had a family birthday to celebrate and I needed a small, gluten-free cake that I could make in an hour  without using the oven.  It was 90 plus degrees out and turning on an oven was the last thing I wanted to do.  Amazingly enough, after a quick internet search, I was able to make it happen!

Coming to my rescue was none other than my favorite baking mix – Pamela’s Baking  and Pancake Mix .  I have said it before and I’ll say it again – I love this mix.  I use it for pancakes, muffins, cookies and now cake!

On Pamela’s website, I found a recipe for bread that was prepared in the microwave!  I tried the recipe and it worked fabulously!  I was shocked, excited, and absolutely thrilled.  I knew if I could make bread in the microwave, I could make cake.

Using  the Amazing Bread in about a Minute recipe as a starting point, I added a few additional ingredients and created a recipe for the beautiful cake you see before you!

Chocolate Ganache Gluten-free Cake

1 egg
1 tsp oil (I use coconut oil!)
3 tablespoons buttermilk
1 teaspoon water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 &1/2 tablespoons of sugar
Using a fork, mix the above ingredients until well blended.

In a small bowl mix, the following dry ingredients:
1/3 cup Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Dry Ingredients
Dry Ingredients

Blend the dry ingredients with the egg mixture and using a spatula transfer the batter to a microwavable bowl.  I used a 2 cup ramekin, which worked really well, since the sides are straight and that allowed me to easily slice the cake to create a layered cake!  Place in the microwave for 2 minutes on high.

Pour cake batter into microwaveable dish
Pour cake batter into microwaveable dish

Remove the ramekin from the microwave.  It will be very hot!  Loosen the sides of the cake and turn it over onto a cooling rack. If it looks like the bottom of the cake is not quite done, just place it back in the ramekin and microwave a little longer!  It sounds crazy, but it works!

After the cake has cooled, slice it into three layers.

Prepare the ganache.  Heat one cup of cream and 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips in a double boiler over simmering water.  Allow the cream & chocolate chips to gently heat then stir until smooth.  Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla and allow the ganache to cool.

To create an extra glossy ganache add 1 tablespoon of corn syrup with the vanilla.

Spread the ganache between the cake layers, stacking them on top of each other.

Create a layer cake with ganache!
Create a layer cake with ganache!

Cover the entire cake with the ganache.  To create the dripping chocolate, heat ganache slightly so it pours easily!

Gluten-free Chocolate Ganache Microwave Cake
Gluten-free Chocolate Ganache Microwave Cake

It’s time to eat cake!!

Gluten-free Chocolate Ganache Microwave Cake
Gluten-free Chocolate Ganache Microwave Cake