I admit to a minor unhealthy obsession with butterflies, they popped up on our wedding invitations and often pop up on my clothes (well the fabric print anyway). When I found a butterfly cutter in Plenty at Bondi Junction ($2.95) I grabbed it straight away. I had been looking on ebay US for some butterfly cutters but didn’t realise that Bondi Junction had what I needed.
These were from the green tea cupcakes that I made for my husband’s birthday. I simply added some green tea powder which I bought in Tokyo (this can be found in Japanese/Asian grocery stores here) to a regular vanilla buttercake recipe.
I made these for a group of friends from High School who are all now pregnant/with babies. To my horror, the morning of the afternoon tea, I googled green tea and saw that pregnant women aren’t supposed to have a lot of green tea. I brought them not wanting to arrive empty handed and the mums to be weren’t too worried as we did the calculations and figured that there was less green tea per cupcake than in a cup of green tea!
Green tea cupcakes with mascarpone frosting
Green tea Buttercake
- 90g butter softened
- 1/2 t vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (150g) Self Raising flour
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon green tea powder (depending on how strong you like it, taste)
- 2 tbs milk
1. Preheat oven to moderate 180degrees/160 fan forced. Line 6 hole texas or 12 hole standard muffin pan with paper cases
2. beat butter, extract, sugar, eggs, flour and milk in small bowl with electric mixer on low until ingredients are just combined. Increase speed to medium, beat until mixture has changed to a paler colour.
3. Divide mixture among cases, smooth surface
4. Bake large cakes about 25 minutes, small cakes about 20 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.
Mascarpone frosting
- 60g butter softened
- 160g mascarpone
- 3 cups (480g) icing sugar
Beat butter and mascarpone in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy, gradually beat in sifted icing sugar.
Decorate with fondant butterflies.
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10 Comments | Add your own
I’ve been looking for macha and don’t know where to buy it. Have you ever thought of mixing it with salt? I saw that in a magazine the other day.
You are on a serious cupcake roll eh? Those butterflies are so pretty.
Hi Pieds Des Anges (Kyl)-Have you tried asian grocery stores? That’s the only place I really see it or specialty food stores. Hmmm green tea & salt… interesting! I might try that as I love caramel & salt.
It certainly looks like I am going through more of a major cupcake phase than normal!
Hi – Just wanted to say I love your Blog name! I’m also a huge Nigella fan.
I have a soap and candle company and would very much like to name a candle “not quite Nigella” if that is OK with you. I can of course link to your blog. I have an upcoming one called Domestic Goddess, so if I think of one more, it would be a nice Nigella-inspired collection.
Let me know what you think.
Samantha
Hi Samantha-that would be totally fine and a great idea, thanks for letting me know!
Hey – Just found your blog today.. mainly because I wanted to see whats going on with the cupcake scene in Sydney. I have this sudden urge to open one up… a very very big urge!
ANYWAY, 2 questions,
1. Do you make your own fondant?
2. How did you get your fondant butterflies to ‘flutter’ up. Sit them in smething?
thanks! Love Your Blog!
Hi Kerusha-I don’t make my own fondant, I buy it from the supermarket. Its called (rather umimaginatively) “White Icing” by Orchard. I cut the butterflies with a butterfly cutter then I rested them face down on some cardboard shaped as a V so that they dried in that shape.
And thanks so much!
Yeah.. I resort to the Ochard icing. Their website is fantastic.. I made about 50 beach cupcakes today and the actual birthday cake was a jellyfish with fondant fish, seahorses, shells etc. Looked awesome.
So I have to ask, whats the best rated cupcake to you… and do you think Sydney is ready for unusual flavours?
I know Americans would eat anything… but aussies are a bit hesitant ( well I think so)!
Hi Kerusha-I hadn’t actually seen their website yet, thanks for the tip, I’ll go and have a look. The birthday cupcakes sound great. I’m afraid I just bought the decorations for my husband’s 30th birthday beach cupcakes.
Best rated cupcake is hard but of the bought ones I think the My Little Cupcake ones are nice but not particularly exciting in that they’re just vanilla.
Of the ones I’ve made I’d have to say the Mochaccino cupcakes, Papaya and coconut cupcakes and the Red Velvet cupcakes were the tastiest.
Haha I think Australians are perhaps a bit more conservative but curious and definitely open to new cupcake flavours! I think that some cupcakes made from American recipes are too sweet for Australians on the whole eg Magnolia’s vanilla cupcakes and from what I’ve read most people halve or cut the amount of sugar in the recipes to suit our less sugar loving palette.
those are the ‘purest’cupcakes ever! beautiful!
i just bought a butter fly biscuit cutter, bookmarking this page right now hehe
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