Spring Cupcakes
Mango and Poppyseed Cupcakes
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2 tablespoons poppyseeds
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2 tablespoons milk
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2 cups cake flour (to make this, place 2 tablespoons of cornflour and top up to 1 cup with plain flour, repeat for 2 cups)
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1/2 cup caster sugar
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125g/4ozs butter, softened
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2 eggs
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1/2 cup mango flesh, chopped finely
For buttercream icing
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1/2 cup (125grams) unsalted butter, softened
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4 cups icing sugar
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1/4 cup milk
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate
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Yellow coloured fondant
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Red coloured fondant
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Small round chocolate discs
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White icing pen
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Black icing pen (or a small amount of dark chocolate melted)
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Black Kopycake pen to draw dots and faces
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Flaked almonds
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Toothpicks
Step 1 - Make the decorations first as you want them to dry. Always start shapes as a round ball. To make bees, roll yellow fondant into a round ball and then shape into an oval. Stick almond flakes into the sides as wings and draw stripes on them using the black gel tube pen (I got these from Little Betsy Baker) and draw eyes and a mouth using an edible pen like the Kopycake one also from Little Betsy Baker. Leave to dry.
Step 2 - Make the ladybirds but pressing out a small ball of red fondant and sticking it to a chocolate button (use water if necessary). With a small paring knife then cut out a small V on one side and the using a round cutter or the open side of a icing tip, cut off the opposite side (as shown). Draw dots on top with the black edible pen and use the white gel tube pen to draw eyes. Leave to dry.
Step 3 - Preheat oven to 180C and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with liners. Soak poppyseeds in milk and set aside. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy and then add eggs one at a time. Fold in flour, poppyseeds and milk and mango flesh. Spoon into prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Step 4 - To make buttercream, place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes) and add a few drops of green food coloring until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency and the colour is completely incorporated.
Step 5 - To assemble: Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with the green icing and pipe it onto the top of the cupcakes. Place 1 or 2 flowers on top and then place a ladybird on the cupcake. Break a toothpick in half and use that to position a flying bee on top of the cupcake.