photo book 29/6

This week in pictures:

learning!/what a lovely fry-up/sweetie cart at a family wedding/showing love in mash potato form/LBD day/yummy dough balls/date night- five year engagement/tee hee hee/end of an era, thanks for the memories Waitrose!/the graze guys know how to do things/late night pastries/my future…. new job is so good!

Instagram: emilyfordham

x

five… things for perfect jubilee cupcakes

I love any type of celebration as it is the perfect excuse to make some themed cupcakes. Baking is one of my all time favourite things to do but unfortunately I don’t seem to have enough spare time to indulge it anymore. When I do I like to go all out and make something really special.
The Diamond Jubilee this weekend has got me planning and thinking about some patriotic cupcakes. Here are some ideas I’ve come up with:

1. a cupcake stand– you always need somewhere pretty to show off your creations. I love this stand, it’s got a nice rustic look with muted colours. I wouldn’t normally buy a stand specifically for an occasion but the Queen’s been our Queen for 60 years… That’s pretty special! It could also be re-used for Olympic celebrations later on this year or any future royal weddings!

2. freeze-dried strawberry pieces- I saw these in Waitrose the other week and thought they’d make the perfect addition to a standard vanilla cupcake mix. They are teeny little pieces that you could just sprinkle into your cake mix before dividing up into cases and baking. The strawberry bits will add a real zing to the cupcakes and nice little bursts of flavour whilst also making them nice and summery. Also strawberry’s are such a British fruit which makes them perfect for the jubilee theme!

3. miniature flags- you could pick up some of these cute little cupcake toppers from many cake decorating stores or why not save some money and make some yourself? I did this for the Royal Wedding last year and they are so simple to make. All you need is a computer and printer (to make the flag bits) and then some cocktail sticks and glue. Find an image of the British flag on Google and put two next to each other like so:

Repeat this over and over until you have the required amount of flags. Print, cut out and then fold in half around the cocktail stick. Glue the two flags together and voila… Homemade flag cupcake toppers! (remember you can use this principle for any flag you like!)

4. patriotic sprinkles- red, white and blue sprinkles… Perfect for the finishing touches to your cupcakes! The ones pictured are from a company called Fiddes Payne available from Waitrose but I’ve seen other supermarkets do their own branded Jubilee decorations. Just hit the home-baking section and see what you can find!

5. print-your-own crown cupcake wrappers– another cute little DIY project for gorgeous Jubilee cupcakes. Follow the link to a lovely site where you can print off these crown wrappers. I’d recommend printing on card for a sturdier wrapper. It’s so simple and will make any cupcake look fit for the occasion.

Will you be making any Jubilee cupcakes this weekend?

x