Daan's Cupcakes

X-mas cakepops

2011-12-27T08:53:00.000+01:00

I've made several kinds of cakepops for christmas this year, the boys wanted to take some to the school christmas dinner and we had some on christmas day. The cupcake pops were my first attempt ever and can you believe they were harder to make than the trees and the reindeers ?

Klaasbrokken

2011-12-05T10:58:00.001+01:00

We make this recipe every year around Sinterklaas it's a big hit with big and small every since I first made it, loads of calories but so worth it.

The recipe is not mine but I will share my fave blog with you that has a recipe and lot's of great pics for the how to.

raspberry tiramisu

2011-07-02T20:19:00.000+02:00

This was the first tiramisu I ever made and I must say it is a keeper ! I'm not a big fan of tiramisu, never eat it as I don't like ameretto or coffee so this fresh & sweet version is great for people who don't like that either.

Whipped cream and I have a hate <3 relationship but when I get it right, the dessert is yummy.

People have been begging me for the recipe and I dont mind sharing :

1 8 ounce package mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
40 or so store bought lady fingers
1 8 ounce jar seedless raspberry jam
juice of 2 lemons
raspberries, a lot, as many as you can get
you can add amaretto as per your taste to the lady fingers.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together mascarpone and sugar. Add a bit of cream and mix until combined. Add a little more cream and mix again until the mixture is well incorporated and very liquid. Pour in the rest of the cream and the vanilla. Change to the whisk attachment and beat on high until stiff peaks form.

2. Line the bottom of a 9 inch glass baking dish with half of the lady fingers, or however many will fit. Heat the jam and transfer to a small bowl and stir in lemon juice. Spread half of the jam mixture evenly over the lady fingers. Evenly spread half of the mascarpone and cream mixture over that, and top with half of the raspberries. Repeat the first layer with the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate over night, or as long as you can before you can’t wait anymore.

Dutch translation :

Ingredienten

1 kilo frambozen
250 gram mascarpone
360 gram slagroom
120 gram suiker
1/2 theelepel vanille extract
ongeveer 40 lange vingers
sap van 2 citroenen
225 gram pitlose frambozen jam
evt. wat ameretto naar smaak

Bereidingswijze

Mix de suiker en mascarpone samen met de mixer (met de k klopper) en voeg een beetje van de slagroom toe en mix totdat het goed opgenomen is. Voeg steeds wat slagroom en mix tot goed opgenomen totdat alle slagroom toegevoegd is en voeg dan ook de vanille toe. Doe nu de ballongarde op je mixer en mix op de hoogste stand tot er pieken vormen.

In de schaal waarin je de tiramisu gaat serveren leg je wat lange vingers op de bodem tot deze bedekt is, evt. besprenkelen met amaretto. Verhit de frambozen jam in een pannetje en voeg de citroensap toe. Spreid de helft van de jam over de lange vingers, daarna de helft van de mascarpone mix erover en bedek dit met frambozen. herhaal dit zodat je 2 lagen hebt in je schaal.

Laat een nachtje koelen, of zolang als je het kunt laten opstijven ;).

Green roses

2011-05-09T20:45:00.000+02:00

It's amazing how happy you can get when a swirl turns out like you wanted ... I helped my mom to make cupcakes for her birthday treats at work.

She baked her very first cupcakes ever (!)and made soft green swiss meringue buttercream (!), I swirled them on the cupcakes for her. She was proud for making it all by herself, I was proud of my swirls ...

Her co-workers loved them, even more than the xtra cakes she bought....

Happy Queensday

2011-04-30T21:06:00.005+02:00

Mini Cakepops for the boys to take to school yesterday in honor of our national Queensday.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T10:48:00.001+02:00

I've been wanting to try these chicklets cakepops for a while, thank goodness easter came around ! Have a great Easter weekend everyone !

Valentines day cupcake

2011-02-14T22:22:00.001+01:00

I learned a new lesson, don't rush to get your buttercream @ room temperature. My chocolate sort of melted out from the buttercream and it didn't look yummy when I piped it on. I tried to cutify it by sprinkling things on but I still don't like the look, it tasted a bit like a milky way .

patriotic cakepops

2011-01-31T22:35:00.000+01:00

But it's also our Baseball club's colors ... I made these for my son's bball party dessert table

Cookie treats to take to school for the teachers, cakepops for the students

Baseball Birthday Party

2011-01-29T22:31:00.003+01:00

We forgot to take pictures of the dessert table but we do have individual pics of the treats, cake and decorations.

65 candles

2011-01-20T22:15:00.000+01:00

A few things went all wrong when I tried making ganache for the 1st time, but I masked it with 65 candles so it looked really festive. I made it for my fil's birthday even though he isn't celebrating it till march, can't let a birthday go by without a cake to celebrate it ....

Confetti Egg Cups

2011-01-01T21:30:00.000+01:00

A great snack for kids to help make when you're having guests over or a buffet and you're little cooks want to make something too or if you're not a great cook and want to bring something that is a no fail recipe this is for you !

You can find the recipe here.

Xmas Tree Cake pops

2010-12-27T12:53:00.002+01:00

Came out way better than I could have hoped !

I made tree cakepops my youngest son's xmas dinner @ school & christmas day

Pink cakepops

2010-11-09T15:20:00.001+01:00

These are my second try at cakepops and I must say with these things practice definately makes perfect. These look so much better than my 1st try ! Tasted just as good though, you really can't go wrong !

Cakepops

2010-11-01T09:31:00.000+01:00

Ok so I'm willing to share my failures in baking, not just my successes (although I'm not sharing them all though)

These are my 1st cakepops, they are supposed to resemble halloween pumpkins, well at least they taste like cakepops ....

These were for the boys to take to school, the kids loved them !

cookbooks

2010-10-20T09:27:00.000+02:00

It may have been quite here but I haven't stopped baking. For my birthday I've received and bought quite a few cookbooks ( i received lots of book vouchers that I'd thought I should invest wisely ;) ...

I bought Bakerella's cake pop book, Nigella Feasts, The Hummingbird bakery,Tara Ramsay's Family Kitchen, Nigella Express, Yvonne Jaspers Spaghetti aan het plafond (cookbook with dutch celebrities and their family), The Pastry Queen by Rather Oresman and I was given Somja Kimpen kook je slank & fit (belgium health guru) and High tea Party by susannah blake.

Can you believe I still have lots on my wishlist ? LOL yep plenty !

What is your favorite cookbook and which one do you desperatly need to add to your collection ?

Mini Cake Bunting

2010-10-12T15:16:00.001+02:00

Mini Buntings on cakes are all the rage, but to be honest all the cutting stamping etc. is a lot of work after you've made a cake.

Thank god for freebies ! Here's a digital freebie for 3 different shades courtesy of the Tom Kat Studio

Download PASTEL pages HERE

Download BRIGHT pages HERE

Download BOLD pages HERE

Cupcake Stores

2010-09-30T22:35:00.000+02:00

The cupcake stores are popping up in the Netherlands, here are some that are not more than an hours drive from me

There is one in Utrecht Sweet Things

There are two in Den Haag, Cupcake Chic and Cupies

There is one in Rotterdam, Alice in Cakeland

Have I missed any ?

Can you believe I have not been to one of these ? I think it's time for a cupcake day, touring from one shop to another ! Who's in for it ?

Pink Tea Party

2010-09-13T20:23:00.003+02:00

This last weekend I celebrated my 40th birthday in style; a girly pink party with cupcakes ! I will share some close ups that the fab miss delis took of this table

and here's what I served:

Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream, Marshmellow Pops, Cupcake Cookies, Chocolate covered cookies (only thing not made by me),
Croissants with parmaham, cream cheese and strawberries, Sandwiches with cucumber and cream cheese, salmon with cream cheese and mozzerella with pesto and tomato, Candy Floss

I also made cute "Keep Calm" posters @ this website.

And my garland was cute too with cake doilies and tissue pompoms (photo to follow)

Spongebob Dessert Table

2010-08-14T22:34:00.003+02:00

Rainbow Layer Cake

2010-08-04T10:08:00.005+02:00

Celebrating Colin's family birthday party we had to have some cake, didn't have to be perfect but I wanted it to be special so I made a rainbow layer cake. Looks like a simple basic cake but with a big wow factor when you cut the first slice .....

Cupcake ribbon toppers

2010-05-26T21:54:00.002+02:00

So easy and yet I hadn't thought of it Tutorial for riboon cupcake toppers (which you could use for any occasion just as long as you have the right ribbon) !

Custom Colored Sprinkles

2010-05-18T21:48:00.003+02:00

Finding it hard to get the exact color of the sprinkles you need ? Well over here in Europe we do not have a lot of bake shops so this was a fabulous find ! How you may ask, all is revealed here

Cake themed room

2010-05-10T21:44:00.002+02:00

How cute !

source

Spring High Tea

2010-05-02T19:26:00.001+02:00

This weekend my mother celebrated her birthday, a week earlier because of mothersday, and hosted a high tea for the occasion. Last year I got ill and wasn't able to help her with decorations and baking but this year it all came together perfectly.

Here's an impression

We served lots of green & yellow candy, scones, vanilla & chocolate cupcakes, apple cinnamon muffins, banana bread muffins, mini club sandwiches, salmon sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, chocolate, cookies, strawberries, mini pigs in a blanket and quiches.

A few things went wrong with the scones (they were intentionally smaller but I had a hard time figuring out the baking time and since I was rushing I had to throw quite a few out)and the cupcake toppings (i forgot to bring my mixer along so i didn't think it tasted ok enough but the guests seemed to like it).

Dinner recipe #2

2010-03-15T22:02:00.003+01:00

Meatballs with tomato rice and spinach

Main course, 4 persons, 30 minutes, recipe from allerhande,
per 1p. portion 570 kilocalories, 21 gr. protein, 26 grams fat and 64 grams carbohydrates

2 cloves of garlic
300 grams of minced meat
1 can of tomatopieces
300 gr. rice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 bag of fresh spinach of about 300 grams (we got ours from the turkish supermarket and it was goooood)
50 grams black olives sliced up (fresh or from a pot either is fine we got fresh ones from our turkish supermarket)

1. mash up 1 clove of garlic and cut the other ones in slices.
Combine the minced meat with de mashed garlic, season with salt & pepper as per your taste and make 12 balls.
Put the tomatopieces in a sieve above a bowl and pour 100 ml water in the can, shake and pour this over the tomatopieces. Save the liquid.

2. Cook the rice as per the instructions on the box. Heat the olive oil in a deep & big saucepan and make sure to roast the meatballs till they are nice and brown allover. Add the tomato liquid and spice it up with salt & pepper and let it simmer for 10 minutes on a middlehigh fire.
Add the tomatopieces to the rice and warm for 2 minutes.

3. Turn up the fire, add the spinach in parts to the meatballs and season as per your taste with salt & pepper. Let is simmer until the spinach has softened and its all done.

We served the rice on a huge platter, poured the meatballs and sauce on the rice and sprinkled the olives over the dish.

Review : it was yummy according to the grownups that made it and the guests, great combo although we will be adding more spices to the meatballs next time as we thought they were a bit bland.

For dessert we had Eton Mess (Nigella Lawson), a favorite recipe I will share soon.

Dinner Recipe # 1

2010-03-05T20:40:00.005+01:00

Want to share some recipe's I've found here or there that I've been trying with my blog readers. DH and I tried this recipe, our guests loved it, we had some things we'd like to try differently next time (a little less mustard in the saus & the chicken needed more seasoning). Would love to hear what you think of it !

Easy French Bistro Menu (courtesy of Stephanie)

Menu: Chicken with creamy Dijon sauce, Roasted Potatoes, Sauteed Garden Vegetables + Butter Lettuce Salad

To make the dinner first prepare the roasted potatoes…toss cubed red potatoes with olive oil until well-coated; add sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste. Roast the potatoes in an oven preheated to 425 degrees and cook for 30-45 minutes. The cooking time depends on the size of your potatoes (the smaller the cube, the shorter the cooking time). If you have any herbs on hand, toss those in the mix as well. Herbs like thyme, rosemary or chives work best.

Once you have the potatoes in the oven, rinse and crisp the lettuce in a salad spinner . Place in refrigerator.

Now chop spring onions (you may substitute shallots), zucchini, crimini mushrooms and perhaps yellow squash. Set aside.

Heat a cast iron pan (or frying pan) over medium heat. Throw in a 1-2 tablespoons of butter. Season 4 trimmed chicken breasts with s + p and cook about 8 minutes each side. Once cooked throughout, set aside on a platter. Using the same pan (and the chicken drippings), make a cream sauce to pour over the chicken. Add about 8 ounces of creme fraiche* and about 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard (I prefer the Maille label) to the pan. Simmer on medium heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

Quickly saute your pre-cut vegetables in a wok with a little olive oil and dried Italian herb seasoning and you’re good to go! You’ll want to saute the veggies on medium high heat.

Retrieve the salad spinner from the fridge and drain the water before giving it a good spin. Serve with a simple, homemade shallot vinaigrette–found here.

Bon Appetit !

Making roses is easier than you think

2010-02-21T21:20:00.004+01:00

I got together with a group from the forum where I get lots of tips, help and inspiration. It was a lot of fun and I made a bunch more friends ! I learned even more tips, gave some, loved seeing what everyone was making and learned how to make some cute roses

vanilla cupcakes with white chocolate spread & fondant

Star Wars Birthday

2010-02-05T20:47:00.000+01:00

Star Wars Cupcakes for school treats

Chocolate & vanilla cupcakes, white chocolate spread and fondant circles.

The star wars cake, a story in itself .... I had everything planned how to, was on time with everything except the ordering of the cakesupplies. The fondant came way to late so I had to improvise. My friend was able to supply me with marzipan (yuck and so no fun to work with when you're used to fondant) for the top part of the cake. And I made swiss merengue buttercream for the bottom cake, and omg this was so much easier and so delicious. Never making other buttercream again ! The top cake has vanilla merengue buttercream & cherry jam the bottom cake has chocolate mousse and strawberry jam.

2010-01-18T12:53:00.003+01:00

A friend of mine asked if I could help her out with a birthday cake for her pretty little girl as she couldn't make her yummy cakes this year. I didn't hesitate to say yes, although it was a pretty busy time already, cause that's what friends do. My first ever girly cake with 2 layers, I'm proud of it !

Both cakes have vanilla buttercream & strawberry jam filling.

Christmas Cupcakes

2009-12-22T21:10:00.000+01:00

Dessert for the boys @ school.

vanilla & chocolate cupcakes, white chocolate spread & fondant snowflakes

Mummy cupcakes

2009-10-31T20:59:00.002+01:00

For the boys to take as halloween school treats

High Tea Party

2009-09-15T00:35:00.002+02:00

For more pics on decorations etc. check out my other blog ...

birthday cake

2009-08-20T09:21:00.004+02:00

It was Colin's birthday and the theme is carnival. The birthday boy was happy with the results and ate a big piece !

For food, bake & blog lovers

2009-05-27T13:09:00.001+02:00

I think all you bloggers & food lovers will love this too. Can't wait to see it !

Chocolate workshop

2009-04-12T22:49:00.002+02:00

I made bonbons and an easter bunny, HAPPY EASTER

Avatar cupcakes

2009-01-29T19:10:00.004+01:00

My son Michael turned 8 and had an Avatar, the last airbender themed party and these were the cupcakes to go with that theme that he treated his classmates to ( I wanted to make "Appa" cupcakes but realised beforehand this would be too timeconsuming to make so many cupcakes with his fuzzy long hair so I copped out and made these avatar arrows ...)

These mini flower cupcakes were for the teachers, although the left overs found their way to classmates mouthes too ;)

Cupcake standard

2009-01-26T15:42:00.005+01:00

Want to make a cupcake standard to fit your theme ? That's so easy.

You can find a tutorial for this cute pink round one here

And for the very stylish square standard you can find the tutorial here

Have fun making them and I'd love to see what you've made while inspired by these !

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2009-01-17T21:18:00.002+01:00

I couln't resist trying them again, but this time I converted the famous rvc recipe myself and voila, they're red and look & taste super !

With cream cheese frosting, nice and sweet just the way I like them

Yumyum, I'm making more this week as we have a day long meeting with my colleagues and I thought this would be a nice way to start it off ....

If you're interested in the recipe let me know ;)

X-mas Red velvet cupcakes

2008-12-28T21:04:00.002+01:00

My first attempt at Red Velvet Cupcakes with creamy vanilla frosting. The rvc weren't at all what I thought they would be, I'm not sure if this recipe was converted correctly as the cupcakes didn't look at all at what I have seen on the web. W

The frosting recipe did do it's job but wasn't my taste at all, I like sweet on my cakes or nothing at all. The cream was just not sweet enough.

We gave lots away and everyone seemed to like them though except DH and I (I guess we've just been tasting too many good ones so we're getting picky ....)

Birthday Cupcakes

2008-12-14T20:52:00.001+01:00

For a little 5 year old, daughter of a colleague. She said they were exactly how she wanted them (I was given strikt instructions ;) ..) and was happy for the large one I made especially for her.

Birthday Cupcakes for a girl at heart

2008-11-11T21:01:00.001+01:00

A friends bday, she made us a yummy dinner buffet, I made her cupcakes ...

What kind of cupcake are you ?

2008-11-10T15:38:00.002+01:00

I took a test at The Dozen Cupcakes Quiz (you can take the test by clicking on the link, let me know what kind of cupcake you are I'd love to know !)

And I'm a Copacabana Cupcake ....

"Pineapple vanilla cake, mango buttercream, rolled in coconut and topped with a pineapple wedge. Always in fashion!"

You are the life of the party, the belle of the ball... the frosting on the cupcake! You love to party, to socialize, and you are not afraid to make your own fun. People are drawn to your amiable nature and sense of humor, and you have never been known to badmouth a friend because you like everybody. The epitome of an optimist, you keep spirits up in dark times and your smile is infectious.

So what do you think ?

Babyshower for a baby boy

2008-11-03T15:24:00.006+01:00

I helped out a friend (and got to try out one of my new food colors) in making & decorating some cupcakes for a baby boy shower and here are the results :

photo's courtesy of Corinne Delis.

It's my party

2008-09-14T21:32:00.005+02:00

And I wanted pink cupcakes (click on them if you want to see the pattern in the fondant) :D

And I've noticed that the baking & decorating cupcakes is almost as therapeutic as scrapbooking .....

Presents

2008-09-07T01:00:00.000+02:00

Instead of giving a card I decided to make cupcakes with for the b'day girl and boy and hang/give the envelop with it. Looks cute huh ?

And one for me :D

Cupcakes for a sisters Hope

2008-09-06T10:54:00.000+02:00

I love a good cause and last year I was so enthusiastic about this idea that Monique had I just had to help. So I offered to make cupcakes for her bakesale that she would be doing again this year. Unfortunately I decided this a bit late so I couldn't work as much ahead of time as I would have liked and I ended up only making 90 cupcakes .... But they turned out so cute and where selling really well (during the time I was there) so I hope I helped bring her profits up a bit for "A sisters Hope" and bring her a little closer to her goal of 1.500 euro's sponsor money !!

A work in progress

The finished result

Quite proud to be honest !!

ps. I just heard that Monique raised 1000 euro's with her bakesale !!!

Cupcake Workshop Results

2008-08-30T10:32:00.005+02:00

I went to a workshop decorating cupcakes with my friend Martine and we learned so much !

Here's what we made, we had fun with icing and fondant (I have now idea what that is in English, it's not marzipan but made from sugar ...) ;

My favorite is the one with the grass, which one do you like ?

Girly Cupcakes

2008-08-27T23:34:00.000+02:00

Great to share with good friends Co, Jo & Flo :D

Cream cheese frosting, colored pink with hearts & shiny pearls.

Photo courtesy of C. Delis.

Colin's bday Cupcakes

2008-08-20T10:28:00.001+02:00

1st try with cream cheese frosting (recipe Martha Stewart):

2nd try :

these are to give away @ school.

Mikey Mouse Confetti Cupcakes

2008-08-11T21:35:00.000+02:00

Voor Colin's Disney feest

Jealous

2008-08-01T10:48:00.000+02:00

I was allways to jealous when I saw cute cupcakes on blogs, @ sis crops that I decided it was time to take some action. So after searching endlessly for tips on a fun forum with great girls I decided to take the plunge. This blog is dedicated to all the cupcakes experiments !