by Cake Journal
Let us start with the pink cupcakes below. It is all about the dome.
My best way to get a dome on cupcakes is not to cream the butter and the sugar, but to whisk the eggs and sugar and melting the butter with the milk, that about it. Of course this method will change the texture of the cupcake to a more light and airy cupcake, but if the cupcake is going to be dipped in poured fondant this method is perfect.
That means, that with one recipe I can get “two” kinds of cupcakes. So what recipe is it then? It is the great vanilla cupcake recipe from Joy of Baking, a fantastic baking site with many great cake and cupcake recipes btw. Other cupcake recipes can of course also make great domes but when it comes to poured fondant, vanilla cupcakes is my fave to choose.
So let me show you how this recipe works. First line a cupcake (muffin) pan with cupcake paper cases. Here I have used the “wonder” cupcake paper cases which are a bit higher than the more common ones. This also means that it takes a bit more batter, so you may only end up with 9 or 10 cupcakes instead of the normal 12 cupcakes. .
Domed vanilla cupcakes:
1. Warm the milk with the butter so that the butter melts and set aside to cool down if too hot.
2. Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick and creamy with the electric handheld mixer. Be careful not to whisk for too long as this can give to many air bubbles.
3. Mix in the milk and butter mixture.
4. Add the dry ingrediens and mix it all just until smooth and with no flour lumps.
This batter is more liquide, so I transfer the batter into a pitcher and pour it in to the paper cases. You can use a spoon to catch any batter drips there may come. Normally I would fill my paper cases 3/4 full with batter. If you only fill 3/4 with this vanilla recipe (egg & sugar), it will still make a nice little dome. But here I have added a little more batter about 2-3 tsp extra. This gives me, a higher dome and the cupcake rise as close as it can to the top of the paper cases. This also makes it easier to get a nice cover with the poured fondant. Place the cupcake (muffin) pan in the middle of the oven and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
This is how they looked today when I baked them…..Beautiful right? (I know that ovens can vary and some gets good results and some not. I can of course not promise that you will get high domes, but I do hope that you will be lucky).
During baking there can be some “vulcanos” in between, but that can easy be fixed the minute you take them out of the oven, by simply smoothing the cupcakes with the back of a spoon. This can also happen with the “original” method.
Just to show how nice they dome I have sliced two of them. The one on the left is the “egg & sugar” and the one on the right is the “butter & sugar”. By looking there may not be the big difference but in taste there is as the right ones are more moist. Remember that these cupcakes are best on the day they are baked. I ve stored them for 1 day and they will get a little sticky on the top, but still ok in taste. If you need to store them longer I would brush them lightly with a sugar syrup.
Other favourite cupcake recipes:
One last note: For more firm batter a ice cream scooper (size 16), is a perfect tool to scoop the batter into the cupcake paper cases and less messy.
The waiting is over as I am here with my cupcake decorating part 3. My first thought was that this would be the last of my little personal good to know about (my) cupcakes posts. But as this is all about buttercream domes and fondant discs, I have decided to make an extra part 4 with focus on the swirls. I hope you done mind that?
So today’s post is about how you can turn a “flat” cupcake into a pretty domed cupcake perfect for a fondant disc. If you dont like a buttercream dome, you could then bake some cupcakes using the great vanilla cupcake recipe that will make a beautiful dome and the need for buttercream is very small, if you want to decorate with a fondant disc.
You can of course substitute the buttercream with a chocolate ganache. Only make sure that you use 1 part cream and 2 parts of chocolate, as this ratio sets perfectly overnight without the need for refrigerating (btw, I got the tip from this excellent dvd). You will have to chill the buttercream dome, to decorate it with fondant. But we’re not talking about hours of refrigerating as this can make the cupcakes dry, but it will make the fondant part much more easy and less messy. I hope that the next steps will help you how to do it. Again it is all about practice.
How to make a buttercream dome.
Step 1:
The only tool you will need to make a buttercream dome is an offset spatular and of course some buttercream or chocolate ganache. Take your cupcake and a small amount of buttercream on your offset spatular. Apply it to the cupcake like I have on the photo. Make sure that you have your bowl of buttercream close to you, because you may add and remove buttercream as you go.
Step 2:
Go anti-clockwise with your spatular, while you are building up a short top of buttercream, but do not go all the way out to the paper case. It do not need it to be very smooth at this point, as you will need to add 1 more thin layer of buttercream. Try and keep the paper case clean from the buttercream. Place the cupcake in the refrigerator and start with the next cupcake. By the time you have made 3-4 cupcakes, the first one should be firm and ready for the final layer.
Step 3:
Apply the last thin layer of buttercream. Here you apply buttercream all the way to the paper case. Then chill again and with a warm spatular smooth the buttercream dome. Depending on how many cupcakes your are making, place the cupcake back in the refrigerator until you are ready to decorate with the fondant top.
Ok, so now you should hopefully have made some nice buttercream domes on your cupcakes and they are now ready for the fondant discs. I show it here with embossed fondant, but you can of course skip the embossing and just cut out the discs.
Decorating cupcakes with rolled fondant.
Step 1:
Roll out your fondant (3-4mm thick) and try to roll it out so that you can cut out more fondant discs at a time. Dust some cornstarch on your work area, take your embosser and dip it in the cornstarch. Then tap the embosser to get rid of excess cornstarch.
Step 2:
Now take your embosser and emboss the fondant randomly over the entire piece of fondant. Be careful not to cut right through the fondant with the embosser. If there are any white cornstarch dust on the embossed piece of fondant. Then use a brush to remove it.
Step 3:
Take a round cookie cutter (3 1/16″ -78mm. This works for me) and cut out the round fondant discs. Store the rest in a plastic bag, to prevent them from drying out.
Step 4:
Now take the top between your fingers and carefully pull and stretch the discs a little.
Take a cupcake and place it on top of the buttercream dome. Gently smooth out any pleats with the palm of your hand and your cupcake is finished.
Step 5:
If you should wonder how much buttercream there is under the fondant disc then here is a “cut through” photo.
This is the last part of my little “cupcake decorating school”. The final part is
about how I pipe my swirls on my cupcakes. Not saying that this is the “right” way, but it is the way that works the best for me. There are many different types of swirls to pipe on cupcakes. Often does the final result, depend on what type of decorating tip that you are using.
Please see Cupcake decorating part 1 where I write about the decorating tips.
If you are new on how to pipe swirls on cupcakes or simply just want to perfecting your swirl techniques. Practice is the only way to do it. With some cupcakes and a batch of buttercream you can pipe swirls, scrape off the buttercream and start over again (of course re-using the buttercream)
I have built up the swirl in three parts, to make it more easy to see and hopefully understand 
Step 1:
I have used a star tip with a 11mm opening and filled the pipingbag with Italian Meringue Buttercream. I always start at the center of the cupcake (holding the bag at a 90 degree angle). Move the pipingbag to the right and go anticlockwise. While piping its important that you make sure to lift the tip slightly or it will ruin the star pattern while you pipe. Pipe close to the cupcake paper edge.
Tip: You can make a more flat swirl by finishing at the center again. Going only 1 round.
Step 2:
After a whole round, pipe a new round on top of the first.
Step 3:
Pipe the final round and finish in the center again. Gently pull back the piping tip.
The next photo shows the “built up” swirl to the left and the “real” swirl to the right, that is piped in one go.
Use the same technique for the mini cupcakes, only piping two rounds. I have used a smaller star tip (9mm)
Remember that practice makes perfect. I can sometimes pipe 10 bad swirls, before I am happy with the results
For those who love the “Wilton roses”. Try this special cupcake flowernail as a helper to pipe the flowers on the cupcake.
Pastry tips & more:
To make those large swirls on my cupcakes I use large pastry tips. Many use the Wilton 1M tip, but I like those really large tips that is best used with a disposal piping bag. I got my pastry tips from a professional bakery supply store here in Denmark. But after browsing online for such large pastry tips, Ateco should be the brand to look for if you want really large pastry tips.
You should try and look for these large pastry tips below next time you are out shopping for cake supplies:
| Open star: # 827 # 828 # 829 | Closed star: # 847 # 848 # 849 | French/fine star: # 867 # 868 # 869 | Round: |
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