How to Make a Fondant Bunny

Someone sent me a request for a fondant bunny tutorial. Hi dear, thanks for your sweet note! I hope you pass by my blog from time time because today is your lucky day :)

Since Easter is just around the corner, today we're making fondant bunnies. We'll I made just one, so technically, it's supposed to be "today we're making a fondant bunny" but "today we're making fondant bunnies" sounds so much better doesn't it? As I type this, I don't even know why I just made one. Oh well, here it is :)

Fondant Bunny Tutorial

What we need:
Fondant in black, white, soft pink, green and orange 

Rolling pin

Ball tool (small)

Oval fondant cutter (small)

Fondant tool (miniature one with the half circle) - I got mine from Baking Buddies

Knife

Water and brush (to glue things together)

Here's how:
(1) Get some white fondant, create a big oval shape then two small tear shapes for the bunny's feet.

 (2) For the feet, flatten the narrow end, and press the knife inwards on the rounded end, like so.

(3) Make two tear shapes for the arms.

 (4) To make the bunny's face, shape white fondant into a ball then flatten it like a mentos :) Then using the fondant too, press two half circles into the center.

 (5) Add the eyes then a pink nose.

 (6) To make the bunny ears, shape two tear shapes from the white fondant and cut the narrow end. Then using the small oval cutter, cut out two ovals from the soft pink fondant. Place them on the ears.

 (7) Attach the ears to the bunny's head. 

 (8) To make the carrot, grab some orange fondant and shape it into a tear. Then run the knife horizontally to create carrot marks then add the carrot tops.

 (9) Place the carrots in the bunny's cute arms.

Hope you like this one, dear friends! :)

Banana Walnut Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

Funny how having an "all out there" hobby makes giving me gifts so easy for the people I love. My friend Pammy recently gave me this color gel organizer that make picking out colors easy when prepping for tutorials here on my blog. When Kat and Gene found out that I only use a small mixing bowl for all the baking that I do, they went out of their ways to give a nice big mixing bowl that I have been using ever since. Even little Ada gave a very pretty cake stand - which I have to use soon! A special shout out to Malin from giving me those totally adorbs cupcake liners and cute bag with cupcake design! :)

And sometimes, it just warms my heart when people I don't know from Adam would surprise me and send me stuff. You guys are the greatest! Thank you. Imagine my surprise when I received a sweet postcard from Sylvia all the way from Sweden! Then there was Perry who gave me the nicest vanilla beans I have ever seen! Then recently, I received tubs of walnuts from two sweet readers from the United States. I cannot thank you enough... so I made these cupcakes for you. 

I got the recipe from Martha Stewart, but instead of pecans I used walnuts. I love bananas better with walnuts. How about you? Anyway, here's the recipe :)

Banana Walnut Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream
adaptes from MarthaStewart.com

Banana Cupcakes
350F/Makes 28 cupcakes


3 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups very ripe large bananas, mashed 
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used Yakult)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

Caramel Buttercream

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Here's how:
To make the cupcakes
(1) Sift/dry whisk dry ingredients - flour, baking power, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
(2) Combine all wet ingredients, buttermilk, vanilla and mashed bananas. Set aside.

(3) Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

(4) Add eggs, one at a time.

(5) Add a third of the dry ingredients into the mixture. Then add a half of the wet ingredients. Repeat until all is combined. 

(6) Fold in the walnuts. 

To make the Caramel Buttercream
(1) Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan.

(2) Bring 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar to a boil until the color turns to amber.

(3) Turn off the heat and add cream. Let it cool, set aside. 

(4) Combine egg whites and 1/2 cup sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves.Egg white mixture should reach 160 degrees on a candy thermometer before removing from heat. The mixture should not be grainy when you rub it between your fingers. Let it cool to room temperature.

(5) Once cooled, mix until stiff peaks form. Add butter, small amounts at a time mixing well after each addition. Note, at some point the buttercream will curdle but don't be disheartened, okay?Continue mixing until it becomes smooth again. :) Whisk in vanilla. 

(6) Add in the cooled caramel. Optional to leave some caramel to drizzle then on top of the frosted cupcakes.

Butter Cake Recipe

Anything is better with butter, says Chef Gene Gonzales.

I totally agree with Chef Gene. Butter is amazing. It can turn anything from good to best (three times over) but rarely it is the star of the show. If butter were an actor, it's usually cast as the best friend of the hero or heroine. It usually is delegated as the support. Much like what vanilla is to any other baking ingredient.

And so for this post, we're turning the spotlight to my much loved baking ingredient. Butter. We're making butter cake today. 

But before that...I can not wipe the silly nervous grin off my face because I am about to share three embarrassing pictures from the first time I made this cake. Yes, I have been toying with the idea of making an "ode to butter" post by making a butter cake for awhile now. The first time I made it, I used a fancy bundt pan. Oh my, little did I know it will not work! Wanna know why? Because the cake did not rise. At. All.

Here's the batter before I put it in the oven. 

And here's the after shot. It did not rise at all. After making this,  my friend Kat and I were talking about it and she told me, this special bundt pan requires certain recipes to make in it. Apparently, the butter cake recipe didn't agree with this pan. Too bad.

And look at this shot! Haha, too funny not to post, it looks like a tiger's paw doesn't it? Oh well, enough of my misadventures. Here's the recipe and how I was able to successfully make it. 

 Butter Cake Recipe
adapted from AllRecipes

What we need:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Here's how:
(1) Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

(2) Add eggs one by one. Make sure to beat eggs well before adding another one. 

(3) Sift/dry whisk flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add a third to the mixture.

(4) Add a half of the buttermilk. Repeat until all is combined.
(5) Heavily grease two 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" loaf pans (Note A: but any pan will do as long as just fill it up until its half full. Note B: Or you can also line the loaf pan with wax paper) divide the batter into two and bake for about 40 minutes or until done. 

The original recipe calls for a butter sauce you can soak the cake into but I opted not to make it.  I enjoyed the cake as it is but right now I all this talk about butter made me doubt my decision. Hmmm... it seems I need to make this cake one more time. 

Brown Sugar Kahlua Cupcakes

My copy of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes has been sitting pretty in my book shelf for a while now. Make that a long, long while (whether or not they have gathered some dust, I won't tell). And so when I looked at all the posts I have done for this year, I realized I haven't really done a proper cupcake post yet (totally unacceptable right?). I mean, yes there are muffin recipes, a recipe for some bars, cookies, a cake and even one for macarons but a cupcake recipe, yeah none yet. 

We're doing something about it now. I decided take out my Martha Stewart's Cupcakes copy and re-read it again. There were a lot of dog ears, pages folded, recipes marked. Wow, I don't know how it made it's way to my shelf - it definitely doesn't belong there. This book deserves a special place next to my big jars of flour and sugar - somewhere I can easily pick up and read. 

I have marked lots of interesting recipes to try - like the base for these Brown Sugar Kahlua Cupcakes. I based it from the Brown Sugar Pound Cake recipe I got from the book. I love how simple it is, just seven ingredients but is packed with flavor. I can almost taste the caramel flavor. I paired it with Kahlua buttercream, love the subtle coffee hint the buttercream brings to the whole cupcake experience. Without further ado, here's the recipe.

Brown Sugar Kahlua Cupcakes

Brown Sugar Pound Cupcakes

adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes 

325F/25 minutes

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter

2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

4 large eggs

3/4 buttermilk or sour cream or yakult

Kahlua Frosting

1 pound icing sugar

1 cup butter 

2 tbsp Kahlua

Here's how:
(1) Dry whisk / sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
(2) Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

(3) Add eggs one at a time. 

(4) Add one third of the dry ingredients.

(5)  Then add half of the buttermilk. Repeat until all is combined.

(6) Fill a cupcake liner until two-thirds full and bake for 25 minutes or until done. 

(7) To make the frosting. Mix together butter, icing sugar and Kahlua until smooth and creamy.

(8) Pipe frosting on top of the cupcakes. You can add some chocolate chips on top if you want :)

PS:The recipe requires buttermilk, you can make your own, use sour cream or follow after me and use Yakult. It's easier because if you still have some left, it definitely won't go to waste - just drink it up. 

How to Make Fondant Treasure Chest Cupcake Topper

Times are a-changing.

Kidding.

That's just too serious.

Anyway, I jotted down all the things I want to show you how to make in fondant and realized at the rate we're (read: me) going... I don't think we're going to finish in this lifetime (or even the one after that). So I decided to somehow speed things up and group the tutorials into themes - and post tutorials as much as I can. There are A LOT that I just can't wait to show you.

The only problem I have now is... I can't seem to find time to sit down and do them properly. The idea struck me the last week of January but up to now I still haven't found the time to make them. And since I know I lack the time, I even prepared and bought some ready made fondant from Bake it Dainty and Love2Bake to help speed things up.

Anyway, the first theme I'm playing with is Pirates. Isn't that exciting  And when we think of pirates, think maps, flags, skulls, and of course treasure chests!!! And I won't let you read more of my ramblings. Here's how to make it :)

How to Make Pirate Themed Cupcakes - Fondant Treasure Chest Tutorial

What we need:

Fondant in brown, red and gold

Small cutter/plunger - round and oval

Luster dust in gold

Small ball tool

Dragees in gold and pearls

Gold sprinkles

Knife

Rolling pin

Water and Brush to paste things together

Toothpicks for support

 Here's how:
(1) Using a knife, cut a small rectangular box from the brown fondant. You can also just shape it into a rectangular box but cutting it out is way easier - plus, you get sharp edges if you cut it up.

(2) Again using the brown fondant, shape it into a cylinder (think long elongated big marshmallow) and cut into two. Now we have the top of the chest.

 (3) Using the knife, etch some wood marks on both pieces.

 (4) Roll some brown fondant thinly and etch some wood marks also. Set aside

 (5) Run the ball tool on top of the chest to depress it a bit.

 (6) Place a small strip of red fondant.Then cut some wooden strips from #4.

 (7)  Add the strips into the top and bottom parts of the chest, like so.

(8) Create some coins using the round cutter/plunger and gold fondant (then dust it with the luster dust) and arrange on top of the chest together with the gold sprinkles and dragees. The oval plunger will be used as a lock on the chest

 (9) Using toothpicks for support, attach the top part to the bottom part of the treasure chest.

Got any themed fondant topper request that you want to be featured here in Bake Happy? Just send them to me okay? :)