Fold in the Flour ...

As we're getting much closer to Jubilee Weekend, I wanted to try out an idea for a cake that I have been mulling over for some time. I have previously tried  Blue Velvet Cupcakes and Red Velvet Cupcakes, but I have always wanted to try making the proper cake. With the Jubilee presenting the perfect opportunity, and with the Olympic Torch being in Cardiff this week, as I was feeling all patriotic on Friday I finally got to try out my ideas. Let me present to you a red, white and blue Royal Velvet Cake, complete with a blue sugar candy crown. The cake is not, strictly speaking, a traditional velvet recipe, but I'm using poetic license. I used the recipe from Heather Baird's SprinkleBakes book  for her Neopolitan Cake. I've been a big fan of Heather's blog, SprinkleBakes for some time, and when her book came out earlier this month, I had to buy it. Heather's work is one of the most artistic and inspirational I have come across. Everything seems to be exe

With the Queen's Diamond Jubilee fast approaching, I've wanted to try out some ideas for Jubilee-themed baking, and so these Jubilee Rose Berry Cupcakes are the first. They are a vanilla cupcake, full of juicy raspberries and blueberries to give some red, white and blue. There's no rose flavouring involved and the 'rose' comes from the coloured cream cheese buttercream piped in the shape of a rose. I think these are lovely and summery and would be perfect for a Jubilee themed party! The cupcake recipe is simple, and makes about 12 cupcakes. The striped effect in the buttercream is made by using a cocktail stick to paint the inside of your piping nozzle with stripes of colouring (I used Wilton's gel paste in Royal Blue and Red Red). I found that the colour on the first piped cupcake was a little strong, but after that you had a lovely subtle effect - although I did need to use two piping bags for the whole lot, as the colour faded to white totally half wa