Mothers Day 'Borrowed' Rhubarb Treats - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

Most mums want nothing more for Mothers Day than a visit or a phone call. Or that's what they say. I reckon you'd be pretty popular if you arrived with a tray of these fruity beauties! If you don't have rhubarb planted in your own garden, whip around to a good gardener (often our mums) and steal a couple of stalks. Trust me she'll thank you for it later!

Rhubarb Cupcakes

You will need:

125g softened butter

2/3c firmly packed brown sugar

1/2t vanilla bean paste

pinch salt

2 large eggs

1/2c milk

1 & 1/2c self-raising flour

1 & 1/2c washed and diced rhubarb

Owl design cupcake cups

plum icing

20g melted butter

1/2c sifted icing sugar

1/3c nougat, cranberries or similar to top

1. To prepare your rhubarb cook it with 2T water for 5+mins until soft. Let it cool. This will reduce to approx 1c of stewed rhubarb.

2. Cream first measure of butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Whisk eggs and milk and add to butter mixture ever so slowly to combine. (Here is the egg mixture pictured with a sturdy mini whisk I totally recommend for prep jobs). Add the flour and continue mixing on low speed until a thick batter forms. Fold in 1c stewed rhubarb gently. 

3. Fill cupcake cups 2/3 full and arrange them in a 7x3 grid on your tray. Its important to leave space between for them to cook evenly. This recipie makes 21. Bake at 170`C for about 25 mins or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

4. Meanwhile prepare your icing according to packet instructions. This requires a little melted butter and some water. Add icing sugar to turn it into a pipeable consistency. Fill a piping bag that has been fitted with a tip to pipe through. I used wilton tip #109 for the gentle swirls.     

5. When the cupcakes have cooled, decorate with a swirl of the punchy plum icing and top with a thin slice of nougat or some whole dried cranberries. These cupcake papers are thick and robust to travel as well as simply being sweet! In the same range are eye-catching aeroplane, carousel, bluebird, babushka, patchwork paper cup designs and more.

These rhubarb cakes are also beautiful and light served simply with a fine sprinkling of icing sugar. Do it through a paper doily for maximum effect! This  really lets the classic rhubarb and vanilla flavour combination shine through. 

Remember that rhubarb leaves are poisonous so don't be 'helpful' by sticking them in the compost! Simply lay the leaves you cut off around the base of the rhubarb plant to keep moisture in the surrounding soil. They will decompose with time and the gardener will stay happy :-) 

It takes a bit to get me super-excited!

I shall try to refrain from using too many superfluous exclamations while raving about this new product. But I am so terribly super excited it may be a little difficult. The lovely Annabelle from Simmer Catering introduced me to this new product last week, I told her right away, it was something I wanted to share with you all. Well I won't beat around the bush............ I will get on and tell you about it.

This amazing range of fruit powder and freeze dried fruit, is a taste explosion in your mouth. It tastes divine, it looks wonderful and the moment I saw it, what seemed like a thousand ideas started rolling around my head.

These whole/sliced fruits and fruit powders are made from high quality, ripe and sweet fruit and then freeze-dried to produce intensely flavoured fruits and powders. Add the powders to icings, to your favourite brulee mix or smoothies. Chocolate dip the whole/sliced fruits, crumble them over ice cream, add to your cereal or just eat them as they are. There are 10 flavours in the retail range and they are all packed in re-sealable foil bags. The colour is intense and the strawberries when used in things such as rocky road, keep their wonderful sliced appearance (no mushing like fresh fruit)

These wonderful fruits have recently appeared in Gourmet Traveller magazine's Hot 100, Cuisine magazine, and they even featured on NBC's today show in the USA as a hot new product - which is no small feat for this wonderful product from li'l ole NZ.

Whilst I had a heap of ideas racing around my head - the very first thing I wanted to try was raspberry buttercream. I frequently make raspberry buttercream, I usually use frozen fruit (with or without seeds). It takes a little while to mash the frozen berries through a sieve for the seedless variety and the juice makes it a bit messy. This in comparison was a breeze. I found the buttercream intensifies slightly in flavour overnight, which in my opinion was great. I loved it in the evening and adored it in the morning. (photos to follow of my icing on cupcakes)

I am keen to also give the raspberry meringues a go, the recipe comes from Meredith's Restaurant and is available on a recipe card for anyone wanting to try this.

Which fruit do you fancy?. What would you make?

I so love this!!!

This awesome new tool has just landed, and I have whisked one off home for me!!. Designed to hold your bags whilst you are working, the picture says it all. A great buy at $26

Crusting cream cheese icing recipe

For those times, when regular cream cheese icing just isn't right (wedding cakes and special occasion celebration cakes)

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1 pound cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract

3 1/2 pounds sifted icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter, shortening, cream cheese and extracts. Gradually add icing sugar and salt. Beat on low speed until nice and creamy. This recipe is for a stiff consistency. For a thinner consistency, use 3 pounds of icing sugar instead. If you want a very smooth cake, let the cake sit for 15 minutes after icing. Then smooth with fondant smoother or dough scraper or non textured paper towel.

How to mix icing colours

Dip a toothpick into the colour, then swirl it into the icing. Add colour a little at a time until you achieve the shade you desire. Always use a new toothpick each time you add colour; you want to avoid getting icing into your jar of colour to avoid contaminating it. Blend the icing well with a spatula.
Consider the type of icing you are using when mixing colour. Icing colours intensify or darken in buttercream icing about 1-2 hours after mixing. Royal icing requires more colour than buttercream icing to achieve the same colour intensity.
To make the colour commonly referred to as "Tiffany blue" - named after the packaging from the famous Tiffany's jewellery store mix "sky blue" & "Teal".
Other great colour mixes are:
ANTIQUE GOLD Add just an extremely small touch of Leaf Green to Golden Yellow
AQUA Sky Blue and Leaf Green
AVOCADO Use Moss Green color
BLACK (if not using black paste colour) Royal Blue, Christmas Red, Orange and Lemon
CHARTREUSE 9 parts Lemon Yellow, 1 part Leaf Green
CORAL Creamy peach and a touch of pink or orange and a touch of pink.
FLESH Add just an extremely small touch of Copper to white icing. Ivory can also be used. Light pink with a small amount of brown.
GRAY Add just a touch of Black to white icing.
HUNTER GREEN Kelly Green and a touch of Black
JADE Leaf green, Royal Blue and a touch of Black
LAVENDER Pink and Violet
MARIGOLD Lemon Yellow and Orange
MAROON Burgundy and Red Red
MAUVE Touch of Burgundy with very little Black.
MISTY GREEN Leaf Green, Royal Blue and a touch of Black
MOSS GREEN (if not using Moss green paste colour) Violet and Lemon Yellow
MULBERRY Rose with a touch of Royal Blue.
NAVY BLUE Royal Blue and Black
PERIWINKLE Royal Blue and Violet
PLUM Use Violet with a touch of Christmas red.
RASPBERRY Pink and Red Red
RUST Orange, Red Red and Brown
SILVER It is not advisable to attempt to simulate silver colour in icing. Instead, try silver lustre dust or silver edible paint.
TEAL (if not using teal paste colour) Lemon Yellow and Sky Blue
TURQUOISE Sky Blue and Lemon Yellow
WARM GOLD Golden Yellow with just a touch of brown.

How to make MMF (Marshmallow fondant)

To make an icing that gives the appearance of rolled white fondant, but tastes great, you can use Marshmallow fondant, often referred to as MMF.

INGREDIENTS
500g. mini marshmallows
2 T water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
2 tsp corn syrup (helps w/ pliability) available on Kiwicakes website
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1kg icing sugar, sifted (aprx 7C)
Vegetable shortening (Kremelta or Crisco)

Method
Grease microwave proof bowl with Kremelta. Also grease wooden or heat proof spoon. Pour marshmallows and water into bowl. Microwave for approximately 2 minutes stopping and stirring at 40 second intervals. Mixture should be soupy. (if you want pink fondant, just use pink/white marshmallows.) Take out of microwave and immediately add corn syrup, lemon juice, salt and extracts. Stir well. Sift confectioner's sugar into mixture, one cup at a time. After approximately 5 cups, grease your hands well with Kremlta and knead the mixture in the bowl. Add the sixth cup and continue to knead. Now grease your work surface well and turn mixture out of bowl onto counter. Sift remaining sugar, regrease hands, and knead well. If mixture seems soft, add one additional cup of icing sugar. Shape into a mound and put a coating of Kremelta on outside. Double wrap in cling wrap and insert into zip-lock bag. Press air out of bag and seal. Allow to rest overnight, but, can be used after sitting for a few hours

What recipe do you use for buttercream?

Since discovering the following recipe for buttercream, I have never looked back. Adding meringue powder can make a crusting buttercream. I have convereted many of my friends and customers to the following recipe. It not only looks great & is easy to pipe. It tastes great too!
Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco or Sno-creme - do not use Kremelta)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
*1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla (however brown vanilla is fine, if your icing isn’t white)
4 cups icing sugar (I have found Chelsea brand to be the best)
2 tablespoons milk**
Method
Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.
YIELD: 3 cups
*Substitute all-vegetable shortening and 1/2 teaspoon Wilton No-Colour Butter Flavour for pure white icing and stiffer consistency.
**Add extra milk to recipe to thin to medium & soft consistency.
*** If you want icing that crusts, but remains lovely and smooth underneath, add 1 ½ tbsp meringue powder. If piping buttercream roses, this is essential.

Many recipes from overseas call for vegetable shortening what is this?

In NZ we cannot readily purchase the same type of vegatable shortening that is available in the USA. The main brand of vegeatble shortening available in the USA is CRISCO it is simlar to the Kremelta we can buy in NZ but has the consistency of margarine making it easy to mix.

Check out the Crisco we have available on the Kiwicakes website (3 sizes avialable)here

How do you make icing a true black?

I've received many emails regarding how to make icing black. Do not add black colouring to white icing, you will only achieve a dark liquorice green colour if you do. Simply add black colouring to chocolate icing (chocolate fondant or chocolate buttercream). A lovely black icing will be easily achieved.