Spring/Easter Class at Shermay's: Cupcakes, Cookies and Other Treats

I'll be teaching a Spring/Easter demo class at Shermay's Cooking School on 1 March 2008 (Saturday), 2 March 2008 (Sunday), 15 March 2008 (Saturday) and 16 March 2008 (Sunday) - the March schedule has all the necessary booking details. For all inquiries, please call the school at +65 6479 8442 or email shermaycs@yahoo.com.sg

I didn't want to limit a theme so rich with possibilities to just cupcakes, or just cookies. So the solution was obvious - the class covers both areas, and a few other treats besides. This post features the cupcakes and some of the cupcake decorating ideas; I will put up a separate post soon featuring the decorated cookies.

The cupcake and cupcake topping recipes are:

Super Moist Carrot & Orange Cupcakes with Walnuts

If anything is worth perfecting, it is a classic like carrot cake. My idea of a well-made carrot cake, a carrot cake worth eating, is ultra moist, gently spiced, lifted with a touch of citrus zest and generously loaded with shredded carrots and chopped nuts - all in all, a lavish mouthful of comfort. The recipe I will be sharing is the same tried-and-tested gold standard I often turn to when I need to produce a sweet treat that will make a memorable impression at tea.

White Chocolate & Cream Cheese Frosting

A lavish carrot cake deserves a lavish frosting. Good white chocolate (I use Valrhona Ivoire) puts a luxurious spin on cream cheese frosting, lending mouthfeel and richness.

Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Cupcakes with Cherry Topping

A buttery crumb base is topped with a luscious cream cheese filling extravagantly flavoured with vanilla bean and finished with a tart cherry topping.

I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for decorating the cupcakes, from the fuss-free (like these candied carrot curls),

to the fabulously frou frou. Given the seasonal theme, coming up with the latter was virtually like playing a word association game. If there're carrots involved, the Easter bunny simply must put in an appearance.

Delicate little eggs, tinted a variety of pretty pastel washes, demand a basket,

a nest,

or a bed of grass.

And if there're eggs, a chick

or two can't be far behind.

And that's just the cherry on the cake, so to speak. I'll put up details on the decorated cookie component of the class soon; an easy-to-handle rolled dough (Rich Chocolate Cookies), plus familiarity with the ins and outs of working with Royal Icing (using a recipe based on egg white powder that's an alternative to meringue powder royal icing and classic royal icing) and core decorating techniques (from the basic like Outlining, Flooding, Drop-in Flooding, Overpiping, Flocking and Gilding to the slightly more challenging like Piped Icing Flowers), allow you to craft one-of-a-kind cookies and cookie pop bouquets. Sugar moulding techniques (for creating sugar cases and shaped sugar cubes) will also be covered.

On top of the above, the recipe pack includes a handful of bonus recipes - Simnel Cupcakes with Marzipan Centres; Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Cupcakes; Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Ganache. I won't be demonstrating these extra recipes during class so will be elaborating on them shortly as well.