Unicorn Cake

Time goes by so quickly, doesn't it? I just completed my third year at uni and yet it almost feels like I was snapping away on my little compact camera when I first started blogging last weekend. Now on summer holidays, I've been looking for inspiration for new baking ideas and happened to stumble upon this gem by Cupcake Jemma.  

Now I thought to myself, this beauty should be easy to make. NOPE. The vanilla cake I had baked turned out dense, undercooked and just awful. My first batch of rainbow meringues had too much colour on them and took FOREVER to bake. I only realised my mistake of ignoring a bit of undissolved sugar in the meringue after they came out as hard as a rock when I actually thought that they were still undercooked. *Insert -_- face here*. Oh, and also, do not make these meringues on a humid day, I repeat, not on a humid day! The humidity messes with the sugar in the meringues and makes it sticky on the outside which ruins the appearance and colour on these beauties. 

After a day of baking disasters, it felt like my 5 years+ of baking experience went out of the window. But as they say, when you fall you gotta pick yourself up am i rite? So this time I opted for my trusty chocolate cake with strawberries and cream filling. I tried out a recipe from the Cake Merchant because creaming butter and sugar, when done correctly, almost always ensures a light and fluffy cake. I used a basic recipe for rainbow meringues from Bakers Royale but halved the recipe because I only needed a small amount of "unicorn poop" to top my cake. You can see how these meringue kisses are made from this video. For the outside of the cake, I used a vanilla buttercream frosting which I coloured pink, yellow and blue. 

I'm usually a sucker for simple cakes but you know, I could get used to making these kind of colourful beasts. 

The Best Vanilla Cupcake

This rarely happens to me. You know, when you first taste test a cupcake and then fall in love at first bite. In fact, I'm convinced it's the best vanilla cupcake like, ever. And being myself, the ever experimental baker, I wanted to find another vanilla cupcake recipe that's fail proof with an authentic vanilla kick. So within my 2 years of baking, I've tested many vanilla cupcake recipes I dug out from the internet but this one from Cupcake Project's popular Vanilla Cupcake recipe is certainly crowned the best above the rest. It's got a super soft crumb that melts into your mouth with a true vanilla flavour that's hard to beat. I'm not exaggerating, its the truth. And I strongly suggest you try it, if you haven't already.

And what about the topping to match this perfectly baked vanilla cupcake? Ah yes, and since I am considerate for those who I bake for, I turned to my mother for the details:

Mum: "I want something with white chocolate"
Me: "Like a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting?"
Mum: "No....WHITE chocolate not the one from cocoa beans"
Me: "Okeydokey, the ultimate white chocolate cupcake it is...*runs off to get the white chocolate*

Actually, after the conversation I decided to change it to a vanilla cupcake with white chocolate frosting, as I figured it would be too much of one ingredient. With the white chocolate frosting, I landed into this recipe from Not So Humble Pie that A: involves cream cheese and B: has lots of white chocolate. Perfect. I am quite aware of the effects cream cheese has on piping, but I like that its tangy flavour cuts out some of the sweetness. Unfortunately it came out super sweet, I guess loads of white chocolate + icing sugar = SWEET HEAVENS. So, to solve the problem, I dabbed a little icing on the cupcake and was randomly hit with a brilliant idea of covering it with sprinkles. I mean, who doesn't like sprinkles? It screams fun and celebration when you look at it. It reminds me of the epicness that is fairy bread from my childhood really.

Since I was making this for two people, I slightly modified the recipe by halving the ingredients, and substituting yoghurt for sour cream. This turned out wonderful, so much so, my mother stood up, declared it one of the best cupcakes ever and rated it five stars (excluding the frosting). Oh, and before I leave for another cupcake, here's a little swirl of sweet white chocolate buttercream....