It was my friend’s nephew’s third birthday and he was having a Thomas
the Tank Engine themed birthday. Three year olds really like Thomas – evidence here! They wanted vanilla and chocolate cupcakes
and a small cake to put candles on.
Since there were going to be a lot of adults at the party, I thought I’d
class up the cupcakes a bit by stuffing them with a raspberry frosting and
topping them with Swiss meringue buttercream instead of the American
buttercream that I normally use. We made
cupcake toppers with Thomas the Tank Engine stickers and since I’m really into
bunting right now, I included one for the cake.
Check
out the verdict at the end of the post!
Chocolate cupcakes and cake layer
I
used this go-to recipe and made 12 cupcakes and a 5 inch cake layer.
Fill the cups 2/3 full and bake or 12-14 minutes or until the toothpick
comes out clean.
For the cake, cut out a parchment round for the bottom of the cake pan
and grease and flour the sides. Fill 2/3
full and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Vanilla cupcakes and cake layer
I made 1.5 times this recipe
to make 12 cupcakes and a 5 inch cake layer.
The only addition I made was the addition of a ½ up for whipping cream whipped to a stiff peak and
folded into the batter at the end.
For the cake, cut out a parchment round for the bottom of the cake pan
and grease and flour the sides. Fill 2/3
full and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe from here times 1.75
Ingredients
262g (about 9) egg whites
437g (2 cups + 3 Tablespoons) sugar
795g (3.5 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a standmixer. Place bowl over simmering water while slowly
but constantly stirring by hand with a whisk.
2. When the mixture reaches 140 degrees F., place in the standmixer
with the whisk attachment and whip until stiff glossy peaks form and the
meringue is cool.
3. Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on medium while dropping cubes
of butter one a time. The mixture will
curdle, but mix on high and it will become smooth eventually.
4. Add vanilla and salt and mix.
5. Take out 1 cup for the raspberry filling (below), 1.5 cups to colour
green, and divide the remaining amount in half for blue and yellow. Add gel food colouring and whisk until
blended.
 |
| Meringue ready for butter. |
 |
| Buttercream ready for food colouring. |
Raspberry filling
Mix 1 cup of Swiss meringue buttercream with ½ cup of fresh raspberries
with the whisk attachment until smooth.
To fill cupcakes, fill pastry bag with an elongated tip such as Tip
#18. Insert the tip into the middle of the cupcake and squeeze until the
cupcake expands a bit. There should be
enough to fill the 5 inch cake.
5 inch Chocolate and Vanilla Cake
Use the chocolate and vanilla cake layers for the bottom and top of
layers of the cake. Fill with remaining
raspberry frosting.
Frost the bottom half with remaining blue frosting and top half with
green. Check out a tutorial here.
Use Tip #233 for the grass.
Verdict: These cupcakes were absolutely delicious and were a huge hit
at the party! The cupcakes and cake were really moist (because I made the ahead
of time and froze them) and the filling was a surprising burst of flavour. The thing that made them, though, was the
Swiss meringue buttercream. I got so
many complements on the frosting and its marshmallow creaminess. I had made Swiss meringue buttercream before
but wasn’t a fan, until now! I don’t know what’s changed in me, but it’s
exactly what I’m looking for in a frosting – not too sweet, doesn’t crust, is
silky, melts in your mouth, and doesn’t overwhelm the cupcake/cake. A super successful adult cupcake that the
kids also liked! Yay!
