Stained glass cup cakes

Watch how everybody’s eyes light up with these stained candy glass rainbow cup cakes!

Great Covid era birthday cake alternative.. Candle on 1.

Any cake recipe would work. Simply add 3 tablespoons sour cream for a lovely flavour and moisture boost 🙂

Ingredients – cup cake

1 : 1 : 1.5 ratio works! (butter : sugar : flour)

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs (or 2, oh whatever your heart desires)

3 tbsp sour cream

1.5 cups self raising flour

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Ingredients – Buttercream icing

1 cup butter

3.5 cups icing powder

4 tbsp flavouring (4 tbsp orange juice, or 1 tbsp vanilla + 3 tbsp milk/cream, or.. any natural flavors 🙂

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Ingredients – candy glass

  1. 1 cup castor sugar
  2. 1/2 cup water
  3. Baking tray lined with baking paper

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Method – cup cake

  1. Mix butter and sugar, very well (until it turns pale white)
  2. Add eggs, mix
  3. Add sour cream, mix
  4. Fold in flour GENTLY (Sift flour in if you can)
  5. To make rainbow colors, put 2 drops of color into each bowl and fill bowls with batter. Mix gently
  6. Drop a spoonful of coloured batter into each cake cup
  7. Bake on preheated, hot air humid (convection) 170c for 15 mins
  8. Let cool. Trim to flatten top

Method – icing

  1. Using a whisk attachment, whip all ingredients (slow at first, then on high)
  2. For colored icing, color icing mixture like cup cakes, wrap each color in plastic wrap. Shape into long tubes, cut tips off and fill piping bag
  3. Use piping bag with a large star piping nozzle
  4. Hold the piping bag upright, at a right angle and start piping a generous small circle in the middle of the cup cake, continuing with a larger circle, ending at the circumference

If the icing design doesn’t look good, use a butter knife to remove the icing and start over again! No sweat 🙂

Save leftovers in the fridge. Bring to room temperature for next use.

Method – Candy glass (careful, very hot – no kids, no pets around)

  1. Boil sugar and water in a pot, on high
  2. GENTLY swirl mix (so sugar mixes)
  3. Stop swirling when it comes to a boil
  4. Switch stove off when mix turns LIGHT brown
  5. Pour liquid into baking tray. Tilt tray to allow liquid to spread into a thin layer.
  6. Let cool, drop tray (gently from a low height) until glass breaks.
  7. Top cup cake with these gorgeous stained glass!

For extra fun, add small pieces of toasted pistachios, almond or roasted coffee beans.

Keeps well in air tight container, separated by baking paper. So yes, you can make this ahead of time.

Pretty cup cakes, Aye, haute couture champion..

 Before and after icing

 

 Trim tops for icing

 Piping bag with large star nozzle 

 Caution, hot Candy glass. As hot as the baker… 😉