Wednesday, May 20, 2015

HOW TO MAKE A ROSE BOUQUET, STEP BY STEP

I made this Rose Cupcake Bouquet as a birthday gift for our good friend Samiksha. Its is easy and any home baker can give a try to this cupcake bouquet. Trust ,me, you don’t need to be a professional baker!



I used my fail proof basic vanila cupcake recipe for making the main ingredient - cupcakes :). you can use any butter cream recipe, i used my classic butter cream frosting (recipe follows), which is 1:4 ratio to butter and powdered sugar. All the other supplies that you need are available at craft stores – I bought them from Michael’s. 

Simple Vanilla muffins


Cupcake bouquet Materials : 

You will need,
  • Flower Pot
  • Styrofoam Ball, that fits perfectly in pot
  • Toothpicks
  • Cupcakes -45
  • Buttercream 
  • 1 piping bag
  • Icing Tip 1M
  • Pink food color
  • Green Tissue Paper

 My basic Butter cream recipe for rose cupcake /rose cupcake bouquet :

Unsalted Butter : 3/4Cup / 1 1/2sticks, at room temperature(Not melted!!!)
Powdered Sugar : 3Cups
Milk / Heavy cream : 1 1/2tbsp
Vanilla Extract : 1tsp 
A pinch of Salt


Directions : Using an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Gradually beat the Icing sugar on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract. Add the milk and beat on high speed for 3 minutes until frosting is light and smooth.

Add caption

How to make Rose cupcake Bouquet ?


1 : Make the vanilla muffins
2. Arrange the Styrofoam Ball in the flower pot. If it is slightly bigger than flower pot width, using a glue gun fix it to the flower pot.
3. Using two tooth picks fix each cupcake to the Styrofoam ball. 
4. Finish fixing the cupcakes on the Styrofoam ball.
5. Start piping the butter cream icing on the cupcakes.
6. Yeah!! i finished piping rosettes.
7. Last step is filling the gaps. Cut square pieces of green tissue paper and arrange 3 or 4 of them as a stack. Twist in the middle  and insert into the gaps between flowers to look like leaves. 



Monday, May 11, 2015

APPLE SPRING SALAD

This is my favorite salad so far.. I love to have it with my marmalade vinaigrette salad dressing.



Ingredients :

Apple : 1, thinly sliced (You can use oranges / strawberries / pears too)
Spring mix salad greens : 1/2 packet or 2 cups
Pecans / Almonds / walnuts : 10, toasted
Raisins : 2 tbsp
Dried Cranberries : 1 tbsp
Parmesan Cheese : 3 tbsp, finely grated

Method :

In a large salad bowl toss thinly sliced apples, toasted nuts, raisins, cranberries and spring mix. Add the marmalade vinaigrette salad dressing and combine well. Now sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

How to toast almonds / pecans / walnuts : Arrange the nuts in single layer on a ungreased sheet pan and bake in 350 degree F preheated oven to 5-7minutes.



Wednesday, May 6, 2015

CITRUS-MARMALADE VINAIGRETTE

A simple vinaigrette dressing touched with orange marmalade and Dijon mustard makes a huge difference with fresh spring / garden salad. This is my favorite salad dressing so far.

Dijon-Citrus Marmalade Vinaigrette

How to make the best Dijon-Citrus Marmalade Vinaigrette
Yields : 3 servings
Preparation time : 2 minutes

Ingredients :

Orange marmalade : 2tbsp

Olive oil : 1/4cup
Lemon Juice : 2tbsp
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Garlic : 2 clove, finely chopped
Dijon mustard : 1/2tsp
Dried Parsley / Thyme : 1/4tsp
Salt and Pepper to taste


Dijon-Citrus Marmalade Vinaigrette
 Directions : 

In a small deep bowl, whisk together marmalade, Dijon mustard, Olive oil and Lemon juice. Now add the chopped garlic, herb, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Notes :

1. If you are not using the vinaigrette right away, cover and refrigerate till you use, Whisking or shaking again before use. 

2. I make my vinaigrette in a mason jar by shaking all the ingredients together.

3. Refrigerate the dressing up to 3 days.