An Afternoon of Pink Icing and Edible Glitter

Some seriously amazing cupcakes!

Pink Foil Cupcake Cups

Use two teaspoons to fill cups about 1/2 the way full

Perfectly done!

First of 3 shades of pink buttercream icing

Used plastic disposable piping bags with an open star tip

Perfect piping.

Edible Glitter from Jane Asher in London.
Similar to be found State-side at Layercake Shop.

Use a butter knife to sprinkle glitter on cupcakes.

3 different shades of pink

And TA-DA!
The finished product almost too pretty to eat...almost.

It was my second to last day in London and I have to admit I was feeling a bit melancholy. I was suffering from the anticipation of the separation anxiety that would most surely be mine once I landed back in New York, leaving most of my nearest and dearest friends behind. This, in addition to the pure exhaustion I felt after what was an amazingly fun, action-packed 11 days in London. Thankfully, I happen to be staying with one of the above described nearest and dearest friends, who was having none of it! Thus, the afternoon of baking began. Not just any baking however. We two mid-twenties ladies were transformed into giggly 6 year old girls who struck gold when we discovered a huge box filled to the brim with edible glitter, pink food coloring, sprinkles, hot pink cupcake cups, edible silver balls, piping bags, and any other baking extravagances your heart could desire (most of which are compliments of Jane Asher. For similar glitter in the States try here). Melancholy? What Melancholy? Time to bake! 


For the cupcake we used Nigella Lawson's fairy cake recipe. A very similar one can be found here. Instead of regular caster sugar we used vanilla sugar, which was delicious. For the buttercream, we winged it by putting about 1 lbs of butter in an electric mixer, gradually adding powdered sugar until we liked the consistency. It should be rather firm, to be able to hold its shape after piping. Find a good recipe here. We decided one shade of pink simply wasn't enough, so we slowly added organic pink food coloring to three different batches of icing to get the colors we wanted. For the piping we used a 1 M Open Star Decorating Tip to make a swirling effect. No need to get too technical here.. just find a tip you like, and go with it! 


Now, I realize that this is somewhat of a project, and takes a little planing in order to get the esthetic of the above. But if you find yourself wanting to surprise a friend with some birthday cupcakes that are extra special, or have a special occasion to bake for, the little bit of effort is well worth it. I mean, edible glitter? Come on! It's a no brainer. Have fun!

Resources

For fun and colorful cupcake cups click here.

For baking supplies such as piping bags and tips click here

For edible glitter and other decorative (and totally necessary) accents click here and here.