a
St
r
Of The
Show
These fuss-free
showstoppers will
take the cake
at your kids'
next birthday party.
PRODUCED BY LYNNE KONSTANTIN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SANDRA LANE
Looking for a showstop-
ping treat for your little cake
connoisseur's next birthday
party? From dinosaurs to dai-
sies, Annie Rigg's new book
Birthday Cakes for Kids (Ryland,
Peters & Small; $19.95) offers
fantastic —and easy-to-create
with step-by-steps and dia-
grams — treats that will wow
kids and their parents alike. If a
pirate ship or gingerbread car-
ousel still sounds too daunting,
start out with these super-easy
celebration treats.
RECIPES REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
FROM BIRTHDAY CAKES FOR KIDS
(RYLAND PETERS & SMALL), BY ANNIE RIGG.
"Ice Cream" Cupcakes
Tint the buttercream pink for straw-
berry ice cream and scatter with sliced
fresh strawberries or a couple of fresh
cherries. These cupcakes are best made
on the day of the party.
1
stick unsalted butter at room
temperature
1/2
cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
2
large eggs, beaten
1
tsp. vanilla extract
1
cup all-purpose flour
11/2 tsp. baking powder
2
Tbsp. milk, at room temperature
10
ice cream cones (with flat bottoms)
10
flaked chocolate bars
Buttercream
Sift the flour and baking powder
together, then fold into the creamed
batter. Add the milk and stir until
smooth. Divide the batter between the
ice-cream cones and bake on the middle
shelf of the preheated oven for 20-25
minutes until golden and a skewer
inserted in the middle of the cupcakes
comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool
in the muffin pan for 10 minutes before
turning out onto a wire cooling rack to
cool completely.
To make the buttercream, cream the
butter, sugar and vanilla extract as above.
Fill the piping bag with the buttercream
and pip generous swirls of it on top
of each cupcake. Finish with a flaked
chocolate bar. Makes 10.
2
sticks unsalted butter, at room
temperature
4
cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1
tsp. vanilla extract
12-hole muffin pan
Piping bag, fitted with a star tip
Preheat the oven to 350F. Stand the ice-
cream cones in the muffin pan.
Cream the butter and sugar in an
electric mixer or with a handheld elec-
tric whisk until pale, light and fluffy.
Gradually add the eggs, mixing well
etween each addition and scraping
down the bowl with a spatula from time
to time. Stir in the vanilla extract.
P 1 6 •
OCTOBER 2009
• IN platinum
Meringue Mountain
For the sake of your arms, make the
batter in an electric freestanding mixer
because it takes 10 minutes for the
meringues to become really stiff and
glossy. The cooked meringues will keep
for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
1 1/ cups superfine sugar
5
large white egg whites
1
Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
2
baking sheets, lined with baking
parchment
Pink food coloring paste
Blue food coloring paste
Edible colored balls and colored sprinkles
Preheat oven to 400F.
Tip the sugar into a small roasting
pan and warm in the preheated oven
for about 7 minutes, or until hot to the
touch. Turn the oven down to 225F.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites
in an electric freestanding mixer until
frothy. Tip all of the hot sugar onto the
egg whites at once and continue to mix
on high speed for about 10 minutes
until the meringue batter is very stiff,
white and cold.
Divide the batter between 3 bowls.
Add tiny amounts of pink food coloring
paste to one bowl using a toothpick and
very gently fold in using a large metal
spoon until the color has marbled the
batter.
Using 2 tablespoons, dollop the bat-
ter into 4 even-size mounds onto the
prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the
blue food-coloring paste.
Sift the cocoa into the last bowl of
batter and gently fold in until the batter
is marbled with cocoa.
Sprinkle edible colored balls and
colored sprinkles all over the meringues,
then bake in the preheated oven for
1 1/2 - 1 1/4 hours. Remove from the oven
and let cool on the baking sheets. Pile
up on a serving plate. Makes 12.