Leading up to Miss G.’s first birthday I was filled with excitement. I couldn’t wait to celebrate her very special day, spoil her with presents, watch her eat cake and have fun completely oblivious to the reason behind all of the fuss.
With a few days until her birthday celebrations began I was feeling particularly organised.
Presents were wrapped.
Play dates were scheduled.
Cupcakes were baked.
And we had even decorated the house with pink balloons and streamers.
Feeling smug, I tucked Grace into bed, poured a glass of wine and decided to have a quick flick through Pinterest for a little extra birthday inspiration.
Rookie error.
Two hours and hundreds of pins later I quite clearly had fallen down the rabbit hole.
Mesmerised by the plethora of unbelievably beautiful birthday snaps my sense of organised smugness quickly disappeared.
Dazed and confused the need to bake a last minute birthday cake seem imperative.
And not just any old birthday cake.
A four layered, white chocolate, flag and sprinkle adorned monstrosity.
Reading through the ‘simple’ recipe I thought oh wow compared to the other birthday cake monsters (yes I am talking to you Ariel the life sized little mermaid cake) this looks wonderfully easy.
I told myself I’ll get started first thing in the morning and will have it banged out by 10am.
Yep.
Easy peasy.
Off to bed I went with not a care in the world.
Stumbling around the kitchen in the fresh light of day with an almost one year old playing at my feet it became abundantly clear I had bitten off more than I could bake.
Whilst lining the four cake pans (that took me an hour to find mind you) I began to curse pinterest and the crack pots who peddled this ridiculous birthday propaganda.
Not one to quit however I decided to continue on and by the grace of god somehow managed to bake the cakes.
And whilst staring at the four vanilla specked and quite frankly very ordinary looking cakes nestled on my kitchen bench I did a quick time check.
I was already 4 hours behind schedule.
Shit.
Completely overwhelmed by the everest task ahead of me I began to cry.
Cue meltdown.
The tears continued to flow as I stared at the mammoth mess my kitchen had become and the four lonely yet to be iced cakes before me.
To be perfectly honest the rest of the afternoon is a complete blur.
The only vague moments of recollection I do have are snippets of a hubby pep talk, throwing sprinkles at the cake and the gorgeous words of encouragement from the beautiful people of instagram.
When I finally came to and witnessed the pink cakey creation nestled in my refrigerator I did feel the slightest pang of pride.
A tired pang but it was there nonetheless.
Deep breath.
I had done it.
Seeing Grace enjoy her birthday cake did feel wonderful.
It was a beautiful mummy moment but will I be doing the same next year?
Oh hell no.
I’d much prefer to stick to my simple, fuss free baking and enjoy extra play time with my lovely little girl.
So the recipe I’m sharing with you today isn’t the mammoth, flag adorned, stress inducing birthday cake but the simple, gorgeous, beautiful, easy peasy beautiful ballerina birthday cupcakes.
These little babies are a delight to bake and a joy to eat and I encourage you to make them.
No ridiculous birthday propaganda here.
To create your own batch of beautiful ballerina birthday cupcakes simply…
Get started by making these super simple cupcakes.
1. In a large bowl begin by sifting the icing sugar, almond meal, plain flour and baking powder.
2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg whites and vanilla and stir to combine.
3. Add the melted butter, raspberries and white chocolate and mix to combine.
4. Pour the batter into a 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper cases and pop into a preheated 180 degree celsius (350 F) oven to bake for 15 minutes or until cooked and slightly golden.
5. Remove from the oven and place the cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely.
Now get started on the gorgeously gleaming white chocolate icing.
Begin by placing the white chocolate in a microwave proof bowl and pop into the microwave for 45 seconds. Give it a quick stir and pop back into the microwave and continue to cook in 15 second intervals until the chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool.
In the bowl of the food processor place the icing sugar, butter, cooled melted white chocolate, milk and vanilla and blitz until smooth and creamy.
Divide the icing between 2 bowls. Add a few drops of pink food colouring to one portion and mix to combine.
Now it’s time to get decorating. Organise a good space to arrange all of your decorating goodies. I used the dining room table to lay out the cooled cupcakes, sprinkles, icing, sugared flowers and ballerinas.
Smother each cupcake with a generous dollop of icing and use a butter knife or spatula to smooth the icing. Decorate as you please with sprinkles, sugared flowers and ballerinas.
Arrange your beautifully decorated ballerina birthday cupcakes on a serving platter and top with birthday candle(s).
beautiful birthday ballerina cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes
1 cup almond meal
1 2/3 cups icing sugar
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
5 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
125g butter, melted & cooled
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
100 grams white chocolate, roughly chopped
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake papers. Sift almond meal, icing sugar, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir to combine, making a well in the center. Add the egg whites, and vanilla and stir until just mixed in. Add the melted butter and stir again until just mixed in. Fold through the raspberries and white chocolate. Using a 1/4 measuring cup ladle the mixture into each cupcake paper. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on friand size) or until golden and springy on top. Remove from tray and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
white chocolate icing
INGREDIENTS
90 grams white chocolate, melted and cooled
2 1/4 cups icing sugar
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
a few drops of pink food colouring
To decorate: sprinkles, sugared flowers and ballerina’s
METHOD
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined and smooth. About 1 minute. Separate the icing into 2 bowls, add the pink food colouring to one portion of the icing and mix until thoroughly combined.
Smother each cooled cupcake with a generous amount of the icing and use a spatula or butter knife to smooth the surface. Decorate as you desire. Enjoy x
You might also like…
raspberry lemon friands
mango & coconut muffins
yoghurt panna cotta with fresh strawberries
too cute!!
awwww your lovely Grace is one! Happy Birthday Grace! I’m such a fan of your baby!
Congratulations on surviving the first birthday meltdown! You are my hero! Grace looks so proud of her Mommy in that picture! It’s like she’s saying: “Mommy baked all these cupcakes for me!” 🙂
Hi. some of the kids are allergic to nuts. How many cups of white flour would I need instead of the almond meal?
Hi! I love your all of your recipes – So delicious! I am going to make these cupcakes for my daughters 1st birthday, but was wondering if this recipe could be used for mini cupcakes (24)? If so, how long would they need to bake for? Any other changes? Thank you so very much!
Yes, absolutely mini cupcakes will work beautifully. I’d pop them in for half the cooking time and see how they go from there. Though they really shouldn’t take too long to bake at all. Happy birthday to your daughter, I hope she has the most wonderful day – doesn’t the first year go by SO quickly! Enjoy lovely and report back, I’d be delighted to know how you go! X
Hi,
I love your recipes!
my daughter is turning 2 next week and I want to make these for her party. I made today a trial batch and the muffins were stuck to the paper so we could only eat like the half of each muffin. Any idea how to fix this?