This year sees the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations – an absolutely perfect excuse for cake all round – lots and lots of cake! Today I have the perfect cupcake recipe for this most royal occasion – strawberries and cream crown cupcakes! This recipe was adapted slightly from a strawberry and cream royal fairy cakes recipe from Dr. Oetker – I used the delicious strawberry and cream cake recipe but adapted the decorations to make them extra quick and easy, perfect to make in bulk for a street party when the Queen’s official birthday rolls around next month.
Ahead of the Queen’s birthday celebrations, Dr. Oetker has teamed up with baking expert Juliet Sear to create an amazing nine tier birthday cake! This impressive bake honours some of the patriotic nation’s favourite things; adorable corgis, traditional party bunting, Union Jack colours and of course the Queen’s bejewelled crown. If you pop over to the Dr. Oetker website, right now you can enter a competition for your chance to win your own four tier version of this amazing cake!
Dr. Oetker also took inspiration from the cake to create their rather easier but just as gorgeous royal fairy cakes recipe for those of us at home. Here’s my take on this delicious recipe:
Strawberries and Cream Crown Cupcakes
Ingredients:
- 75g butter or baking spread
- 75g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract
- 75g self raising flour
- 100g soft set strawberry jam
To decorate:
- Dr. Oetker Coloured Ready to Roll Regal Ice
- Dr. Oetker Gold Shimmer Spray
- Dr. Oetker Writing Icing Brights (optional)
- 300ml double cream
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas mark 5/375°F). Line a muffin tin with 10 cupcake cases.
Weigh out the butter, caster sugar, egg and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Sift the flour over the top, then whisk the ingredients together with an electric whisk until the mixture is completely blended and creamy (you could also whisk by hand, but be sure to soften the butter first if you do).
Divide the mixture equally between the 10 cupcake cases and smooth the tops. Pop into the preheated oven and bake for 16-18 minutes until risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Once the cakes are cool enough to handle (but still warm), use a teaspoon to scoop a portion of sponge from the top of each cake. Fill with jam, then press the tops back on to seal in the jam. Leave to cool completely.
Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the icing crowns. Take the yellow icing from the ready roll icing pack and roll out to about 1.5mm thick.
With a sharp knife, cut strips from the icing. Cut a zig-zag pattern on the edge of the strips (I used a mini triangle cutter to keep it even but you can easily do this by hand too. Cut the strips into smaller pieces, then roll into a circle and lightly press the ends together to join them. Gently bend the pointy tips of the crown outwards slightly.
Leave the crowns for around 15 minutes to dry out, then spray them all over with Dr. Oetker gold shimmer spray. Leave to dry again for at least an hour or until ready to use. Once dry, you could also use Dr. Oetker writing icing to dot on jewels if wanted (I forgot to do this before taking photos, oops!).
Just before serving, whip up the cream until firm enough to pipe and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a large closed star nozzle. Pipe a generous swirl on top of each cake and top with a crown. Serve immediately.
NOTES: Put the crown toppers on the cakes just before serving for best results. After about 1 hour, the colours from the icing may run into the cream. You can refrigerate the cakes for up to half an hour once piped with cream, but without the crown toppers, after this time the texture of the sponge may dry.
Are you throwing a party to celebrate the royal birthday? Here are my top tips to help it go with a bang!
- Plan, plan and plan some more! I’m a little obsessed with spreadsheets myself, but a notebook or a few sheets of paper will work as well. Keep track of how many guests you’re catering for (and whether there are any food allergies to be aware of) to help you plan how much food you’ll need.
- Delegate – if you ask everyone to bring one thing it can take away lot of the stress of party planning. Most people are happy to contribute and if they can avoid duplicates by picking from a list you’ve already pulled together then even better!
- Prepare as much food in advance as possible, it will save a lot of time on the day.
- Mix traditional favourites with some fresh party food ideas – use tortilla wraps to make sandwich spirals, get the kids making rainbow fruit kebabs, serve tubs of houmous with strips of pitta bread, make mini baked potatoes and big bowls of simple pasta, rice or cous-cous salads.
- Allow yourself to cut a few corners to save time – even if you wouldn’t normally, buying foods like ready to eat carrot sticks or fruit can free up valuable time (that you can then spend on fun things like making delicious homemade cupcakes!).
- Plan out some games in advance and appoint a games master to take charge of them. Party games like pass the parcel, musical statues, apple bobbing and sack races are all excellent fun for a traditional British party! Don’t forget to organise something to play music on too.
- Don’t forget the drinks! Borrow as many jugs as you can to fill with iced water, ready-made squash or fruit juice ‘mocktails’ so that guests can help themselves.
- Set up a simple activity table for little ones who might need a bit of quiet time. It doesn’t need to cost the earth, just pop to a pound shop for paper, stickers, colouring books and crayons.
Do you have any tips for throwing a great party? If you’re planning one yourself, don’t forget to enter the royal cake competition over on the Dr. Oetker website!
Grace
Disclosure: This blog post was commissioned by Dr. Oetker. I was compensated for my time and the cost of ingredients, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Strawberries and Cream Crown Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 75 g butter or baking spread
- 75 g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract
- 75 g self raising flour
- 100 g soft set strawberry jam
- Dr. Oetker Coloured Ready to Roll Regal Ice
- Dr. Oetker Gold Shimmer Spray
- Dr. Oetker Writing Icing Brights (optional)
- 300 ml double cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas mark 5/375°F). Line a muffin tin with 10 cupcake cases.
- Weigh out the butter, caster sugar, egg and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Sift the flour over the top, then whisk the ingredients together with an electric whisk until the mixture is completely blended and creamy (you could also whisk by hand, but be sure to soften the butter first if you do).
- Divide the mixture equally between the 10 cupcake cases and smooth the tops. Pop into the preheated oven and bake for 16-18 minutes until risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Once the cakes are cool enough to handle (but still warm), use a teaspoon to scoop a portion of sponge from the top of each cake. Fill with jam, then press the tops back on to seal in the jam. Leave to cool completely.
- Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the icing crowns. Take the yellow icing from the ready roll icing pack and roll out to about 1.5mm thick.
- With a sharp knife, cut strips from the icing. Cut a zig-zag pattern on the edge of the strips (I used a mini triangle cutter to keep it even but you can easily do this by hand too. Cut the strips into smaller pieces, then roll into a circle and lightly press the ends together to join them. Gently bend the pointy tips of the crown outwards slightly.
- Leave the crowns for around 15 minutes to dry out, then spray them all over with Dr. Oetker gold shimmer spray. Leave to dry again for at least an hour or until ready to use. Once dry, you could also use Dr. Oetker writing icing to dot on jewels if wanted (I forgot to do this before taking photos, oops!).
- Just before serving, whip up the cream until firm enough to pipe and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a large closed star nozzle. Pipe a generous swirl on top of each cake and top with a crown. Serve immediately.
Notes
I hope you will want to try this fun cupcake recipe, please pin it if you do! For more delicious treat ideas and recipes, check out the Desserts and Sweet Treats section here on the Eats Amazing blog or pop over and follow my Desserts and Treats Pinterest board for recipe inspiration all the year around!
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