Sunday, March 30, 2008

Spring has sprung!

Once upon a March, a teeny weeny bunny faced a Daring Bakers challenge. It was the daring Morven's turn to host and she wisely picked a sprightly recipe for us: the Perfect Party Cake by the one and only Dorie Greenspan. Having only salivated at Dorie's books, the bunny was uber excited about the cake, only to despair having no special occasion to bake for.

Though the bunny's birthday is in March, she was away in a foreign land with her beloved sister for the occasion. Fortunately, the Easter holiday came to the rescue! Even though the funny bunny didn't celebrate the holy day, she had plenty of friends who did. The bunny quite liked cake allright, but being pint-sized, the bunny liked all things small and cute. She then decided that instead of baking a large, beautiful cake, she will bake cupcakes because there's really nothing more adorably delicious than cuppy cakes.

But how should the bunny ensure that she follows the challenge rules, for one of the rules is that it has to be a layer cake! Think and think, the bunny did, before she thought, "Eureka! Layer cupcakes!" And layer cupcakes, the bunny made.

She started with the batter, which was easy breezy and a beautiful daffodil yellow, very apt for a springy occasion such as Easter.
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To make layer cupcakes, the daring bunny baked the layers separately; she baked half of them in cupcake baking cups and the other half sans paper in the cupcake pan, with only a tablespoon of batter in each.
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The mini cupcakes (as if cupcakes weren't mini enough!) rose slightly and were a pretty yellow.
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To start the assembly process, the funny bunny laid out the cupcake in a baking cup, which will be the bottom layer.
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She then spooned a teaspoonful of luscious strawberry jam and smoothed it over the top...
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... before she plopped the paperless cupcake (the top layer) on the jam-frosted cupcake!
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And as if this isn't sufficient fabulosity, the bunny decided to be funny and slathered the top with Dorie's decadent vanilla buttercream, only to top it off with a sprinkling of fluffy flaked coconut.
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Nothing is more fun than decorating cupcakes, but the bunny couldn't wait to tuck into this darling lemony cake! She split it in half, only to show off that the cupcake crumb is delectable and its layers simply exquisite (if she must say to herself!).
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In no time did the greedy bunny polished off the pretty cupcake, leaving only mysterious yellow crumbs and flakes and pink paper on the plate.
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Fortunately, the funny bunny managed to hide a bunch more cuppy cakes away from her tummy, so that her friends who celebrate Easter actually had a chance to enjoy them too! Really, she's rather impressed she had this much self-control considering how yummy the cakes were!
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Now check out more daring creations of other talented bunnies and chickies that are popping all over the internet here. Please be kind to your computer; prepare some napkins for your mouth in case my friends' pictures are excessively mouth-watering!

26 comments:

Karen Baking Soda said...

Sheer diva-ne! What a pretty idea and so well-executed. Love it!

Unknown said...

I love the little cupcakes such a wonderful idea. i am so going to have to copy you.

Gretchen Noelle said...

Super cute idea with the cupcakes! Lovely look to them all!

Gabi said...

I absolutely love your layer cupcakes! Lovely idea and they're bunny-beautiful!
xoxo

Jerry said...

Lovely idea to do cupcakes! Very awesome

Suzana Parreira said...

Now, that's an original take on the recipe! Amazing cupcakes. Great job!

breadchick said...

OH wonderfully delicious looking little cupcakes! What a great idea and I'll be they tasted 10X better!!

Bridget said...

They're so cute!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Absolutely perfect in every way!!
Marisa cup cakes do make a perfect cake with this!

Lunch Buckets said...

Bunny did good, very cute!

glamah16 said...

What a great idea! In answer to your question I got the rose petals in syrup on Amazon. I put rose preserves or rose jam in the search engine.

KJ said...

Perfect party cupcakes!! What a great idea!!!

Ann said...

Such cute little cakes!
Ann at Redacted Recipes

Ginny said...

I love your take on this challenge! cupcakes are gorgeous!

Tarah at Genesis of a Cook said...

What a clever idea! I love it! Very cute!

Unknown said...

Cute use of cupcakes for this recipe!

linda said...

Very cute to make them into layered cupcakes!

Petra said...

what a great idea with the little cute cup cakes!!!! Love it!

kitten said...

the perfect idea for the perfect party cake. i'm going to have to try it !

June said...

Those cupcakes look great! That was a very clever idea.

leafy bombshell said...

What a funny angle to take with this posting. Your cupcakes came out so pretty. Great job.

Familia Bencomo said...

What a "hoppy" story! It looks like you had a lot of fun.... I'm so envious that you were in Paris (boohoo!).

xoxox Amy

jesse said...

Wow ci, if I'd made this month's challenge I would've opted for cupcakes too. Coincidence? I think not!

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a fabulous job on the cup cakes. They look scrumptious.

I noticed that your post was tagged vegetarian. Do you cook your DB challenges as vegetarian? If you would like to be added to the Alternative Daring Bakers list as a vegetarian blog, please let me know and we'll get you added. Also the Alternative DBers are baking the April challenge together. If you'd like to participate, just email me at glutenagogo AT gmail DOT com for some more info.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

Aoife said...

Brilliant and adorable! Layering is definitely something to think about for the next time I make cupcakes.

kellypea said...

Wow. So cool in cupcake form. I loved this cake and your cupcakes really do it justice. They look so yummy!

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