April 7, 2008

Shark-Infested Cupcakes

That’s what my six year old requested for his birthday party last weekend. I immediately thought, “oh no,” because I’ve made these before; a year ago for his pre-school bake sale. And I struggled making the candy dough fin part. (I made them too thick and they didn’t harden properly or absorb the black food coloring.) I did finish them, though, and carried them to school in the handiest cupcake carrier I have made by Rubbermaid. They were the hit of the bake sale, and sold out in 20 minutes. The principal/owner of Washington Market Schools, Ronnie Moskowitz even brought someone down to buy some after they were sold out and asked me where they were. The all-organic no-nuts nothing-unhealthy-about-these cupcakes stood by unsold, while my blue food-dye-iced creations flew out the door. Go figure.

Photography: Eric Staudenmaier

I told Max that with the sandwiches and fruit and vegetable trays I had to put together, I didn’t have time to make them, wouldn’t plain ones do? Max said, ok. But later at The New York Cake Baking Center I slid the blue food dye in my basket. Maybe I’d try to find time.

And Saturday morning, I just couldn’t not make them. Hey, you only turn six once, you should have the cupcakes you want, right? I told myself I’d just make five or six, and 15 shark cupcakes later I had enough to put the whole pack of 6 year olds on a sugar jag for the rest of the day.

Tasha & Max making cupcakes.

I made the actual cake part the night before with Max and our babysitter Tasha. We saved time and used cake mixes—one of them was organic. (Yup, feeling a little guilty about the blue frosting). I was semi dreading the response of my friend Tamra at the party, as she is into very healthy cooking. When she saw them she said, “You made these?” She seemed impressed. Several other parents who got a taste told me the cupcakes were delicious.

Sunshine enjoying her cupcake.

Rainer's parents take note: He likes blue food.

Martin loves frosting.

This frosting/construction recipe came from a book I’ve turned to for two of Max’s birthday parties, Hey There, Cupcake! by Clare Crespo (Melcher Media). Her design ideas are original and hilarious. For his fourth birthday, I had made the cubcakes; little panda, koala and brown bear faces, which were a huge hit.

Putting your own personality into food for an event, be it your next poker night or a bachelorette party, can sometimes be tricky to do affordably. But whipping up a batch of cupcakes can work out to an economical, and highly original thing to do. Maybe sharks won’t fit a future party theme of yours but Clare’s pretty Cupcake Pearls, Citrus Cupcakes or the Cupcake Village might.

Baking for people you love is a gesture from the heart. Let your love show, and slather on the frosting. And, not to worry, they’re all natural.

Tools that helped me a lot:

• Ateco’s (No. 1384 size) straight spatula I bought at The New York Cake & Baking Center (nycake.com; 212-675-2253) to use for frosting the cupcakes. It has a perfect, nice flexible shape for icing a small flat surface.
• Cupcake carriers; I used Rubbermaid’s but it’s no longer on the market. These looked great though; Cupcake Courier ($24.99; target.com) has a locking base, airtight seal and holds 36 cupcakes. Or Onieda’s 24-Cupcake Carrier ($19.99 from Linens ‘n Things; lnt.com) carries 24 cupcakes and comes with non-stick cupcake pan.
• Non-stick 12 cupcake SilverStone Simply Baking Series pan makes for an easy clean-up easy if cupcake batter happens to ooze out of the liners. The pan is made of heavy weight carbon steel for even heating and browning.

Pool party or beach party anyone? Why not make these?

Cupcake Sharks Recipe

Ingredients:
Blue paper cupcake liners
1 recipe batter for any kind of cupcake Note: I used an organic chocolate cake mix to save time.
1 recipe for candy dough for fins (see below) Note: I substituted making fins of stiff black poster board.
Black food coloring
Small clean paintbrush
1 recipe Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting (see below)
Blue food coloring

Method:
1. Line cupcake tins with the liners. Fill the tins two-thirds full with the batter and bake the cupcakes as directed in the recipe.
2. Mold a piece of the Candy Dough into a triangle shape about 1 1/2 inches tall and about 1 inch wide. The thickness could be around 1/2-inch thick at the center of the triangle, but slightly thinner around the edges. Make the top point of the triangle bend back facing one side. Make about 20 fins (as many as you have cupcakes). Wipe a little black food coloring on each one.
3. Reserve a couple of spoonfuls of the frosting and set aside to create “whitecaps” for the waves. Tint the remaining frosting blue like the ocean. Frost the cupcakes, pulling some of the frosting upward to make waves in your ocean. Let this harden for a couple of minutes, then with a toothpick, decorate the waves with some white frosting to make the whitecaps and sea foam. Place your shark fins in the water.

Candy Dough Recipe

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Method:
In a large bowl, gently mix together the evaporated milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar with a fork. When the mixture becomes too thick to stir, use your hands to knead it until it’s smooth and easy to handle, adding more evaporated milk if necessary.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (yummmmmy!!!!!!)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar, salt, milk, vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.

Posted by Monica at 3:42 p.m.

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