La Vie en Rose

In conjunction with Mother's Day a month ago, I made these pretty vanilla cupcakes infused with rose syrup. Yes yes I know, you don't have to remind me of how I am a very much-delayed blogger! :P

La Vie en Rose

Recipe by The Bakeanista

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

200g castor sugar

2 eggs 

150g self-raising flour

125g plain flour

1 tsp rose essence

120ml milk

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 180° C. Grease a 12-cupcakes pan.

2) Beat butter and sugar until mixture turns pale and fluffy, for about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs in one at a time, ensuring that it is well incorporated before you add in the next egg.

3)Add in the vanilla extract and beat together quickly to make a smooth batter.

4) In a small bowl, combine both the plain flour and self-raising flour, then sift together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the rose essence into the milk and give it a good stir.

5) Add the sifted flour in three folds, alternating with the milk and ending with the flour. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

8) Divide the batter among the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

9) Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing.

I topped them with a lovely rose-flavoured cream cheese frosting which to be honest, was the key!

Rose-flavoured Cream Cheese Frosting

100g cream cheese

60g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted

1-1/2 tsp rose essence

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Pour in powdered sugar and rose essence.

I used 1 1/2 tsp of the rose essence as I wanted to achieve an intense rose flavoured frosting, but it's up to you really. I also added in 2 tsp of leftover cherry syrup to get the pale pink colour.

Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Fill a piping bag with the icing and frost over cupcakes. Enjoy digging in! :)

I brought them in to the office and sold 'em cuppies to my colleagues to raise funds for the Australia's Biggest Morning Tea event hosted by the Cancer Council. They sold like hot cakes - all were gone by noon! :)

Throughout the month of May, I have made 9 different types of cupcakes to sell which equates to more than 200 cupcakes.

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of most of them because I'd only finish icing the cupcakes at like 1am in the wee hours of the morning. 

By then, I had to prepare to go to bed otherwise I'd be like a walking zombie at work the following day. It was tiring no doubt, but definitely worth all the effort because I managed to raise $300 in total! Of course, with a tad bit of topping up to meet the round figure. Woohoo!

I will be hosting a morning tea at my office this coming Thursday, and I hope to raise another $200 to hit my target of $500! I hope it will go well. *fingers crossed*