Children in Need cupcakes 2012

‘Tis so the season to make cakes. Which is why I am happy to support Children in Need by baking some (read: many) for various fundraising cake stalls. I note with interest that the charity has had a little re-brand this year though: those spots are looking a lot less uniform in size. So whilst I adore my Pudsey Bear cupcakes for Children in Need last year, I have come up with Children in Need 2012 Cupcakes.

You will need:

• a batch of cupcakes
• jam, the flavour not so important unless your children are fussy with flavour combinations, in which case use apricot.
• some white fondant ready roll icing
• gel food colouring. You can undoubtedly use the traditional liquid, but you get better clarity of colour with the gel and I found it easier to control the painting.
• Paint dabbers, pencil with a (clean) eraser on the end: anything that makes a dot, so you could use potato stamps if you didn’t have the paint tools to hand.

After your cakes are completely cool, roll out the icing to approximately 5mm thick. I use cornstarch/cornflour to flour the rolling pin and work surface so that your icing doesn’t stick.

Cut rounds out that are the same size as the top of your cupcakes.

Brush the top of the cupcake with a thin layer of jam. Warm it first and it will be much easier to paint the cupcake.

Press a disc of icing on top and firm down the edges.

Next, dip a damp brush/dabber/pencil/stamp into the food colouring (after careful research online, I went for red, green, yellow and blue as they seem to be the ‘standard’ Pudsey colours.)

Print dots onto each cupcake.

You are aiming for a random pattern of dot size and colour: you could replicate one pattern across all of your cupcakes, or do half a dozen at a time. It’s slightly time consuming because you may need to rinse brushes between colours. But once you’ve done a couple and get a feel for it, it becomes a swift process. This is the kind of thing that your children could easily do.

Once finished, leave to dry overnight. Sell, eat and enjoy, all whilst supporting a super cause.