Last Sunday I decided to make a return to the Ironcupcake:Leeds competition. I haven’t been for about 8 months sadly due to one thing and another but I decided I needed to get myself out there again….I have previously entered 3 times and won the last 2 times I entered, which gives me a 66.6% success rate…But could I do it again?? I have been keeping an eye on the competition over the past few months, and I have to admit, the competition is fierce!
(Cut to a Rocky training montage, but instead of drinking raw eggs and running up and down stairs think of me eating cake batter and chasing a cat out of the kitchen with a wooden spoon…)
For those who don’t know what Iron Cupcake is, it’s actually a global competition that was started over in the US (Milwaukee to be exact). It usually happens monthly and each competition has a theme and the bakers have to create a cupcake which ties in with said theme. To my knowledge there are 3 Ironcupcake cities in the UK – London (which is unfortunately taking a bit of a hiatus at the moment), Leeds and Northampton. Those who attend are either “bakers” or “eaters” the eaters also do the judging and score each cake for taste and presentation. For more info on the Leeds competition, which is held at the lovely Adelphi pub, please visit the site.
So March’s theme was Chocolate Bars – I was racking my brain to think of a cake inspired by chocolate bars. I’ve done Malteser cupcakes before and I’ve also done Dime Bar ones too and I didn’t want to just go with something I was comfortable with! Lunch hours have been spent staring at the chocolate aisle in the supermarket, looking for inspiration, when the thought of Cadbury’s Creme Egg came to me after a conversation with my friend Heather and also whilst passing the Easter eggs in said supermarket… Creme egg cupcake it was to be, but how would I do it?
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| Mmmm Creme Eggs… |
I had various ideas on how to create my cake – I thought about just filling a chocolate cupcake with a creme egg filling and topping with chocolate ganache, but I just thought that visually, it would just look like a chocolate cake and I wanted it to look fun, like the eggs themselves!
So I settled on incorporating the Creme Egg fondant filling within the icing, using a chocolate cake as a base. Because the fondant is so sweet, I thought a devil’s food cake base would work well and also use a cream cheese icing to further cut back on the sweetness. I wanted to top the cake with a mini creme egg, but rather than just plonk a whole one on top of the cake, I wanted the icing to look like it was actually coming out of the egg, so I decided to “crack” the Creme egg open.
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| Creamy Eggy Chocolaty Goodness! |
As part of the competition rules, bakers are asked to provide 12 cakes, with 9 of them chopped into quarters for tasting. My issue with this from previous experience in other competitions is that it’s difficult and messy to chop them up at the event. I’ve also tried chopping the cakes up prior to arriving but the sponge seems to dry out. I thought it would be a good idea to make up 3 standard sized ones and then make up 36 minis – meaning all the eaters get their own cake and presentation wise, it means the cakes still look good!
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| Minis |
Overall I was happy with the cake, but if I’m honest I didn’t think it was a winner – I’m not sure why, maybe I’m just too hard on myself! The Eaters seemed to really like it so that’s all that matters – so much so that I came first place!Yay! Success rate is now 75% – not that I’m counting.
I had a taste of a few and I really liked Zoe’s Toffee Crisp. For more pictures of the other cakes, check out the Ironcupcake Leeds site and also Em’s blog, All the Small Things – she entered with a lovely Bounty cupcake and also was the evening’s photographer. See if you can spot the hilarious picture of me grinning like an idiot, looking like a Chinese Janet Street Porter…
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| Some of the other cakes – yellow number 2 was my fave, Toffee Crisp! |
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| More of the other cakes – some of the detail on some of them must have taken forever! Check out the characters on yellow 7 – Fruit and nuts! |
April’s theme is Nuts and Seeds…best get my thinking cap on!
Creme Egg Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cakes, see my Devil’s Food Cake Recipe
Cream cheese frosting
500g icing sugar
125g cream cheese
125g soft unsalted butter
Creme Egg Fondant Filling
170g golden syrup
60g butter, room temperature
375g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Yellow food colouring (I use gel colouring as the liquid stuff tends to water everything down)
To Decorate
3 x bags of Mini Cadbury’s Creme Eggs
Method
Preheat the oven to to Gas Mark 4 / 160C (fan) / 180C.
To make the sponges, make up the devils food cake batter and divide into cupcake tins – cook for 20-25 mins for the standards sized cakes and about 10-12 minutes for the minis. Test with a cake tester – if it come out clean, they’re ready. Leave for a couple of minutes in the tines and then take out the cakes and leave to cool on a rack.
To make the fondant filling mix the butter, syrup and vanilla in a bowl – ideally you want to do with with an electric mixer, or it will take forever! Gradually add the icing sugar, then the food colouring and carry on beating until smooth. Cover and set to one side.
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| YUM! Cream egg yolk!! |
Make the cream cheese icing – again, beat the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract and then gradually add the icing sugar continue beating until smooth and thick. Use immediately or if not, cover and store in the fridge.
Once the cakes are cool, you can start to decorate.
To get the two-tone swirled effect, place some of the fondant down one side of a piping bag and add the cream cheese down the other side – try not to combine / mix them up too much. you want a1/3 – 2/3 ratio of fondant to cream cheese icing.
Pipe out the frosting on a plate until the two tone effect comes through and then ice the cakes. To decorate, I used 1 mini egg per standard sized cake and a 1/4 of a mini egg per mini. Allow the fondant centre from the eggs to spill over the top of the cake…
Feel free to eat in whatever way you wish!
>I can easily see how you got 1st place, congratulations. I can't wait to try the recipe out myself. got confused though when writing out the recipe – you've written the same ingredients twice in the method…no golden syrup added etc. I'm basically guessing that I start the fondant filling the same as the frosting and add the golden syrup etc. after butter, icing sugar etc. is combined?
>Hi,The cakes are pretty much a 3 stage process, you need to make the cakes first see the Devil's Food Cake Recipe Link and then you need to make the fondant, the crème egg "yolk" and then the cream cheese frosting. Then you just need to bring the 3 components together and assemble.Hope this makes sense, I can see why some people might get confused.Hope they turn out well, thanks for your comments.ThanksSusie
>Hi Susie,these are incredibly cute, however a lil confusion on my part, 1. what is golden syrup, from California so not sure what it could be…and 2. what you are calling fondant, is it icing that sets/hardens similiar to fondant…just curious, and of course i'm going to go to a converter to get cups/tablespoons/ounces for ingredients…wish i would have paid more attention in school when they taught this 😉
>Hi,No problem – golden syrup can be substituted with corn syrup if you're in the US. To be honest, if we had corn syrup over here, I would have used it!The "fondant" as I call it doesn't set hard, it's not like fondant icing – it's the gooey stuff that is used to fill Cadbury's crème eggs. (See my picture of the yellow filling above)As for a guide on conversion, I work to:115g Butter = 1 stick125g Flour = 1 cup200g granulated sugar = 1 cup220g brown sugar (packed) = 1 cup100g icing sugar (sifted) = 1 cup232g cream cheese = 1 cupHope this helps, hope they turn out great!Susie
The runny fondant in creme egs gets its consistency because they include a special enzyme in it and keep them at a very low temp. for 2-3 weeks. The enszyme reacts with the inverted sugars in the fondant to make it all runny, but only at that low temp. If you ever get a firmer creme egg is has not been stored long enough before it has been shipped out!
*eggs!
>thanks Susie,i kinda thought that it was corn syrup…but you never know, and thanks for the conversion, your a gem…i'm running to a "MOM'S CLUB" (who would have loved these but missing syrup)meeting then to the store to get the corn syrup…i hope mine look half as good as yours…Elaine from sunny Cali
>oops, i found something else i'm not sure of, icing sugar…i've googled and come up with waaaaay to many possibilities…i am thinking "Powdered Sugar"…Elaine
>Wow! These look amazing – fantastic idea. Nice tip on how to get the two-toned swirl effect with the icing too, something I have yet to master.
>Hi SunE it's what's called confectioners sugar in the states!Batter and bowl, thank you!Susie
>OMG how sweet are they!! I wish there was an Iron Cupcake near me lol
>These look amazing Susie!
>Cheers Becs!
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is there a way to get all the measurements convertated into cups and tablespoons? I want to make these so bad but dont work with grams.
Hi Donna,
If you just look on Google then you can find online conversions from grams to cups. Incidentally, if you have a look at the comment I posted above from 14th April 2011, then I give a rough guide to the conversions.
Hope this helps.
Many Thanks
Susie
just made these – found you via cupcakecrazygem – and WOW they were so yummy! Thank god you came up with the perfect creme egg frosting – now i dont have to mourn the loss of creme eggs after Easter!
Hi! Thanks for your comment, glad I can help! Every time I make this filling I have to stop myself from grabbing a spoon and just eating!
Hi susie, would you mind if I pinched your recipe for the fondant part of your recipe, with appropraite link backs of course 😀
I’m excited to make these for a friend of mine who is crazy about Cadbury Cream Eggs. We’re having her baby shower on Tuesday at work, they are sure to be a hit.
They are great cakes and always make me smile! How did they turn out? Hope your friend enjoys them!
She loved them and the baby enjoyed playing with the sticky frosting.
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Love cream,eggs only eat them over Easter time though.
Reblogged this on rainidazeandmondays and commented:
Cannot wait to try these!!
I can’t wait to try these! I have been looking for a recipe that is similar to the filling. I attempted one last year, but it wasn’t quite right. Definitely have to try these for Easter.
Thanks Laura, hope you enjoy them. Let me know how they turn out! Susie
Hi I clicked on you devil’s food cake recipe but I am getting the Death by cake link. Is this the right link?
Will be grateful if you can let me know.
Thanks
😉
Hi, this is right, just use the cake recipe as described in the Death by Cake post and bake in cupcake liners for about 20 mins.
Thanks
Susie
Hiya. Made them & they are divine! Sadly my hand mixer broke & icing piping bag split whilst making them!
Oh no, sorry to hear that. You managed to triumph in the ace of adversity though!
Cheers Susie! Many thanks! Can’t wait to make them!
just made this for my sons birthday they are soo wonderful he LOVES cream eggs
Thank you, glad they turned out well and that he enjoyed them! Susie
OMG these cakes look wonderfull and heavenly and i am certainly going to try these out
Thanks, let me know how they turn out! Susie
When I click the link for ‘Devil’s food cake’ I get the recipe for ‘Death by Cake’ – are they the same thing? Thanks x
Hi, yes that’s right, they are the same, literally just use the chocolate cake batter but portion them out into cupcake cases and then use the toppings as described within this post. Hope that helps. Susie
Can this fondant be put in the middle of the cakes and be cooked? Or is it just for the top? x
Hi Lucy, I haven’t tried cooking it in the middle. if you do want to do this, then I would suggest leaving the cakes to cook and then coring the middle of the cake out, adding the filling and putting the sponge back in. Please see my wasabi cupcake for a how to guide on this.
Hope this helps
Susie
How many cupcakes does it make?
Sarah, this makes approx 12-16 standard sized cakes or about 42 minis.
Hope that helps
Susie
fab recipe, thanks for sharing!
Hi 2 people came across your recipe and sent it to me, think there hinting for me to make them lol. How many does this make? It’s just I will use my own cake mix. Just seems a lot of topping. Tanks
Hi! You can half the quantities if you like, I just like to look at it rather than for it! Hope that helps. Susie
These cakes look amazing looking forward to trying recipe
I am gonna try and make theses, only i don’t really get the recipe, do you make the cakes and then cut them in half and put the mixture in the middle?
Hi Lauren. No, I pipe the two tone fondant on top and keep the cake whole. You can fill the cake with filling if you like. When I say use the devils food cake recipe, you need to use the cake mix but then divide them into cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 mins. Hope that helps.
Susie
yep it does i understand now thank you 🙂 x
These look amazing! Although I have a feeling that knowing how to make my own creme egg filling could be the start of a very slippery slope.
Ha ha, I know, but its only once a year! Susie
Omg if I was anything of a cook I would be making these right now! NICE! Do you not sell online?
Thanks for your lovely comment. You should give them a try! Unfortunately no I don’t sell online but make the occasional thing for friends and family. Thanks for reading. Susie
Hey. I really can’t wait to try these, they look amazeballs! Just a quick one- how do you make your cream cheese frosting, and what cream cheese do you use as mine always seems to fail! Thanks for the egg-celebrity recipe! 🙂
Hi,
The recipe for the frosting is below – you need to ensure you use full fat cream cheese though as low fat will not work and you’ll end up with runny frosting. the butter must be at room temperature but the cheese can be cold. Hope that helps. Thanks Susie
Hi there, look lovely, how much food colouring do you need?
Hi Vikki, It depends on whether you use liquid / gel / powder based colours. I use gel as you only need a small amount (literally the tip of a knife), you get a better tone and doesn’t dilute the moisture. Basically enough to get the same tone / shade as in the pictures.
Thanks
Susie
This are AWESOME!!! I’m truly inspired!!!
Hope you don’t mind if I give it a go.
See if I can do then justice!
Thank you! Of course I don’t mind! It’s out there for people to try and share the recipe. Let me know how you get on. Thanks Susie
These look amazing!! I’ve got a heap of creme eggs to use up and might just be making these really soon! 😀
Hi! Yes do give them a try, they’re great if you have eggs hanging about. Susie
I would love to try this recipe but i was wondering how many cupcakes the icing is designed to cover?
Hi Elsa, the icing will cover about 16 full sized cupcakes. Just scale up or down depending on how many you need to make. Susie
Can I ask what nozzle you used for these cakes? I’m new to baking but have recently got the cupcake bug! Also how many regular cup cakes does the recipe above make? X
Hi! I have used a plain round nozzle, about 1.5cm in diameter. Also, the recipe should make about 12-16 standard cupcakes or approx 40 mini ones. Hope that helps. Susie
This is a brilliant idea and how amazing to have won for a third time, i’m hopeless at making cupcakes look appeal, or any food for that matter! I did try making creme egg cupcakes, quite different to yours and they went down well, maybe something you could try?
The recipe-ish is on my blog!
suedeandink.blogspot.com
Mine turned out really well although I had loads of the icings left so will half this next time I make. Many thanks for the recipe.
Currently sat in work drooling!. Thanks for the recipe, going to give them a go this weekend!
Ha ha, thanks! You really should try them, let me know what you think if you do!
Susie
Reblogged this on emma jane templeton and commented:
i need these in my life.
You should make them! Do it!
I love you. That is all.
Thanks, that’s the power of my buns 🙂
Just attempted 2 makes these and they turned out well just struggled with the icing part and getting a good ratio
Hi! Do you mean a ratio of yellow to white? A tip I found recently was to put each into separate icing bags, snip the ends off and then add those bags into another with the tip of your choice. to get a decent split. This is good if you’re not sure on separating them out in the same bag. Alternatively Lakeland sell dual colour icing bags. Hope that helps.
Thanks Susie
They look amazing! I’m going to give them a go! Do you have the recipe for the devils food cake?
Hi, yes. Just click on the link in the recipe and it will take you to my Death By Cake post where I’ve written the recipe. As stated above, you just need to make the batter and then bake them in a cupcake cases lined muffin tin. Thanks Susie
Hello I think ur cream egg cakes look lush and to die for. I was just wondering if you could email me the recipe so I could make them for my family for Easter Sunday in two weeks time. Thank you c
Hi, the recipe for all elements of the cupcake are detailed above. Hope that helps. Susie
I am going to make the devils food cake as a whole cake too was really delicious . Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for baking! Susie
Hi how much fold colouring do you use? I bought the gel one
Hi, you don’t need much – just the tip of a knife really. Just add small amounts at a time until you get the desired shade. You can always add more but you can’t take it away! 🙂
Just made these… What can I say… I’m off my t!ts !! Very sugary, but taste amazing !!
Thanks, glad you liked! 🙂
Hey
Looks so tasty!!!! Just want to ask how sweet will the cupcakes be? And will the finished product keep in the fridge? Would love to share with work colleagues but won’t make them if the creme egg filling will leak out completely onto the cakes overnight – total disaster!
They are quite sweet just like creme eggs, but not sickly sweet. They’ll keep in the fridge, but just take them out and bring up to room temp before eating. Hope that helps. Susie
Hi we’re do you get the yellow gel from as I can’t find it
Some larger supermarkets are stocking them now – dr oetker have a range. I get mine from specialist cake suppliers. You’ll be able to buy some online if you just do a search. Failing that you can use liquid colouring but you may have to adjust your icing sugar amounts as the liquid adds excess water. Hope that helps. Susie.
How many cupcakes will this make? I’m so all over these for Easter weekend. The kids will love them, I manage to eat them all first!
Hi, as I’ve mentioned to other comments below the recipe makes 12 – 15 standard cupcakes or about 40 minis. Hope that helps. Thanks Susie
Hi
Ive jusy made ur gorgeous creme egg cupcakes and they are going down a storm at home and with friends thanks so much for posting, looking forward to trying some of ur other lovely cakes.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, glad they turned out well and that people like! If you’re in twitter, send me a picture, would love to see 🙂 Susie
*just*
Hi Susie, these look incredible! Can you please tell me where you got the brown cupcake cases from? I can only find shallow ones you see. Thank you 🙂
Hi Tara, I get my coloured ones from online baking stores, but the brown ones are from Morrisons! Hope this helps! Susie
hi i made these yesterday they are v good and friends very impressed.
Thank you, glad you and your friends enjoyed! Susie
Made these today but we found the icing was a bit much but great idea
Oh well you can’t please everyone 🙂 Yes, they can be a bit much, but I suppose Creme Eggs are exactly that in themselves. Thanks for your feedback! Susie
These are so scrummy!! Well done for winning you totally deserve it!! Perfect recipe xxx
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed making & eating them. Susie
I made these today and am so happy with the result ! I have LOADS of fondant icing left over tho – Any ideas on what do to with it ….other than eat it !
Thanks ,
Mabe
Oops! Sorry you have lots of fondant! You could swirl it into brownies or into ice cream? Thanks Susie
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Wow what a fabulous and great looking recipe! I’m a big baking fan myself and these cakes look great!
Thank you! 🙂
No problem! They really do look great! Congratulations on winning first place too! 🙂
Made these today…. Amazing!! I had the much cake mixture and fondant left over I made a giant cake! Nicest cupcakes I’ve ever made and they look gorgeous! X
Thanks so much! So glad they turned out well! Enjoy 🙂
Can you email me the ingredients for the creme egg cup cakes and the instructions how to make them, they look amazing !!!!
Hi Richard, the recipe and methods are detailed in the post above. Thanks
Susie
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Hi you mentioned above that you had made maltesers and dime bar cupcakes? would you mind emailing the recipe please? Many Thanks x
Hi Beth, the recipe for the Malteser cupcakes are here: https://stickypinny.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/chocs-away/ unfortunately I haven’t written a post for the dime bar cupcakes as yet and I’m not in a position to share it via email as I’m still developing the recipe. You’ll be able to find alternative recipes for similar cupcakes online I’m sure. Hope this helps. Susie
Hi, made these today and they are amazing, thanks.
One question I have is about storage. I’ve transported these for a fair few hours to my family and they have been in an airtight container. I’ve left them stored in that airtight container but not in the fridge. I’ve eaten cream cheese frosted cupcakes kept like this before but I’m conscious to not make my family ill. What’s your view on storing these cupcakes? The opinion on the Internet is divided. In theory I think the sugar to cream cheese ratio is such that it’ll be ok as long as its not in a warm environment and its air tight.
Thanks and congrats x
Hi, I think you’re fine with either, but personally I would store in the fridge but take out and bring out to room temp for about 30mins – 1 hour before eating.
Thanks
Susie
Reblogged this on gardinergal's Blog and commented:
Wow these look amazing!!! I will have to try these later!!! Pics to follow!!!
Thank you! Please do let me know what you think if you do make them! Susie
just made these for a charity fundraising day at work and im really pleased with how they turned out. couldn’t get the piping right so just used a knife and swirled it on. Hope they taste as good as they look. Thank you
Hope you enjoyed them! I’m sure they were delicious.
Ive just made these thank you for recipe they it great x
Thanks Kayleigh, glad you enjoyed. I haven’t made a batch so far this year – need to get that sorted ASAP! Susie
I’ve just made a third batch as a little treat for people at my gym on Easter Saturday – I am sure that they’re going to be appreciated
Wow – made them 3 times? Brill! Hope they do enjoy! Susie
Hi, i have made these cakes this morning thinking they would be perfect for an easter weekend treat and they are amazing!!! Thanks so much for the recipe, its so easy to follow and the cakes look amazing! Only problem is now i have to eat them all!!!
Thanks! To be honest though I don’t think eating a whole batch is a problem 🙂 Susie
Hi Susie, thanks so much for this recipe, I have made these today, ready for family coming tomorrow for Sunday lunch. They looked so good I had to test one, they taste as good as they look, mmm,mmm. Thanks for the inspiration. x
Thank you, hope your family enjoy! Have a lovely Easter. Susie
Wow very inventive now I am hoping you do something wonderful around the good old walnut whip
Thanks! Walnut whip, now there’s an idea! Susie
Can’t believe I only just discovered these this year, I feel cheated! Made them this Easter, they were delicious. Thanks for a fab recipe!
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The fondant ingredients mention salt but I can’t find when to add the salt. Sorry if I’m being daft
Hi, Just add it when you’re combining all the ingredients. Also, for the frosting just add 1/2 tsp of vanilla.
Thanks
Susie
Also, the cream cheese instructions mention vanilla, but not in list of ingredients for cream cheese frosting.
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I really waNT to try this but i live in Canada, so what is golden syrup ??
Hi, it’s corn syrup. Thanks, Susie
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