Billiard Balls Cupcakes- buttery mocha cupcakes with chocolate coffee candies inside, frosted with whipped cream and decorated with colored sugar crystals and white chocolate buttons. Price available upon request.
rack ‘em up!
Just when I think I’m running out of ideas to decorate a cupcake, I get an inquiry that gets my creative juices flowing. I was working on another cupcake project when someone texted me about billiard balls cupcakes. I have never done them and so the challenge was on.
I figured men are most likely to be gifted with these so I chose my mocha cupcake recipe. Each cupcake rises to a dome when baked so they’re perfect to sub for billiard balls. For decoration ideas, I surfed the net. Some decorations were made of fondant and from my search I found someone who shares my sentiments with this popular decorator’s medium.
From the blogs I read, I found out that the book “Hello Cupcake” has instructions on how to make cupcakes look like billiard balls using colored sugar. I do not have a copy of the book so I just did the decorating on my own. I also made my own colored sugar. The numbers on the balls are written with melted chocolate on white chocolate buttons.
I think the cupcakes look awesome and they taste great too. The bits of chocolate coffee candies inside the cupcakes boost the coffee flavor. To make the sugar adhere to the tops, I used unsweetened whipped cream. With the sugar coating, I thought there might be major sugar overload but suprisingly, the cupcakes are not toothache-inducing at all. And the sugar topping turns to a delightful crunchy covering. The 8-ball by the way is covered with chocolate sprinkles.
These cupcakes come in 16 pieces—15 “billiard balls” and one white sugar-topped “cue ball” . My niece K._ asked if there is also a cue stick. Well, sorry to disappoint but I cannot provide that!
April 29th, 2010
a bonafide runner, finally!
I recently completed my first 5K race during the National Geographic Channel Earth Day Run 2010 last April 18 at the SM Mall of Asia. Out of 1754 racers, I placed 317th with a PR (personal record) of 34:17 mins. Not bad for a first-timer! My runner friend R._ who is racing for his first full marathon this May suggested indulging on a cake to celebrate my accomplishment.
As I was surfing the net for ideas, I came across this intriguing cupcake created to celebrate the 2010 Boston Marathon. This cupcake has Gatorade Jello in it. Hmm. I was thinking more of something with cocoa, milk, bananas—natural food that can refuel tired muscles after a tough workout.
When I came across this chocolate banana cupcake recipe, I thought it fit the post exercise snack perfectly. Carbs? Check. Protein? Check. Sodium? Check. Flavor and texture? Check. Ok, so this also has sugar but some elite runners have been known to indulge in pizza and french fries as post race fuel so I guess a cupcake can not be that bad!
Anyway, right out of the oven, my nephew P._ gobbled two. My 16-year-old niece K._ who ran the 3K in the NatGeo Run with her mom and placed 258th out of 1466 runners— I am mighty proud of her!—got one piece, reached for the peanut butter and slathered it on her cupcake. Taking a cue from her, I made chocolate peanut butter (another protein source!) ganache to frost the cupcake. The ganache tasted great but I felt it was a bit overwhelming. I might try a plain ganache next time. I promised my good friend R._ that as soon as I get some chocolate candy molds of running shoes to make my cupcake toppers, I will bake him some of these goodies so he can reward himself after a long run.
I will be improving on this cupcake and I will post the final version when I get everything right—frosting, topper, photo and all. And I hope I get to shave some time from my PR on my next race on May 2!
April 21st, 2010
