Birthday biscuit cupcakes

It was my cousin-in-law Chris’ 30th birthday at the start of June. My cousin Jo organised a surprise birthday party for him at Bealim House in Newcastle. Jo asked me to make some cupcakes decorated with biscuits. These biscuit cupcakes went alongside the Sweetie bar at the party. I decided with Jo on three cupcakes and made 20 of each.

1) Jammie sponge cupcakes
Victoria sponge cupcakes, seedless raspberry jam, vanilla buttercream and mini Jammie Dodgers

2) Chocolate caramel cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes, caramel centres, white chocolate buttercream, Flake and Twix

3) Lemon drizzle party cupcakes
Lemon drizzle cupcakes, lemon curd, lemon drizzle buttercream, 100s & 1000s and mini Party Rings

Me and Jo liked the look of tulip cases so I tried using tulip cases for the first time. They are a bit more fiddly to use when decorating and an awkward height when storing/transporting. However, they look smart and helped the cupcakes look extra special.

I also tried something new with the buttercreams. I added Wilton meringue powder to the buttercreams. I saw this tip on Twitter by @BecksBake and thought I‘d try it. Meringue powder is dried cooked egg whites. This helps to stabilize buttercream which is handy when it’s warm/humid. It seemed to do the trick. My buttercreams held up.

Victoria sponge

Chocolate

Lemon drizzle

Victoria sponge, chocolate and lemon drizzle cupcakes

1) Jammie sponge cupcakes

I used my go-to Victoria sponge (Primrose Bakery) recipe for for the cupcakes. I filled with seedless raspberry jam and topped with vanilla buttercream. I warmed up some seedless raspberry jam and dribbled on top. A mini Jammie Dodger completed the look.

Victoria sponge cupcakes

Filling Victoria sponge cupcakes with jam

Jammie sponge cucpakes

2) Chocolate and caramel cupcakes

I used Primrose Bakery recipe for the chocolate cupcakes. I filled them with Dr Oetker’s caramel centres and topped with white chocolate buttercream See recipe here. I then crumbled Flake chocolate on top and added half a Twix.

Chocolate cupcakes

Filling chocolate cupcakes with caramel

Chocolate caramel cupcakes

3) Lemon drizzle party cupcakes

I used Confarreo's recipe for lemon drizzle cupcakes for the cupcakes and filled with lemon curd. I topped with lemon drizzle buttercream made with Sugar and Crumbs lemon drizzle icing sugar. I added 100s & 1000s and finished each cupcake with a mini Party Ring.

Lemon drizzle cucpakes

Filling lemon drizzle cupcakes with lemon curd

Lemon drizzle party cucpakes

Chris was well and truly surprised at his party. He loved the birthday biscuit cupcakes and they were well received at the party. I got some lovely compliments from people. I even got asked to make a birthday cake by one of the guests. I got a request for birthday cupcakes again when another cousin saw these cupcakes.

All the cupcakes went except for a few. I was surprised at how many of these got eaten at the party. There's always some pressure and nerves around how my bakes will go down. I was absolutely delighted with how these turned out.

Happy 30th birthday Chris! X

Chris's birthday biscuit cupcakes, Bealim House

Sweetie bar, Bealim House

Chocolate caramel cupcakes

Lemon drizzle party cupcakes

Jammie sponge cupcakes