Octonauts Cupcakes

 

These were great fun to make. In fact, I got so carried away with the details of the characters on top of the cupcakes, I probably spent the best part of 3 hours making these treats. So not a quick-bake, but perhaps one for a rainy day.

 

For those of you who don't know the Octonauts...you should. They are keeping our oceans safe, and thanks to CBeebies, they are Eden's heroes. So combining the Octonauts with cake won me some serious Daddy points.

 

 

Professor Inkling. The brainbox of the Octonauts.

 

The cupcake recipe is taken from 'The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake'.

The icing decorations were made using pictures from one of Eden's books, and lots of icing sugar!

 

 

The first thing I had to read up on was how to make a flat cupcake. My cupcakes tend to rise with a little dome in the middle, which is usually great; not, however, for decorating.

 

Most of the websites I read, advised simply turning down the temperature of the oven for a more consistent bake. There is no 'one-size-fits-all' rule for this, so experimentation is needed! Alas, my first batch of six cupcakes were pushed aside as leftovers.

 

Kwazii. Brave pirate, and Eden's ultimate favourite.

 

 

Ingredients

 

For the cupcakes:

 

• 175g SR Flour
• 125g softened butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
• 3 tbpsns milk

 

For the icing:

 

• Ready to roll white icing.
• Either ready-coloured icing, or food colouring to add to the white icing.
• A small quantity of icing sugar mixed with water, until 'gluey'.

 

 

 

Peso. The Medic.

 

1. Preheat oven to 150*c (this lower temperature will allow for flat cupcakes).
2. Beat the butter until pale and fluffy.
3. Beat in the sugar and mix for 4 minutes.
4. Beat the vanilla into the eggs, and add this to the butter mixture a spoonful at a time, mixing well.
5. Gently fold in the flour after sifting, in 3 batches, alternating with 1 tbspn of milk.
6. Divide the mixture into cake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and firm.

 

Captain Barnacles. The Daddy.

 

 

7. Now for the fun bit. Roll out some of your white icing until about 1-2cm thick, and using a cookie cooker the same size as the top of your cupcakes, cut out a nice neat circle.

8. Dab a blob of your icing sugar 'glue' on the top of the sponge and press your white circle over the surface, making it as smooth and flat as possible,

9. Then use your coloured icing to construct your characters. Again, use your 'glue' to hold it all together.

10. Your cupcakes are now ready to "Explore, rescue, protect!".