A Weekend Treat: Mini Ruffles . . .

Now I know I never post on Saturdays, but I get so many inquiries about those gorgeous Ruffle Cakes we featured a while back, that I simply had to share these marvelous mini-versions that the amazingly talented Rose from Sweetapolita created for a sweet little backyard tea party.

If you have been dreaming of trying out one of these beauties then a mini-cake is the perfect way to go.  You can bake as many as you need and practice until they are perfect!

Perhaps you can just start with the edge . . .

And use your leftover buttercream for a cupcake in a cup?

 A few words from Rose: "Since you have the open star pastry tip already out and ready to go from your buttercream roses, perhaps baking a batch of raspberry rose meringues would be a nice addition to the tea-time menu? 

Sweet and crunchy baked meringue is the loveliest (and simplest) of treats, however, I don’t see them offered as much as I wish they were. These have some freeze-dried raspberries and a quick and easy (and possibly unexpected) raspberry ingredient that gives them their bright pink hue."

RASBERRY MERINGUE ROSETTES HOW-TO:

(yields 28 2″ meringues)

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites, room temperature

pinch of salt

1 package (3 ounces) Raspberry Jell-O

1/4 cup freeze-dried raspberries (optional)

1/4 cup (50 g) sugar

1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°F (94°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Grind the sugar and freeze-dried raspberries in a food processor until it reaches a powdery consistency. (If not using freeze-dried raspberries, omit this step and add sugar on its own in step 3.)

3. Place the room temperature egg whites and salt in a grease-free bowl of an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the Jell-O and sugar mixture into the mixing bowl in a steady stream, and turn the mixer speed to med-high, beating until meringue is stiff, thick, and glossy — about 5 minutes.

4. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.

5. Place the meringue into a large pastry bag (such as 14″) fitted with 1M pastry tip (or other desired open star tip) and pipe the roses onto the baking sheets. Begin in the middle and, moving outwards, pipe 2 complete circles. Keep roses about 1 1/2″ apart.

6. Bake for 2 hours, then turn off the oven and keep the trays in the oven overnight.

*Store in airtight containers or Ziploc-style bags at room temperature and away from moisture.

Vanilla cupcakes with simple buttercream rose swirls . . .

Now back to those ruffles . . .

MINI RUFFLE CAKE HOW-TO (from Rose herself):

1. Bake and cool your favourite cake recipe in 4′ round cake pans. I used Devil’s Food Layer Cake, from this post. Keeping with the “petite” cake, I used only 2 layers per cake.

2. Make a batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

3. Trim first cake layer so the top is nice and flat (if necessary) and place face up on a 6″ round cake board, or plate. Place 1/2 cup of Swiss Meringue Buttercream(or filling of choice) on top of layer and smoothwith a small offset palette knife. Trim the second layer, and place face down on the cake.

4. Apply a thin layer of Swiss Meringue Buttercream (I don’t recomment using sugary buttercream, but Italian or French Meringue Buttercreamswork nicely as well) over the cake, smoothing top and sides with a small offset palette knife (as you can see, I use this all of the time!) to seal in crumbs and to give the buttercream ruffles something to adhere to.

5. Using the a petal decorating tip of your choice (they come in different sizes, but I use the larger size Wilton #123 or sometimes a smaller size, such as Wilton #104) use the buttercream ruffling technique found HERE, complete the cake and serve!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!!