Pot Of Gold Cupcakes - ☘️St Parick's Day Rainbow Cakes Tutorial 🌈#St Paddy's Day

unsalted butter

🥗Healthier: coconut oil

💰Cheaper: margarine

Coconut oil adds a unique flavor and is dairy-free.

granulated sugar

🥗Healthier: honey

💰Cheaper: brown sugar

Honey provides natural sweetness with a different flavor.

milk

🥗Healthier: almond milk

💰Cheaper: water

Almond milk is dairy-free and adds a nutty flavor.

cream cheese

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: ricotta cheese

Greek yogurt lowers calories while maintaining creaminess.

Add softened small cubes of butter to a mixing bowl & beat with an electric mixer till spreadable. Add in the Caster sugar & beat till paler in colour, spreadable & aerated. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in-between each addition.

Sieve over the flour & baking powder & then add in the ground almonds. Mix briefly by hand, before adding in the boiled water. Beat the mixture together, only until combined & no dry patches remain at the bottom of the bowl. Then fold in the lemon zest.

Wash the fresh blueberries in warm water & then pat dry before tossing in a few tsp flour. For frozen blueberries, no defrosting or washing required. Just remove from the freeze right before adding to the cake batter & toss in the flour. Fold the blueberries into the batter, in 3 increments, with a spatula. Preheat your oven to: 180°c/160°c fan oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4.

Add cupcake/muffin paper liners to a cupcake tray & divide the cake batter between them. Tap the tray on the counter/worktop and pop them in the centre of the oven to bake for about 20 minutes. Bake till risen, golden and a toothpick comes out clean of crumbs. Leave to cool while still in the cupcake tray.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the lemon syrup drizzle by adding the sugar & lemon juice to a cooking pot. Dissolve the sugar on medium-high heat & let come to a boil. Reduce to medium heat and leave gently boiling until the liquid has thickened. It will thicken more once off the heat.

Make lots of holes over the surface of the cupcakes with a wooden cocktail stick. Spoon the syrup on top and use the back of a spoon to spread over the surface. Repeat till all the syrup is used up. Leave to absorb.

Add softened small cubes of unsalted butter to a mixing bowl & beat till spreadable. Gradually add in the sieved icing/powdered sugar & mix till combined and smooth. Add a very small amount of green food colouring to the buttercream for the grass.

Fit a piping bag with a grass/fur nozzle (see notes), & fill with the green buttercream. Pipe the buttercream on top of the cupcake, making tall grass or short grass, until all the surface is covered. Repeat with the rest of the cupcakes.

Note the rainbow belts should be left out to harden a little for a few hours or overnight as they are quite soft. Trim at least 1cm, ⅓" off the end & leave to the side.

For the pots of gold, wet the top of the 'pot' with water, syrup or food glue. Sprinkle on or dip the pot in gold sprinkles. Then add the gold coins by hand or with tweezers.

Place the pot of gold on the right side of the cupcake. It should sit nicely on the buttercream grass. Then add some more gold sprinkles & coins on the grass, to mimic like it has fallen out of the pot.

Only when ready to serve, should you add the rainbows. They will stay on the cupcake, but like to bend as they are soft. Place into the grass making a rainbow arch, just behind the pot of gold. See photos. Serve immediately.

As mentioned, the rainbow belts should only be added right when serving. You can do all the other decorations ahead of time, even a day or two before.

Store the cakes (without the rainbow), in metal cake or cookie tins, or cupcake container at room temperature provided not too hot. The fridge is not advised as it can cause condensation. Will be fine for at least 3 days & the sugar content will probably make them last longer. Don't leave the buttercream too long exposed to the air or it might crust.

Undecorated cupcakes can be frozen preferably without the syrup). Wrap well, individually with paper then foil or cling film & place in a labelled food bag or air-tight container & freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge in the wrapping. For a warm muffin, after defrosting, heat in the microwave for no more than 10 seconds.

Cooking Techniques

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