Want to learn how to make St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes? Well, look no further than Ed the CAKE GUY! Today he will be sharing tips and tricks (even a buttercream recipe) to achieve those vibrant green tones every St. Patty's Day confection needs! By the end, you'll know how to make AMAZING St. Patty's Day Cupcakes that will WOW your friends and family!
One of our favorite things about Master Elite Food Colors is how versatile they are! They can color almost color anything ... icing, fondant, buttercream, cake batters, cookie dough, BREAD dough, marshmallows ... the list goes on! Their only limitations is Master Elites are not fat soluble and cannot color chocolate. Unless it's ganache, because you add heavy cream as the moisture activator!
Today we will be using our best selling food color, Master Elite Emerald to tint the cake batter FIRST and then the two tones of green buttercream!
So let's begin with the cake batter for our St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes!
Two main tips to keep in mind with Master Elites: #1 The color inside the jar is raw pigment food colors, not yet activated. So it may appear to be a completely different color, but once activated by the moisture in your ingredient it will become the vibrant tone you purchased! And #2: Be sure you get those Master Elites in contact with moisture right away, so the color crystals develop and dissolve easily.
Because cupcake / cake batter has SO MUCH moisture with eggs and milk, we can place a small amount of Master Elite Emerald right into the mixing bowl and whisk away! You will see the most gorgeous emerald come through your cake batter in just a couple of minutes of mixing!
As the cupcakes bake, unlike gel food coloring which can dull with heat, Master Elites only intensify! Look at that VIBRANT GREEN CAKE we were able to achieve!
Next - we'll be working with a hybrid Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and will list the exact ingredients you need for Ed's buttercream recipe below:
ED'S SMBC RECIPE:
- 170 grams of Pasteurized Egg Whites
- 720 grams of Powdered Sugar (you can play around with powdered sugar, adding and subtracting to achieve desired consistency)
- 6 stick of unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Start off with egg whites, and whip until they froth / foam. Add the first half of the powdered sugar ( approx 400g) and whip for about 1 minute or until completely incorporated. Add the remainder of the powdered sugar and then whip until you achieve hard peak. With room temperature butter, add 1 stick at a time with your paddle attachment and mix until smooth. This can take upwards to 20 minutes to get a perfect consistency. During this time, add salt to taste and your vanilla extract.
Unlike royal icing, buttercream is a very low-moisture ingredient, so it is very important to dissolve your Master Elite prior to adding to the large batch of buttercream. This will help in preventing streaks later on and activate the color immediately.
You could activate your Master Elite in buttercream icing a few different ways: add during the very first step of whipping your egg whites, or take a very small amount of milk or heavy cream (which is what we did here) and place the color into the heavy cream. Allow the Master Elite powder to sit and dissolve for 2-3 minutes, then stir with a small scribe to break up those color crystals - helping them fully activate.
You can do this step for a full batch of icing while it is in your mixer, or if you're trying to achieve multiple tones (like we are here) you can split the batch in several bowls and manually add the color in, using the heavy cream or milk as your activator.
Pro tip: Pre-activate your Master Elite in 1/4 tsp of heavy cream or milk, whether you're doing one tone or multiple tones. By doing this, you create an ultra-intense "gel" food color that is fully activated, dissolved and ready to mix.
Always remember, Master Elites are activated by moisture. It is very important to get the color in contact with the moisture inside the ingredient you are working with. For buttercream, it's egg whites or milk. For royal icing, it's water. Macarons, egg whites ... and the list goes on!
To learn more about Master Elites in general and how to best use them, be sure to check out our thorough tutorial HERE!
We topped off these gorgeous St. Patrick's Day cupcakes with some Diamondust, Gold Edible Glitter.
Check out our Color Flair Spray bottle for the simplest way to disperse edible glitter evenly onto your confections!
See below for all products used on this demonstration!
Thank you for being TEAM SUGAR ART!
$6.00
OUR EMERALD GREEN FOOD COLOR IS THE PERFECT GREEN FOR YOUR CAKES AND COOKIES! MASTER ELITES ARE POWDER FOOD COLORS, INTENDED TO COLOR ROYAL ICING, FONDANT, BUTTERCREAM, MACARON BATTER, CAKE BATTER AND MORE! KEEP IN MIND, MASTER ELITES ARE NOT… read moreEmerald Food Color
$10.00
The Color Ring: a set of 5 stainless steel mini measuring spoons! This tiny metal measuring spoons set is the PERFECT compliment to Master Elites and any of our dust lines! Use these beauties for more exact measurements when tinting… read moreThe Color Ring
$15.00
THE MOST INCREDIBLE SPRAY BOTTLE FOR YOUR EDIBLE GLITTER! THE COLOR FLAIR DISPERSES YOUR EDIBLE GLITTER IN AN EVEN FLOW, RESULTING IN A BEAUTIFUL SHIMMER ON YOUR CONFECTIONS! SIMPLY FILL THE COLOR FLAIR WITH YOUR FAVORITE DIAMONDUSTS AND SPRAY!… read moreBest Edible Glitter Spray Bottle
$9.00
GOLD EDIBLE GLITTER, DIAMONDUST, IS STUNNING! USE THIS EDIBLE GOLD DUST FOR CAKES, COOKIES, CANDY, DRINKS OR FOOD! IT IS A VERY RICH GOLD GLITTER THAT LOOKS ESPECIALLY LUXE ON CHOCOLATE! THIS VERY FINE EDIBLE GOLD GLITTER DUST IS TASTELESS… read moreGold Edible Glitter
