Hello Kitty and Friends

I got a bit of free time this morning and decided to do something fun. Checked my pantry and found something that was double wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and tied in a plastic bag. After painstakingly untying the nodes half way then I knew what I wanted to do this morning (with a grin on my face). The "secret package" was in fact some fondant that a friend has helped me buy not too long ago! Need I say more? Cupcakes and fondant of course! This is like adult play dough, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it, heehee.

It took me awhile to come up with ideas on what I can make with the fondant....the rest was fun fun fun, haha! Actually, deciding on making Hello Kitty fondant mold was a no brainer. The cat's face is cute, it's not complicated to mold out and I was pretty sure my girls will love it. ;)

I have initially intend to make only Hello Kitty fondant mold. But after making four of those, I figured variety would be much nicer. So decided to give her friends a shot too (fingers crossed). Did not want to make the rabbit friend as it looks too much like Hello Kitty. :-P So I went with the big eye frog and the angry penguin. Okay okay, I should introduce them properly in case you are really interested in what their name really are. ;) The penguin is call "Badtz Maru" and the cute frog is call "Keroppi".
Baking the cupcakes took me less then an hour to complete. But molding the cute animal faces took me the whole morning plus a couple hours in the late afternoon. :-P But no regrets really, it's too fun, haha! The only annoying thing is that I have to keep washing my hands to prevent the different colors of the fondant mixing together.
The cupcake recipe is extracted from Martha Stewart's Living magazine February edition, call One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes. Seeing the name itself I am pretty much sold! Anything that is one-bowl is my kind of recipe!

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Bread (makes 18):
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 & 1/2 cups sugar (I put 3 tbsp less)
1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp safflower oil (I used olive oil)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the standard muffin tray with cupcake liners.
• Sift cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
• Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract and mix well till everything is incorporated.
• Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling to about 2/3 full.
• Bake until top springs back when touched, about 20 to 22 minutes.
• Transfer cupcakes onto wire racks and let cool before placing fondant over the top.

The cake is chocolaty, soft, moist and not too sweet, actually went very well with the fondant, haha. ;) You must be going like" Ahhh...soo cruel, you ate Hello Kitty & her friends!" Hahaha, well, in my opinion, not eating well prepared, yummy food and letting it go to waste then is cruel! ;)

I used basic butter cream to adhere the fondant onto the cupcake. And the molding of the fondant is really up to your own creativity. My tools are just my hands and toothpicks. :)
I had loads of fun making this and am looking forward to doing more the next time, so do stay tune and see what's next! Cheerio!