Aces and hearts

It was my mother-in-law's birthday on the weekend and I decided to make cupcakes. But I wanted them to match my kitchen! No, the truth is I wanted them to be her favourite colour- red.

Her name also starts with A- that's why I decided on the aces. I made 12 aces- orange poppy seed cake with fondant tops (I used chocolate fondant in the spades and clubs- to cut down the bitterness from black icing). I also made 12 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and cachous (thanks Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook!).

My wilton stand only holds 23 cupcakes- what a shame we had to eat one!