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So I finally rolled out of bed and after making myself a nice breakfast and lounging on the sofa for a while (enough to watch two episodes of Star Trek lol) I got dressed, cleaned up the leftovers (the nice thing about my friends is we don't really make a mess, lol), and now I'm set to share with you the awesomeness of Nerd Baking: Star Trek Edition.
Starfleet Cupcakes
These are easy to make but require a bit of artistic ability because you're going to be drawing on the cupcakes. That said, you'll want some reference photos (if you need them) for the three division emblems: command, science, and engineering (if you want, you can toss in a few medical cupcakes too).
Next, you'll want a whole lot of icing. You can make your own icing from scratch, but I went out and bought some. It's not entirely because I'm lazy but because whenever I try and make my own icing it always comes out hard which is very disappointing and impossible to decorate with. But if you want to make your own icing, all the power to you! Make some icing and get some food colouring paste. That's right - paste. It's more expensive than everyday liquid colouring, but it colours better so your blues will be bolder, your yellows brighter, and your reds considerably not pink.
As well, regardless of whether or not you're making or buying your icing, you will need twice as much yellow as blue or red. This is because for the science and engineering cupcakes the delta shields will be yellow, while the deltas on the command cupcakes will be white. So make sure you have enough yellow icing to ice your command cupcakes as well as create the deltas on the science and engineering cakes.
Now that I've probably confused you all, I'll make it simple with an easy ingredient list. Please note, I don't have a recipe for the actual cupcakes here. This is because they're actually rather irrelevant at this point. You can make any kind of cupcakes you want; I made chocolate ones from scratch. If you want that recipe, let me know and I'll add it to the post, otherwise crack open your nearest cookbook and pick a recipe.
So for our GQ Starfleet Cupcakes, we're going to need:
Once your cupcakes have been baked and cooled off a little, divide them into three groups. My recipe said I should have twenty-four, but it lied and my batter actually only lasted to make eighteen which is still plenty: six cakes for each division.
Now pick one of your three primary colours and begin icing a third of the cupcakes. You can spread and smear the icing on top if you want, or pipe it on to give the cake some lift and oomph. Also, piping the icing means you don't have to dirty a knife. If you're piping the icing it doesn't matter which tip you use, though I used the plain old star tip to coat the cupcakes.
Now that your cupcakes are decorated with their corresponding divison colour, it's time to add the badges. This means we're almost done, but it also means the easy part is over.
To draw on the delta shields I used the plain round drawing tip. It squeezes out a thin line of icing making it easier to draw a smaller picture. After all, these are small cupcakes. If you're working on the command cupcakes, take your white icing and begin drawing the delta shields on the cupcakes. Colour it in too, don't just ice the outline (you'll see why in a moment). Once you get the hang of the shape, icing gets easier, but your first couple attempts might be failtastic. I know mine sort of were (which is why on the finished product the command cupcakes don't look as snazzy as the science and engineering ones).
Once you've created the solid white shields on the command cupcakes, switch to the yellow icing and draw the same shield on the blue and red cupcakes.
Now comes the fun part! You can use plain icing if you want but I found the greatest discovery ever! EDIBLE GLITTER GEL!!! At first I was a little apprehensive. I mean, these aren't crappy Twilight cupcakes. But then I reasoned these sparkles were more like badass lens flares, so I picked up a tube in each of the three colours. If you don't want to use glitter gel, you can use regular decorating gel or just regular coloured icing.
Using this gel I then drew the insignia on the center of the corresponding badge. This is where the references come in handy. I suppose you don't REALLY need them because the division signs are simple and easy to remember. That said, I got engineering rather wrong and drew the swirl upside down (which no one yesterday but me noticed, lol). Anyways, this is why you colour the shields in with the yellow/white icing instead of just outlining them. I mean, a yellow command star isn't going to show up on a yellow backdrop so you need the white icing underneath and surrounding it.
As you can see, my earlier attempts at the Command Cupcakes came out less than stellar compared to the later ones.
The edible glitter gel really adds that nuTrek flare.
And that's all there is to it! Once you've drawn on the corresponding emblems, the cupcakes are done and ready to travel where so many cupcakes have gone before: my tummy.
YUM.
But if you're going to eat that many cupcakes, you'll need something equally GQ to wash them down with. Now, we'll have to keep this strictly between ourselves or Starfleet will have my ass seeing as how this stuff is contraband, but no party is complete without someone showing up with Romulan Ale.
Romulan Ale (both alcoholic and non-alchohlic for those of you so inclined)
Because now you too can be the friend that shows up at the next bash smuggling in the goods that the Federation doesn't want you to have!
This recipe is still continuing to be worked on. None of the batches my friends and I worked on ended up with quite the same ratio of ingredients. Hell, not a single one came out the exact same shade of blue!
But the important thing is this recipe does not require in any way that crappy Romulan Ale energy drink.
Ideally, I wanted to try out that Wokka Saki stuff mentioned on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ontd_startrek but couldn't find any at my local LCBO. So I had to improvise, therefore mixing together the following (not always together, but our different recipes involved several of these ingredients so you might want to experiment with them yourself):
The first recipe creates a raspberry flavoured drink. Measure out some regular vodka - the amount you put in depends on how potent you want your drink to be. Add some of the martini mix for colouring and flavour, topping it off with a little bit of club soda for texture. Mix well and enjoy.
You can substitute the club soda with Sprite which I personally recommend. Nothing against the stuff but I find the soda really waters down the drink. It makes it taste... weird.
I find the Sprite and the raspberry mix well together. You can even then use the flavoured vodka if you want (though a lemon/citrus vodka might work better than lime). The Sprite really overpowers any of the other flavours. As well, we found we almost always ended up putting in blue food colouring because the raspberry wasn't blue enough to give the drink a good solid colour (the other non-blue ingredients diluted it).
As you can see, the drinks varied in blue. The concoction in the Spock glass was originally almost green before we added more blue food colouring to it... ironic, really.
My personal favourite concoction goes as follows (the result of which is in the Kirk glass above):
Start by adding in the vodka (flavoured or not, it all works out to the same). Top the drink off with a good deal of Sprite, and colour with a few drops of food colouring until you've achieved the desired shade. The drink is fizzy, looks strange, but tastes like citrus. And you won't know you're drunk until it's too late.
Romulan Ale is slow to act. You can have several glasses and feel fine until it all suddenly hits you like you've just broken warp ten. (I don't know if that's even possible, but that just goes to show you.)
I'd really like to get my hands on some of that Wokka Saki though and continue to experiment away, but for now the citrus vodka/Sprite/blue will do well. This stuff is great for making a pitcher of drink instead of individual glasses, primarily because it's difficult to make the exact same shade of blue twice. Two to three drops of colouring should do the trick depending on the size of your glass, but don't quote me on that.
And the best part is Romulan Ale can be enjoyed by everyone, even those who are either not old enough to drink or just choose not to.
Of course, it's not nearly as exciting without the alcoholic component. Just add the Sprite and raspberry and a bit of blue. You'll have yourself a citrus raspberry blue fizz which is still quite tasty.
Romulan Ale (non-alcoholic) in a Romulan glass!
The above drink was made by filling the glass just over a third of the way with Sprite, and filling up the rest with blue raspberry martini mix. Three drops of food colouring were added to enhance the colour and then it was all stirred together.
This version with the flash on allows you to see just how blue the drink really is.
There you have it. Two dishes no Star Trek party is complete without. The best part is that both the ale and the cupcakes are easy to make. For the cupcakes, total work time between baking the cakes and finishing the decorations on the last cupcake totalled just over an hour and a half. So they're something you could always make the day of a party if you don't have the time beforehand.
As for the ale, it's now a drink staple for parties. Don't go bragging to people (because I don't want to be court martialed) but if you party with me, you party with Romulan Ale.
Starfleet Cupcakes
These are easy to make but require a bit of artistic ability because you're going to be drawing on the cupcakes. That said, you'll want some reference photos (if you need them) for the three division emblems: command, science, and engineering (if you want, you can toss in a few medical cupcakes too).
Next, you'll want a whole lot of icing. You can make your own icing from scratch, but I went out and bought some. It's not entirely because I'm lazy but because whenever I try and make my own icing it always comes out hard which is very disappointing and impossible to decorate with. But if you want to make your own icing, all the power to you! Make some icing and get some food colouring paste. That's right - paste. It's more expensive than everyday liquid colouring, but it colours better so your blues will be bolder, your yellows brighter, and your reds considerably not pink.
As well, regardless of whether or not you're making or buying your icing, you will need twice as much yellow as blue or red. This is because for the science and engineering cupcakes the delta shields will be yellow, while the deltas on the command cupcakes will be white. So make sure you have enough yellow icing to ice your command cupcakes as well as create the deltas on the science and engineering cakes.
Now that I've probably confused you all, I'll make it simple with an easy ingredient list. Please note, I don't have a recipe for the actual cupcakes here. This is because they're actually rather irrelevant at this point. You can make any kind of cupcakes you want; I made chocolate ones from scratch. If you want that recipe, let me know and I'll add it to the post, otherwise crack open your nearest cookbook and pick a recipe.
So for our GQ Starfleet Cupcakes, we're going to need:
- one(1) batch of cupcakes of your choosing (I made chocolate fudge cupcakes in silver baking cups to give them that 1960's space feel)
- icing in the following colours: red, blue, white, yellow (remember: twice as much yellow as any other colour)
- OPTIONAL: edible writing gel (otherwise you can just use the same icing as above)
Once your cupcakes have been baked and cooled off a little, divide them into three groups. My recipe said I should have twenty-four, but it lied and my batter actually only lasted to make eighteen which is still plenty: six cakes for each division.
Now pick one of your three primary colours and begin icing a third of the cupcakes. You can spread and smear the icing on top if you want, or pipe it on to give the cake some lift and oomph. Also, piping the icing means you don't have to dirty a knife. If you're piping the icing it doesn't matter which tip you use, though I used the plain old star tip to coat the cupcakes.
Now that your cupcakes are decorated with their corresponding divison colour, it's time to add the badges. This means we're almost done, but it also means the easy part is over.
To draw on the delta shields I used the plain round drawing tip. It squeezes out a thin line of icing making it easier to draw a smaller picture. After all, these are small cupcakes. If you're working on the command cupcakes, take your white icing and begin drawing the delta shields on the cupcakes. Colour it in too, don't just ice the outline (you'll see why in a moment). Once you get the hang of the shape, icing gets easier, but your first couple attempts might be failtastic. I know mine sort of were (which is why on the finished product the command cupcakes don't look as snazzy as the science and engineering ones).
Once you've created the solid white shields on the command cupcakes, switch to the yellow icing and draw the same shield on the blue and red cupcakes.
Now comes the fun part! You can use plain icing if you want but I found the greatest discovery ever! EDIBLE GLITTER GEL!!! At first I was a little apprehensive. I mean, these aren't crappy Twilight cupcakes. But then I reasoned these sparkles were more like badass lens flares, so I picked up a tube in each of the three colours. If you don't want to use glitter gel, you can use regular decorating gel or just regular coloured icing.
Using this gel I then drew the insignia on the center of the corresponding badge. This is where the references come in handy. I suppose you don't REALLY need them because the division signs are simple and easy to remember. That said, I got engineering rather wrong and drew the swirl upside down (which no one yesterday but me noticed, lol). Anyways, this is why you colour the shields in with the yellow/white icing instead of just outlining them. I mean, a yellow command star isn't going to show up on a yellow backdrop so you need the white icing underneath and surrounding it.
As you can see, my earlier attempts at the Command Cupcakes came out less than stellar compared to the later ones.
The edible glitter gel really adds that nuTrek flare.
And that's all there is to it! Once you've drawn on the corresponding emblems, the cupcakes are done and ready to travel where so many cupcakes have gone before: my tummy.
YUM.
But if you're going to eat that many cupcakes, you'll need something equally GQ to wash them down with. Now, we'll have to keep this strictly between ourselves or Starfleet will have my ass seeing as how this stuff is contraband, but no party is complete without someone showing up with Romulan Ale.
Romulan Ale (both alcoholic and non-alchohlic for those of you so inclined)
Because now you too can be the friend that shows up at the next bash smuggling in the goods that the Federation doesn't want you to have!
This recipe is still continuing to be worked on. None of the batches my friends and I worked on ended up with quite the same ratio of ingredients. Hell, not a single one came out the exact same shade of blue!
But the important thing is this recipe does not require in any way that crappy Romulan Ale energy drink.
Ideally, I wanted to try out that Wokka Saki stuff mentioned on
ontd_startrek but couldn't find any at my local LCBO. So I had to improvise, therefore mixing together the following (not always together, but our different recipes involved several of these ingredients so you might want to experiment with them yourself):- vodka (flavoured or non-flavoured: I had some Lime Smirnoff as well as some regular vodka; simple Lemon/Citrus vodka might mix better too)
- Sprite (or any other citrus soda)
- Club Soda (for fizz)
- blue raspberry martini mix (no alcohol, but just for colour and a side of flavour)
- blue food colouring (in case you don't like raspberry)
The first recipe creates a raspberry flavoured drink. Measure out some regular vodka - the amount you put in depends on how potent you want your drink to be. Add some of the martini mix for colouring and flavour, topping it off with a little bit of club soda for texture. Mix well and enjoy.
You can substitute the club soda with Sprite which I personally recommend. Nothing against the stuff but I find the soda really waters down the drink. It makes it taste... weird.
I find the Sprite and the raspberry mix well together. You can even then use the flavoured vodka if you want (though a lemon/citrus vodka might work better than lime). The Sprite really overpowers any of the other flavours. As well, we found we almost always ended up putting in blue food colouring because the raspberry wasn't blue enough to give the drink a good solid colour (the other non-blue ingredients diluted it).
As you can see, the drinks varied in blue. The concoction in the Spock glass was originally almost green before we added more blue food colouring to it... ironic, really.
My personal favourite concoction goes as follows (the result of which is in the Kirk glass above):
Start by adding in the vodka (flavoured or not, it all works out to the same). Top the drink off with a good deal of Sprite, and colour with a few drops of food colouring until you've achieved the desired shade. The drink is fizzy, looks strange, but tastes like citrus. And you won't know you're drunk until it's too late.
Romulan Ale is slow to act. You can have several glasses and feel fine until it all suddenly hits you like you've just broken warp ten. (I don't know if that's even possible, but that just goes to show you.)
I'd really like to get my hands on some of that Wokka Saki though and continue to experiment away, but for now the citrus vodka/Sprite/blue will do well. This stuff is great for making a pitcher of drink instead of individual glasses, primarily because it's difficult to make the exact same shade of blue twice. Two to three drops of colouring should do the trick depending on the size of your glass, but don't quote me on that.
And the best part is Romulan Ale can be enjoyed by everyone, even those who are either not old enough to drink or just choose not to.
Of course, it's not nearly as exciting without the alcoholic component. Just add the Sprite and raspberry and a bit of blue. You'll have yourself a citrus raspberry blue fizz which is still quite tasty.
Romulan Ale (non-alcoholic) in a Romulan glass!
The above drink was made by filling the glass just over a third of the way with Sprite, and filling up the rest with blue raspberry martini mix. Three drops of food colouring were added to enhance the colour and then it was all stirred together.
This version with the flash on allows you to see just how blue the drink really is.
There you have it. Two dishes no Star Trek party is complete without. The best part is that both the ale and the cupcakes are easy to make. For the cupcakes, total work time between baking the cakes and finishing the decorations on the last cupcake totalled just over an hour and a half. So they're something you could always make the day of a party if you don't have the time beforehand.
As for the ale, it's now a drink staple for parties. Don't go bragging to people (because I don't want to be court martialed) but if you party with me, you party with Romulan Ale.
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