Lana Hirschowitz Friday 25 March 2011 11:00am

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It’s a burger. No, it’s a cupcake. Yes, it really is. Lana made these recently at home and had the MM office enthralled when she showed us photos of it on her phone. It then sparked a conversation about impressive things we’d cooked or eaten. Lana writes:

This is a piece of cake. Really it is

“Cupcakes are one of my very favourite food groups.  I know that technically they don’t fall into the food group category but I am quite sure that is just a technicality overlooked by the dietitians and nutritionists that draw up the food pyramid.  I can’t deny that I absolutely love eating cupcakes but to me the greatest joy has to come from the icing, and it’s not just eating the icing but also playing with it.  Creating something pretty with it.  It is like combining baking and drawing – all my childhood fantasies played out as an adult in my very own kitchen.

Even though I am not eating sugar at the moment I decided to give the cupcake thing a whirl this weekend for my son and some of his friends that had come to play – I often bribe his friends with sugary treats, I am evil like that (it has made my house the go-to place for all his mates and I LOVE that) .  Given that I wasn’t eating sugar and I don’t eat meat I decided to go all out and create the ultimate no-go food for myself.  Sugar meat, otherwise known as hamburger cupcakes.

Really it was as easy as anything you could imagine but best of all it was one of those recipes that you can picture in your head and they actually turn out the way you had envisaged.  It’s very hard to get wrong.

First  you make vanilla cupcakes (out of a box is easiest), then you make brownies (out of a box as well)

Slice the cooled cupcakes in half to make two sides of the hamburger bun

Cut the brownies up into “patty” sized pieces.

Mix together coconut and green food colouring to make “lettuce”

Everything you need for a perfect burger.

Add yellow food colouring to icing to make mustard and red food colouring to make tomato sauce

I used little egg lollies from the confectionery aisle of the supermarket for eggs.

Let the kids make their own burgers

(For my icing I just mixed plain white icing sugar with a little melted butter and a raw egg white – my favourite icing in all the world)

I didn’t eat one! Although I nearly bit my husband’s head off such was my temptation to indulge…but the kids loved them and so did my husband.  There weren’t even any left to bring to the office.  Sorry guys

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What is the best thing that you cooked or ate this week?”