Mothers Day Cupcake Bouquets

I've always seen those cupcakes that looks like roses and have been wanting to try them out. I finally get the chance for Mothers Day. I thought it would be nice to make a few bouquets for my mom and for some friends to give to their moms. I made strawberry, vanilla and chocolate and then frosted them with a basic vanilla buttercream colored pink. I didn't care too much for the chocolate recipe I used, it was my first time trying it and have had better so I wont be posting it. I made mini vanilla cupcakes so I could make small white flowers.

Strawberry Cupcakes (from "Cupcakes" by Shelly Kaldunski)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons strawberry jam
1/4 cup  finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 drops red food coloring
1/3 cup whole milk

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper foil or liners. In a small bowl, stir together the jam and strawberries

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg whites, vanilla, and red food coloring and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in the strawberry mixture until just combined

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Vanilla Cupcakes (from "Cupcakes" by Shelly Kaldunski)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper foil or liners. In a small bowl, stir together the jam and strawberries

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and egg white one at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Then add vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions; alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium-high speed just until no traces of flour remain, about 30 seconds, do not overbeat.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes (for mini cupckaes do about 10 minutes or so). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Vanilla Buttercream (this is enough for about 4-5 small/medium bouquets)

Ingredients:

1 pound of butter
2 pounds of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
(milk if needed)
red or pink food coloring

Directions:

Cream the butter. Slowly add the powdered sugar in 3-4 batches. Scrape down the side of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla extract and beat on high for about a minute. Add desired amount of food coloring.

Bouquets

You sill need:

cupcakes
frosting
a vase
foam ball
toothpicks/scewers
tissue paper
wilton 2d tip
piping bag

Directions/Ideas:

There's a lot you can do with these bouquets. I wanted to do two-tone roses. There are two ways to do that. I did both. The first way is more subtle. You take some of your icing and in a separate bowl add more food coloring to make it darker than your base icing. Take a frosting spatula and line the inside of your piping back vertically with about 3-4 lines straight up the inside of the bag. Then you fill the bag with your base icing and frost! The second way is more drastic. Take a decorating brush that has been dipped directly in the food coloring and create the same striping effect as the first and proceed to fill your bag with your base icing and frost! To learn more or get better instructions check out wilton.com.

To frost a rose you need a wilton 2d tip. Its very easy. All you do is start in the middle instead of the outside and in a clockwise direction you circle your way outto the edge of the cupcake. Simple and beautiful!

The design can go many ways depending on the size and shape of the vase. Make sure you get a foam ball that fits. You just use toothpicks or skewers to attach the cupcakes to the ball. I recommend using more than one per cupcake so that they are stable. I also used tissue paper to cover up bad spots or any areas where the ball was visible.