Sunflower Cupcakes

 

 

These were made for a bridal shower themed "Meant to BEE", how cute is that? The sunflowers were made by cutting fondant (store bought fondant works great for these) with a daisy cutter and textured with a fondant tool for lines.  The shape of the flower was created by placing them on a mini cupcake liner that was slightly flattened. I was able to use my awesome airbrush kit for the orange/red fade on the center of the flowers. You could probably get the same affect using a powder color or luster dust applied with a clean blush brush. The center was a fondant circle that I striped like a grid and then cut out. The bees bodies were made of fondant that I shaped into tear drops and painted stripes with black color paste. I used black and white royal frosting to 1. glue the bee to the flower and 2. pipe on the wings and head. I let them dry completely before placing on cupcake.

Royal Icing:

2 egg whites whipped to soft peaks

then add 2 1/2 c powdered sugar

plus 1 tsp cream of tarter, mix

thin with lemon juice or water 1 tsp at a time to get the consistency needed 

(Use the rule of it holding it's shape for 10 sec before fading)

Chocolate Cake Recipe 

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup  Cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Mix dry ingredients together and wet ingredients together minus the water. Then combine wet and dry, then add hot water. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake @ 350* for about 20 minutes.

The flour in this recipe can be substituted with a Gluten-free all purpose flour mix.

Chocolate Butter-cream:

1 stick butter melted (1/2 c)

1/2 C cocoa

3 C powdered sugar

3 Tbls corn syrup

1/4 C milk

Mix butter and cocoa. Then add 1cup sugar,1 Tbls syrup, and a little bit of milk and mix well. 

Repeat until all sugar and corn syrup is incorporated adding enough milk to thin to the consistency you want. Whip for 1-2 minutes.

This is very fudgy and delicious!