Buttercream Blossom Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.
• Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached.

Steps:

• Using a serrated knife, trim top of each cupcake to make level. Tint 1/4 cup buttercream brown with gel-paste food color. Tint 2 cups buttercream peach. Tint 1/4 cup each yellow and green. Transfer tinted buttercreams to pastry bags fitted only with couplers. Tint remaining buttercream pale pink. Using an offset spatula, spread a smooth layer of pink buttercream over each cupcake.
• Using brown buttercream and a fine plain tip (#1), pipe thin branches on cupcake. With peach buttercream (shown opposite; pink is shown below) and a small petal tip (#103), pipe basic petals: Hold the bag at a 45-degree angle to the cupcake, with the tip's wide end down and narrow end pointed away and slightly to the left. Move the tip forward 1/8 inch and back again while you pivot the narrow end to the right. Make five or six petals, turning the cupcake as you go. Then, if desired, pipe a smallpetal on stem to make the bud shown at left. With yellow buttercream and a small plain tip (#2), pipe three or four dots in center of flower. Pipe tiny leaves with green buttercream and a small V-leaf tip (#349). Repeat for remaining cupcakes. Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• Using a serrated knife, trim top of each cupcake to make level. Tint 1/4 cup buttercream brown with gel-paste food color. Tint 2 cups buttercream peach. Tint 1/4 cup each yellow and green. Transfer tinted buttercreams to pastry bags fitted only with couplers. Tint remaining buttercream pale pink. Using an offset spatula, spread a smooth layer of pink buttercream over each cupcake.
• Using brown buttercream and a fine plain tip (#1), pipe thin branches on cupcake. With peach buttercream (shown opposite; pink is shown below) and a small petal tip (#103), pipe basic petals: Hold the bag at a 45-degree angle to the cupcake, with the tip's wide end down and narrow end pointed away and slightly to the left. Move the tip forward 1/8 inch and back again while you pivot the narrow end to the right. Make five or six petals, turning the cupcake as you go. Then, if desired, pipe a small petal on stem to make the bud shown at left. With yellow buttercream and a small plain tip (#2), pipe three or four dots in center of flower. Pipe tiny leaves with green buttercream and a small V-leaf tip (#349). Repeat for remaining cupcakes. Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.
• Using a serrated knife, trim top of each cupcake to make level. Tint 1/2 cup buttercream green and 1/4 cup pale yellow with gel-paste food colors. Divide 2 cups buttercream among two bowls; tint one portion light violet and the other a darker shade. Transfer tinted frostings to pastry bags fitted only with couplers. Tint remaining buttercream pale pink. Using an offset spatula, spread a smooth layer of pink buttercream over cupcakes.
• With green buttercream and a small plain tip (#2), pipe stems on cupcake. Using dark violet buttercream and a small petal tip (#103), pipe two large, basic petals (similar to cherry blossom petals, page 172) side by side. Then make two smaller petals, one on top of each of the first ones, using the same petal technique; apply less pressure and make a smaller arc than you did for larger petals. Using light violet buttercream and same petal tip, pipe a ruffle for the flower's base, pivoting tip as with petals, and turning the cupcake while connecting the petals. To finish the ruffle neatly, pull bag toward center of flower as you release pressure. Pipe a dot in center of each blossom with yellow buttercream and the #2 tip. If desired, use green buttercream and another small petal tip (#60) to pipe the leaf shown at left. Repeat for remaining cupcakes. Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.
• Using a serrated knife, trim top of each cupcake to make level. Tint 1/2 cup buttercream green and 1 cup pink with gel-paste food colors. Transfer to pastry bags fitted only with couplers. Tint remaining buttercream a paler shade of pink. Using a small offset spatula, spread a smooth layer of pale pink buttercream over cupcakes.
• Pipe stems using green buttercream and a small plain tip (#2) on a cupcake. Then, using pink buttercream and a small petal tip (#103), form two basic petals (similar to cherry blossom petals, page 172) side by side. Pipe two smaller petals overlapping each other on top of the first two, then hold bag 90 degrees to the flower with wide end facing forward, and pipe a center, pulling down slightly. With green buttercream and a small V-leaf tip (#352), pipe small leaves: Start at the base of the bloom with the tip's pointed end facing up, and then pull tip toward flower as you release pressure. Switch to the #2 tip, and add curlicues. Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• Beat 600g sifted icing sugar and 300g butter together with your chosen flavouring and colouring if using, add 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water to loosen and beat until smooth.
• Fill a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe onto cupcakes or smear in the middle and over the top of a 20cm cake using a palette knife.

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl; set aside. Beat 1/2 cup butter and the white sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla with the last egg. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the chopped bananas, mixing just enough to evenly combine. Pour the batter into prepared cups.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream by beating 2/3 cup of butter in a bowl until smooth and glossy. Beat in the vanilla, followed by the confectioners' sugar. Once no dry lumps of sugar remain, add the cream and food coloring. Whip on high speed until light and fluffy. Frost the cooled cupcakes with the buttercream frosting.