I have recently discovered how to make a rose out of buttercream. <squeal!> My two most favorite things on the planet (aside from my kids and husband, of course). So I thought I'd share a recent creation I made for my kids with you: buttercream rose topped cupcakes. And as I was making these, I thought how wonderful this would make for a Mother's Day gift! Well, as things go with me, my mom has told me she doesn't like sweet stuff (cake pops included, can you believe it?). So I made these for my kids, but YOU could make a batch of these up for your own mom, and she'll love you for it. As long as she likes cupcakes covered with buttercream roses, that is!
These are soooo dang easy! Really. You will wonder why you haven't used a piping bag for all your cupcakes in the past. And did I mention how FAST they are to do? I didn't? Well, let me tell you, they're faaaaast to make!
I used a box cake mix to make my cupcakes. I made a dozen of the mini-sized cupcakes (I was experimenting with my new Breville convection toaster oven- it's awesome, BTW), and almost two dozen regular sized cupcakes. I let them cool completely before adding the buttercream.
I make my own buttercream. The recipe was given to me, and I don't know if I have permission to display it here, so if you want a delish buttercream recipe, email me, and I'll send it to you privately. I changed it a bit for my own tastes, though. I added the "Princess" baking emulsion to it (Lorann) instead of vanilla, and it really makes the flavor pop. I love all Lorann's baking emulsions, though!
After whipping up a batch of buttercream, I thinned it to medium consistency for piping. Then I colored half of it pink. Wanna know a very tidy way of filling a piping bag? Wrap it in plastic wrap first! You want to use an amount about the size of a very small burrito.
Tie off the ends of the plastic wrap, and when you're ready to use it, just cut off the end that goes down into the piping bag. You'll never have to worry about icing leaking through the wrong end of the bag ever again.
For this project, I chose to use two colors, but you could use one, and the result would still be very nice. I inserted two plastic wrapped buttercream 'burritos' into a piping bag,.
I pressed down on them gently so they evenly worked their way into the piping tip.
Before going on, I want to show you about how ridiculously easy it is to empty and reuse a piping bag if you use the 'buttercream burrito' method. Just pull out the empty 'burrito' (see the two empty ones here in this pic?), and pop in a new one. It takes just a few seconds, and there's almost no mess whatsoever.
I used a Wilton tip 21 for the mini cupcakes.
Here I made some test swirls on a plate to practice. Cool, huh?
Cute little rose swirls on bite-sized mini cupcakes. You get the rose effect by starting your piping in the CENTER of the cupcake and swirling out to the edge. I like to apply a lot of pressure as I begin in the center, and taper off as I finish the outer edge of the swirl. I wish I had an extra set of hands to show step by step how it looks as it comes together. Honestly, it's not difficult to make, though. Now on to the regular sized cupcakes!
And for bigger cupcakes, I needed a bigger piping tip. Well, hello Wilton 2D! I think you are my new favorite piping tip!
Starting the piping in the CENTER of the cupcake, you swirl around until you get to the outer edge. And you end up with a very pretty rose-like creation!
They each took me just a few seconds to make.
And there's not too much frosting to cake ratio going on here, either. I like that!
Okay, so just for comparison's sake, here is what the piping looks like if you start at the OUTSIDE of the cupcake and swirl your way to the middle. Essentially, it's the complete opposite of how to make a buttercream rose. Still, it's cute, I think!
Another shot from above comparing the two piping techniques. Again, the tip used is Wilton 2D for all of them. For the roses, you pipe and swirl from the center. For the frilly mounds, you pipe and swirl from the outside. Got it?
Hope you enjoyed these little bites of beauty. And a happy Mother's Day to all you hard working mommas out there!
After whipping up a batch of buttercream, I thinned it to medium consistency for piping. Then I colored half of it pink. Wanna know a very tidy way of filling a piping bag? Wrap it in plastic wrap first! You want to use an amount about the size of a very small burrito. 
I pressed down on them gently so they evenly worked their way into the piping tip.
they look really good was looking at your chocalate cupcakes might be a silly question but how do you stop your cupcake wrappers coming away from the cupcakes when baked this keeps happening to me only with choc ones tryed diffrent cupcake cases and recipes what do you do thanks
ReplyDeleteI'm not 100% sure why your cupcake wrappers are pulling away from the cake. But I will throw in my best guess!
ReplyDeleteYou may be simply be overcooking your cupcakes. Overcooking leads to cake shrinkage. This could be why you're seeing your cake pull away from the sides of the paper.
Be sure to verify that your oven is calibrated property. Oven thermometers are quite inexpensive and easily to find at most supermarkets. After I purchased one for my oven, I was shocked to find that my oven was running 30 degrees too hot!
Good luck with your cupcakes, and let me know how they turn out. Cheers!