Friday, May 8, 2009

Wilton Icing and a Cupcake Bouquet

I never know what to do for Mother's Day! I wanted to do something special but I needed it to be reasonably priced. When I made the prom cupcakes a couple weeks back I got comments about them looking like flowers, so I thought I would try to make a cupcake bouquet. I needed a non-dairy frosting (since I wouldn't be able to refrigerate it) and it needed to be stiff enough so it wouldn't fall off the cupcake. I decided to try Wilton's Snow White Buttercream Frosting. The bouquet's turned out really cute, it was a great Mother's Day present... especially if you deliver it at your Mother's work with her adorable grand kids (bonus points are always given for feeding co-workers and showing off cute grand kids).

Frosting Ingredients
2/3 cup
1/4 cup Meringue Powder
12 cups sifted confectioners' sugar, (about 3 lbs.) divided
1 1/4 cups solid vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons light corn syrup (I omitted this)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon no-color almond extract
3/4 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon no-color butter flavor

Frosting Directions
In large bowl, combine 2/3 cup water and meringue powder; whip with electric mixer at high speed until peaks form. Add 4 cups sugar, one cup at a time, beating at low speed after each addition. Add remaining 8 cups sugar, shortening and corn syrup in 3 additions, blending well after each. Add salt and flavorings; beat at low speed until smooth. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

Bouquet Directions
First you will want to bake your cupcakes (make sure you use cupcake liners) I am obsessed with Pillsbury white cake mix, so I made white cupcakes but you could bake any kind of cupcake. I ended up using 24 cupcakes on each of my bouquet's. I got my planter pot and styrofoam ball from Hobby Lobby. I just set the ball on top of the pot. Starting on the bottom of the ball I stuck in 2 toothpicks and then pushed my cupcake onto the 2 toothpicks. I continued with the 2 toothpicks and cupcakes all the way along the bottom of the ball. Then I just worked my way up the ball putting the rest of the cupcakes in. I think it's cute even without the frosting. I used my Wilton 1M decorating tip to frost the cupcakes. I just start on the outside of the cupcake drawing a circle and working my way into the middle of the cupcake. Now, wouldn't it be great if I had pictures of me frosting the cupcakes? Well, I don't. Icing these cupcakes was... interesting. There was no time or patience for picture taking! I had to hold the planter high in the air so I could stand below and frost the bottom row. Once the bottom row was complete I just set the pot on the table and frosted the rest. The bottom row was the most challenging. I even messed up on a couple cupcakes and ended up pulling them off the toothpicks, scraping off the icing, and sticking them back on toothpicks to frost again. They really did turn out very well, and it actually looked like a bouquet of flowers! When I finished I was scared to death to transport them in the car to my Mother's work but I had each boy hold one of the pots and it worked great.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW Carrie, that looks phenomenal!!!

Marge said...

What a wonderful idea!

Donna-FFW said...

Carrie-- That is absolutely gorgeous. I LOVE it. You did an awesome job. It is so pretty.

Coleens Recipes said...

Fantastic!!!!! You did a tremendous job and I'll bet they were a huge hit. Did you have any trouble with gravity pulling the cupcakes off of the toothpics (while you were transporting them)?

Anonymous said...

Love the idea! great for Mom's day!You should make your creations as a side business, you would make a killing!!!:)

Kristen said...

That is the prettiest little thing!

Ginger said...

Hi Carrie,

That is so darn CUTE!! Is the Meringue powder hard to find? Really like your blog!

Mom said...

These bouquets were probably one of the most creative gifts you have ever given! Seeing you walk in my office with the boys and your Dad made yesterday one of the happiest days I've ever had. All of the planning, work, getting up early and driving an two hours before school is so appreciated. I have to tell you Carrie, being your mom is the greatest gift of all. I love you.

Judy said...

These are just the cutest things I ever saw. What a great idea. You are so talented. Happy Mother's Day to you, too.

Carrie said...

Coleen, I lost 3 cupcakes before we even left the house but once those 3 fell out the bouquets were stable. Next time I won't have the cupcakes so low on the ball, as you can see if the picture some were almost upside down... those were the few that fell off ;-)

Ginger, I got my meringue powder in the wedding/Wilton decorating/craft isle at my walmart.

Sophie said...

This is such a cute idea! I'm sure many moms would've love this :).

lisa guier said...

wow carrie, i'm so impressed. your mom just sent me this line. i'm adding it to my favs tonight!

Anonymous said...

What size was the styrafoam ball?

Carrie said...

I think it was a 4-inch Styrofoam ball. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out the planter I wanted then went to the Styrofoam ball section to see which one fit best. Hope this helps!

The Chocolate Lady said...

this is sooo cute how did you ever transport this??? amazing work!

Carrie said...

Stephanie, I had my boys each hold a bouquet in the car and as I drove. That was the only thing I could think of to transport them. It worked really well though!

Anonymous said...

Oh this is just wonderful!!! My name is Carrie :D and I have 2 boys Austin & Adam :D I also love to cook, but I'm not good at baking :( but you are wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing, I might have to try it **emphasis on TRY**

Mette said...

I'm dieing, I love this! I will definitely try to make one some time soon, thanks for showing the how to. :)

Angela@the crazyness that is me said...

Oh these look amazing!

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