Flower Cupcakes

My final recipe is one for cupcakes. 

I love cupcakes. Some people think they are stupid or a waste of time. Why not just make a cake? I’ll tell you why. 

Cakes take longer to decorate, bake and eat. You have to spend time cutting the cake and then thinking about how much you want, but with cupcakes, all you have to do is grab one. 

Even though cupcakes are arguably the less popular option, I still love them. They are fun to decorate with friends and they’re hard to mess up.

This recipe is one I’ve been using for years because it uses oil as opposed to butter which I like more because I do not have to beat it. Beating butter is probably my least favorite thing when it comes to baking, it’s just too much effort. Using oil also allows for fewer mistakes to be made because if you don’t beat butter for long enough, then you will get dry cupcakes, but with oil, you don’t have to worry about it. 

Additionally, this batter is extremely loose and liquidy, which I think produces more moist cupcakes. Basically, this cupcake batter is foolproof and very easy to make.

The decorations, however, might be a little more challenging and require more baking tools you may not have like the piping tip. It’s not required to make the cupcakes, but it creates a better shape for the center of the flower. 

A substitution could just be a piping bag without the tip. In my opinion, you should get piping bags and not use a sandwich or plastic bag because the square shape causes harm to the piping experience.

Don’t feel limited to making flowers, either. You could decorate them any way you like, but definitely use this frosting recipe because of how light and fluffy it is. 

These cupcakes would be fun for any easter party, spring get-together or just for a weekend activity and I definitely recommend you make them.

Cake

2 ½ cups flour

2 cups sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup water

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup full-fat cream cheese (cold)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ½ cups whipping cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners
2. Add the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl and mix together
3. Next, add the milk, oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium-sized bowl
4. Combine the two mixtures and stir till well combined with no clumps of flour
5. Add the water to the flour and milk mixture and stir lightly until combined. The mixture will be very runny.
6. Fill the cupcake liners about half full and bake for 15-18 minutes or wait till a toothpick comes out clean
7. Once baked, take the cupcakes out of the pan and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.

Frosting Instructions

1. Chill your mixing bowl and whisk attachments in the freezer for 30 minutes. You can use a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer.
2. Take 1 cup of cold cream cheese and beat on low speed until smooth. 
3. Gradually add 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat on low then slowly increase the speed to medium when the powdered sugar is incorporated. Then mix for about 1 minute, be sure not to over-mix and scrape the bowl as needed.
4. Add in 1 tsp of vanilla extract then turn to medium and very slowly pour the cold whipping cream in.
5. Be mindful of the mixture not letting it be over-mixed. Watch as the heavy cream is fully mixed in and starts to thicken. If frosting is over-mixed, it will become soupy and not pipeable.
6. When the frosting starts to take shape, turn off the mixer and test the thickness of it by taking a whisk attachment and dunking it in the frosting. Then flip the attachment upside down, if it forms a nice peak and keeps its shape, then it’s done. If not, keep mixing in 30-second intervals till stiff.

Decorating instructions

1. Take your frosting and take ¼ out and dye it one color and then take the rest of the frosting and dye it another color.
2. Put the smaller amount of frosting in a piping bag or plastic bag with a big round circle piping tip (I am using the Wilton 1A). Leave the rest of the frosting in the bowl.
3. Next, take an offset spatula and dip it into the frosting just enough to put a dollop on the end of the spatula. Take the spatula and swipe down the cupcake making a pedal.
4. Repeat that step a few more times until you have a ring of petals around the cupcake. 
5. Take the piping bag and make a dollop in the middle to finish off your cupcake
6. You can add sprinkles, candles or any other decoration when you finish piping.