Flowering Cupcakes

Flowering Cupcakes

You will need:

5 plastic disposable piping bags with couplers

Piping tubes # 102, #104, #9, #66, #349

Rose, Moss green, Yellow, and Purple coloring pastes.

*Cupcakes

** Decorator Frosting

Remove 1 cup of icing and place in a separate bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.

Divide the remainder of icing into 4 equal parts into four separate bowls. Color each of them, using the pastes.

Cover each with plastic wrap to protect until ready to use.

Insert couplers into plastic piping bags.

Dip a bamboo stick or toothpick into the purple paste.  Make a 5”  line of color along the

sides of bag.  Fill bag about 1/3 full with purple icing. Place the #349 tip

on coupler and screw into place.

Dip a knife or spatula in rose paste and make a line down the center of bag.
Fill bag ½ full with rose icing.  Use the #104 tip on this bag.

Fill the last three bags with white, yellow and green.

Use the #66 for green, #102 for white, #9 for yellow.



Wisteria

With the green icing, place the tip on the cupcake. Positioning bag at an angle, squeeze icing as you pull bag to create leaves at the perimeter of the cupcake.

 

With purple icing, place tip on the edge of cupcake. Positioning bag at an upward angle, squeeze and pull just as you did the leaves.

Continue process above the first row of petals, overlapping them, as shown.

This is the finished cupcake. One using the streaked bag technique, the other without.

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Daisy

With white icing, place tip, with narrow side down, touching cupcake. Starting 1” from the edge, position bag at a high angle, squeezing and pulling into a “U” shape to create

daisy petals. Continue until one row of petals is complete.

Using same technique, start from ½” from center of cupcake and create the second row of petals, overlapping the first row.

 

With the yellow icing, place tip in the center and squeeze making a ball.

Using green icing, make a few leaves around the perimeter of the cupcake.

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Rose

Using Rose icing, With cupcake in one hand and piping bag in the other, touch rounded end of tip to the center of cupcake.

With bag positioned at a slight angle,

turn the cupcake as you squeeze the icing making a cone.

Repeat this again over the top of cone overlapping the end, creating a center for the rose.

 

With tip at a vertical angle and bag horizontal, squeeze and pull a petal as shown.

Continue process around the cupcake, overlapping petals as you go.

Add Leaves using the green icing by inserting the tip just under the petal at the perimeter of the cupcake.

Remove tip, clean well, and change out piping tube on yellow icing. Make yellow rose

on top of cupcake using the same process shown above.

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Recipes

* Strawberry Cupcake Recipe

1 Box Classic White Cake mix

½ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

1 3oz box strawberry flavored gelatin

4 large eggs

½ cup crushed frozen strawberries

In a mixing bowl,  stir together Cake mix, water, oil and gelatin.  Beating with an electric mixer, add eggs. Beat 5 minutes and stir in strawberries. Blend well.

Ladle cake batter into cupcake cups placed in muffin tin.  Bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes.

It is ready when a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean.

Cool completely before decorating.

Strawberry Glaze (The glaze is optional, but I like the added layer of flavor it adds to the cupcakes)

2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

1 Tablespoon milk

3-4 Tablespoons crushed strawberries

In
a bowl combine milk and sugar. Add strawberries, one tablespoon at a
time until it becomes a thin consistency for glazing cupcakes.

**Cream Cheese Decorators Icing

1 8oz package cream cheese, room temperature

1 lb. butter, room temperature

½ cup shortening

¼ cup hot water

¼ cup powdered coffee creamer

1 tsp vanilla

2 lbs 10x confectioners sugar

Pink, purple, moss green, and yellow coloring pastes

1. Using a standing electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening and cream cheese at medium speed.

2. Mix together hot water and powdered creamer.

3.  Add creamer mixture, one tablespoon at a time, to the butter/cream cheese.  Add vanilla. Mix together at lowest speed until incorporated, the increase mixer speed to med and whip for 30 seconds.

4.  With mixer at low speed, gradually add 1 lb of confectioner’s sugar.  Incorporate well, then gradually add remaining sugar. Icing should be a thick consistency for decorating.

If too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Tutorial and Photography by Jacque Benson

Copyright 2011

All rights reserved

This material may not be republished or reproduced in any manner without the expressed permission of the author.

Easter Egg Marshmallow Pies

This Easter, I wanted to put something special into my grandchildren's Easter baskets.
I tried to think of something that they might like to eat, yet different than a sugar cookie.
Then remembering my favorite Moon Pie treats as a child,
 I pondered just how to recreate them using an Easter theme.

Since these needed to be made ahead to package into the baskets,  I needed a marshmallow filling that would not ruin.  Kraft made it easy for me by introducing Jumbo Egg Mallows--large pastel colored egg shaped marshmallows.
Thank you Kraft!
After altering an old nutmeg cookie recipe from my Charlotte Turgeon cookbook,
 all that was left to do was dip them in pastel colored confectioners melts and decorate.

I inserted straws into the filling of my "Moon Pies" so that they can be easily placed upright into the Baskets, but you can make them without using the straws if you like.

To make these Easter Egg Marshmallow Pies, you will need:

I recipe Almond Nutmeg Cookies
3-1/2" egg shaped cookie cutter

Jumbo Egg shaped Easter Marshmallows

Pastel confectioner's melts
Vegetable shortening
Colored Straws (opt-- to insert into basket )

5 Plastic disposable piping bags

#1, #3 piping tubes

Sparkling sugar

Sprinkles (opt)
Pastel candies (opt)

Almond Nutmeg Cookies

  

 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

 1/2 cup sugar

 6 tablespoons Half & Half cream

 3 tablespoons honey

 3 cups all-purpose flour

 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

 1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar together. Mix half&half with honey; set aside.

Sift together flour, nutmeg and salt.  Add the flour mixture alternately with the liquids until thoroughly blended together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill well.

Cut 3 rectangles of parchment paper to fit baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Divide dough in half, keeping one half chilled. On parchment paper, roll the other half quite thin and cut cookies using a 4" egg shaped cookie cutter.

Gather scraps and chill.

Repeat with second half of dough, then scraps until all dough is used.

Place in center of oven and bake 6-8 minutes until edges are slightly browned.

While the cookies are in the oven, on a piece of waxed paper,  flatten the marshmallows using a rolling pin.

When cookies are ready, remove from oven.

While still hot, turn half of the cookies upside down and place marshmallows, sandwiching between two cookies; gently press cookie on top.

( If your hands are sensitive to heat, place a clean cloth on cookie for protection ).

Insert straw into the center off soft filling.

Set cookies aside, and
allow to cool thorougly.

(Don't worry if some of the marshmallow melts over the side.
Once completely cooled, you can spray a pair of clean scissors with non-stick spray and easily cut the cooled marshmallow even with the edges of the cookie.)

Melt confectioners melts in a chocolate pot or double boiler. Thin melts to a glazing consistency by adding vegetable shortening, one tablespoon at a time.

If you used straws, insert bamboo skewer into straw for support.
Holding cookie over pan, spoon melted pastel colored confectioner's melts over moon pies.

 Allow to cool, then turn over and repeat process on the other side.

Remove bamboo skewer and place on waxed paper until cooled and confectioners' melts have set up.

Prepare piping bags with #1 and #3 piping tubes. Fill bags with melted colored confectioners melts.
Pipe lines, dots, squiggles, loops or scallops in contrasting colors.

Decorate your Easter Egg Moon Pies with sparkling sugar, contrasting colors, or pastel

candies or sprinkles.

Just have fun and be creative!

When ready to put into Basket, cover Easter Eggs with a cellophane bag and tie with a ribbon.

 ***


Tutorial and Photography by Jacque Benson
2011
All Rights Reserved
This material may not be republished or reproduced in any manner without the expressed permission of the author.

St Patrick’s Day Pistachio Candy

Ingredients:               

• 1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 3.5oz pkg pistachio pudding mix                            
• 6 oz bag flaked coconut                                                         
• 2T butter or margarine, melted (1 ounce)
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened  
• 2 cups finely chopped pistachios
• 5 ½ -6 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 drop leaf green coloring gel (opt)                                                   
• Semisweet and/ or white Chocolate chips , melted
• Paramount Crystals
• 1/2 cup Dark Green Confectioners Melts

Preparation:

Pour sweetened condensed milk into a bowl. Heat milk in microwave for 1 minute until warm. Pour pudding mix into milk and stir well.  Return to microwave and heat for 60- 90 seconds, checking after 60 seconds so as not to overcook. Stir again for 2 minutes until the pudding mix is well dissolved. Set aside.

Place coconut in blender and pulse a bit until the coconut is finely chopped. Mix with finely chopped pistachios.

Stir butter and cream cheese into pudding mixture, incorporating well. Add nuts and coconut and mix well.

I added a drop or two of leaf green coloring gel just because it's St Paddy's Day candy, but it's not necessary.

Add confectioners’ sugar, 1 cup at a time until too difficult to stir.  Sprinkle a board generously with confectioners’ sugar and turn the mix onto the board. 

Knead in sugar

until the dough is soft and not sticky.

Using a melon baller, scoop out a heaping teaspoon of dough. Shape into 1 inch balls, then chill in refrigerator until very firm.

When ready to dip in chocolate, melt semisweet and/or white chocolate .

I used Ghiradelli brand chocolate chips.  I also added some paramount crystals to
thin the chocolate.

 Too thick a layer of dark chocolate will overwhelm the flavor.

When melting white chocolate, melt carefully over hot water in a double boiler.

Do not allow the water the boil as the white chocolate burns easily.

Because this was for St Patrick's Day, I added 5-6 dark green Confectioner's melts at the last
making a pretty soft green.

 Dip chilled balls into melted dark or white chocolate using a fork.

Then carefully slide off the fork onto wax paper or a silicone mat using a small spatula, as shown.
Set aside to cool completely.
To decorate, melt about a 1/3 cup of green confectioner's melts.
Pour into a piping bag and clip just the tip off the bag.
Have fun decorating your candy.
I used stripes on the dark chocolate and swirls on the white chocolate.

Mmmmmmm -Chocolate on the outside,
gentle flavors of pistachio and coconut on the inside!

With this candy, there's plenty of Green on hand for St Paddy's Day!

 

May you have:
A world of wishes at your command.
God and his angels close to hand.
Friends and family their love impart,
and Irish blessings in your heart!

************************************

Recipe, Tutorial and Photography by Jacque Benson 2011
All Rights Reserved.
Please note
This material may not be republished or reproduced in any manner without the expressed permission of the author.

Marshmallow Fairy Flowers

Marshmallow Fairy Flowers
This was a tutorial published in Faerie Magazine.
Fun, easy, little flowers that you and your children can make together.

Items Needed:

Fruit Flavored Mini-Marshmallows

Granulated Sugar

Water

Rolling pin

Wax Paper

Toothpick

Clean Artist Brush

Clean Scissors

Rose Bud

1. Liberally sprinkle sugar onto wax paper. Using light pressure with rolling pin, roll out one green marshmallow. Flip and roll again into an oblong shape. Set aside.

2. Take three pink or orange marshmallows and press flat into sugar. Gently roll out each one, flipping and rolling again to create a round circle.

3. Line the three circles, over lapping edges about ¼”. Dip brush in water and lightly dampen the edges of the overlapped circles.

4. Placing the toothpick on one end, begin rolling the rose bud. Remove toothpick, and pinch one end of the rosebud together.

5. Using scissors cut off pinched end. (Place the cut end into an airtight container for later use.) Dampen the cut end. If petals release, just brush a bit of water to secure.

6. Lay rosebud on one side of prepared green oval. Brush a little water over the other side of green oval, and wrap the dampened side over the dry side.

7. Twist the bottom to create a stem.

Full Rose

1. Roll out green marshmallow in the sugar. Flip and roll again, creating a circle.

2. Using scissors snip a ¼” diagonal cut around the circle in a pinwheel fashion. Set aside to use as the calyx.

3. Follow steps 3-5, but this time using 5 to 7 marshmallows to create a full rose.

4. Lay the rose, dampened end down onto prepared green calyx. Using toothpick, gently open the petals for rose.

Flower

1. Following the same procedure as rose, roll out two yellow marshmallows into circles.

2. Using scissors cut six petals being careful to leave the center of marshmallow intact.

3. Dampen the center of one marshmallow, and place the second on top overlapping petals.

4. Using some of the saved used marshmallows from roses, pinch off a small piece and roll into a ball, then roll into sugar.

5. Dampen the bottom with water and place into center of flower.

Leaves

1. Roll green marshmallows in sugar to create an oblong shape.

2. Lay toothpick flat lengthwise over oblong and press gently.

3. Pinch both creased ends to create leaf.

.

For a little extra fairy sparkle, try using gold and silver dragees, or edible pearls as centers for flowers.

To create a richer look, make a rose using white marshmallows; gilding the edges of petals by lightly touching with a brush dipped in edible gold luster dust. Gilded white roses are especially pretty on chocolate cupcakes or cookies.

Your flowers can be made ahead of time, then placed on cookies, cupcakes, or petit fours when ready to serve. Just arrange the leaves and flowers on prepared confection, securing with a bit of fresh icing.

Oh... And don’t forget a leave a few out for the fairies before you go to sleep!
They love flowers!

This is a wonderful publication! Click to order!

Tutorial and Photos By
Jacque Benson 2010. All Rights Reserved
This material may not be republished or reproduced in any manner without the expressed permission of the author.