This is how you can make a very simple cupcake bouquet with buttercream flowers. This is the perfect dessert to bring to a Mother's Day brunch, bridal showers, or even baby showers. All you need are some cupcakes, a piping bag with piping tips, buttercream frosting, and a special occasion to bring your beautiful cupcake bouquet.
What's In This Blog Post
Tools Needed
- Leaf tip
- 1M piping tip
- #2 round piping tip
- #6 round piping tip
- Small star tip
- Flat tip
- Piping bags
- Cake board
- Food coloring (yellow, pink, purple, green)
Ingredients Needed For A Cupcake Bouquet
How To Make The Vanilla Cupcakes
This is my favorite basic vanilla cupcake recipe and makes about 24 cupcakes but you could use any cupcake recipe or even a box mix. I especially love Duncan Hines cake mix to make red velvet cupcakes or chocolate cupcakes because it's just so quick and easy. These cupcakes are mixed using the reverse creaming method which makes a very moist and closed crumb but requires more mixing. Don't worry, you won't over-mix!
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
- Combine the vanilla and buttermilk and set it aside.
- Combine the eggs and oil in a separate container and set it aside.
- Place the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached.
- Add the softened room temperature butter in small pieces and mix on low until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
- Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes to develop the cupcake texture. It will be very light and fluffy.
- Reduce the mixing speed to slow and slowly add in the egg mixture and mix until the cupcake batter is homogenous.
- Scoop your cupcake batter into your lined pans with a cupcake scoop or spoon. They should be ⅔ of the way full (about 1.5 ounces) for the best dome.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until the center is just barely set. If you're making mini cupcakes, bake for less time.
- Let your cupcakes totally cool before you frost them.
How To Make The Colors Of Frosting
The first thing you need to do is make your vanilla buttercream and get it colored. I chose a nice yellow, pink, purple and a pale green but you can always choose different colors depending on what you like best.
- Place your egg whites, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla into the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment attached.
- Mix on high for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in your unsalted butter in 2" pieces until it's all added in.
- Mix on high for 5 minutes or until it looks light, fluffy, and no longer tastes like butter. It should have a sweet vanilla taste and just melt in your mouth.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for 10 minutes to help remove bubbles.
- Divide your buttercream into different bowls. I saved some of the white as well for some roses, buds, and the bow.
- Add a drop of food coloring of your choice to each bowl and mix until well blended.
- I used an immersion blender to get out any remaining bubbles and make the buttercream really smooth for piping.
Step By Step Instructions
To see a video tutorial of how to make these buttercream flowers, check out the video at the bottom of this blog post in the recipe card.
- Arrange your cupcakes on a cake board or platter. Place a dollop of buttercream under each cupcake to prevent them from sliding around.
- I find it easier to pipe directly on the board but if you want to hold the cupcake and then place it onto the board if this is your first time piping flowers and that works better for you.
- Start with your 1M piping tip and some white buttercream to make some white rosettes. Some people also like to use Russian piping tips if you don't feel comfortable with your cake decorating skills.
- Follow up with the drop flower tip for the hydrangea flower. I did pink and purple hydrangea cupcakes.
- Then add your yellow petal flowers. These look kind of like garden roses to me.
- Fill in the edge of the cupcake with some green buttercream and the leaf tip.
- I like to go back in and add some small blobs of green and then white in the center to look like buds. This is a great way to just give the whole cupcake bouquet a finished look. Some people like to use little squares of tissue paper in between the cupcakes to fill the gaps and that works just fine too.
- I also added some more white buttercream flowers using a small star tip to fill in some gaps.
- Now I'm using a round piping tip and some green buttercream to make the buttercream stems coming down from the flowers.
- I used a flat piping tip to make a little bow with some white buttercream but you could use a round piping tip as well.
The best thing about this cupcake bouquet is that it's so easy to serve. Everyone just grabs a flower! No need to cut and serve.
FAQ
Do you need to refrigerate the cupcake bouquet?
These cupcakes taste best at room temperature so no need to refrigerate.
How do you store leftover cupcakes?
Store leftover cupcakes at room temperature lightly covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Recipe
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 209kcal
Equipment
- 6 Piping Bags
- 1 9"x13" cake board
- 6 piping tips
- 24 cupcake liners
- 2 cupcake pans
- 1 Immersion blender optional
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
- 10 ounces cake flour
- 9 ounces granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 4 ounces vegetable oil
- 5 ounces buttermilk room temperature or slightly warm
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Easy Buttercream Frosting Recipe
- 6 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 24 ounces powdered sugar
- 24 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Making Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two cupcake pans (or a muffin pan will do) with paper liners. You can also bake one pan at a time if you only have one cupcake pan. This recipe will make about 24 cupcakes.
- Combine the vanilla and buttermilk in a separate measuring cup and set it aside.
- Next, add the eggs and oil to a separate bowl then whisk and set them aside.
- Add the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can use a large bowl and an electric mixer if you don't have a stand mixer, just mix for longer. Use these photos as a guide instead of mixing by time.
- Then add the softened butter to the rest of the dry ingredients and mix on low until the mixture resembles a sandy texture. Depending on how soft your butter is, this might take a minute or two.
- Pour the milk mixture into your dry ingredients and increase the speed to medium (speed 4 on a KitchenAid, speed 2 on a Bosch). Mix for 1 ½ minutes to develop the fluffy structure of the cupcake. The batter will go from being yellow to a fluffy white.
- Slowly add your egg mixture in three parts and mix on low until it's fully combined.
- Fill your liners ⅔ of the way full with the cupcake batter. I use my kitchen scale to measure out 1.5 ounces of batter per cupcake.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until they are just starting to turn golden brown and the center of the cupcake springs back when you lightly touch it. I rotate my cupcakes halfway through baking for even browning. If you're making mini cupcakes, bake for less time.
- Let your cupcakes cool in the pans for five minutes, then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place your favorite frosting into a piping bag with a tip, I like a 1M or a 2F, and pipe a swirl on top. I love using my easy vanilla buttercream and topping them with a few sprinkles. Swiss meringue buttercream or strawberry buttercream would also be delicious.
Making Easy Buttercream
- Place the pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Combine the ingredients on low and then whip them on high for 4-5 minutes (until shiny) to dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Now add in the salt and vanilla extract. If you want to add in any food coloring, now is the time.
- Add in your softened butter piece-by-piece, then whip it on high. It will look curdled at first. This is definitely normal. It will also look pretty yellow, just keep whipping.
- After your buttercream looks like this, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
- Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Whip it on high for 8-10 minutes until the buttercream is white, light, and shiny. If it tastes like sweet ice cream, then it's ready!
- Finally, switch to a paddle attachment and mix the buttercream on low speed for up to 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream ultra smooth and remove any air bubbles. This step is optional, but if you want really creamy frosting, you don't want to skip this final step.
- For extra white buttercream, add a drop of purple food coloring. The purple counteracts the yellow in the butter, toning the buttercream to make it white.
Cupcake Bouquet Assembly
- Place your cupcakes onto your cake board
- Pipe your buttercream flowers onto the cupcakes
- Add your buttercream stems and bow
Notes
- For the best rise, fill your liners ⅔ with cupcake batter or 1 ½ ounces per cupcake
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing your batter (milk, butter, eggs).
- Use clear vanilla extract for that "classic grocery store cake" flavor. Use good quality vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or even a vanilla bean for true vanilla flavor. One vanilla bean = 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF for 30 minutes before baking to give your cupcakes a good rise and set the dome.
- Baked cupcakes can be frozen for up to 6 months.
- Buttermilk is essential to this recipe because it adds flavor and moisture. If you have whole milk and white vinegar or lemons, you can make your own buttermilk substitute.
- Cake flour is what makes these cupcakes extra soft and fluffy. If you don't have cake flour, you can try using my cake flour substitute recipe, or try searching for "Shipton Mills soft cake and pastry flour."
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 209kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 198mg | Potassium: 93mg | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 195IU | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
chick-fil-A Menu says
This is a simple way to create a beautiful cupcake bouquet using buttercream flowers. It’s a perfect dessert idea for Mother’s Day brunch, bridal showers, or baby showers. All you need are cupcakes, a piping bag with decorating tips, and smooth buttercream frosting to make an elegant and decorative sweet treat for any special occasion.
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