How To Make A Cupcake Bouquet
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Take a gorgeous cupcake bouquet to your next Spring party, to your mom for Mother’s Day or any event and wow the guests with this beautiful and delicious treat. Learn how to make a cupcake bouquet with individual cupcakes that are decorated as flowers which are then arranged into a bouquet for effect.
Whether you use homemade or store-bought cupcakes, you can take these cupcakes to a new level with artfully decorated tops and a thoughtful arrangement. It isn’t hard to pipe flowers onto cupcakes, and we walk you through each step!
Ingredients for a Cupcake Bouquet
- Vanilla or Chocolate Cupcakes – You can use homemade or store-bought cupcakes, which can be frosted or unfrosted to make a cupcake bouquet. Your flowers can go directly on the cupcake, or you can decorate on top of the frosting already there.
- Vanilla Frosting – You can also use homemade or store-bought decorating frosting as well. It will need to hold its shape, so canned frosting from the grocery store is not the best choice, but they make decorator frosting in tubes or cans available at most craft stores and some grocery stores.
- Food Coloring – If you don’t buy pre-colored frosting, you will need gel food coloring in the following colors: no-taste red, bright pink, and leaf green.
How to Make a Cupcake Bouquet
To begin, you will need to color the frosting. Divide the frosting equally between four bowls. Add two drops of food coloring to each bowl in one of the four colors. Stir.
Next, prepare your disposable piping bags. Fit four bags with the following large piping tips: 2 Wilton 1M tips, 1 Wilton 2D tip, and 1 Wilton 4B tip. If you do not have these, any large star piping tips will work.
Fill the bags. Make sure the green goes in one of the bags with a 1M tip. Otherwise, it does not matter.
Arrange your cupcakes on your cake board, sticking them to the surface with a small amount of frosting if you need to transport them safely.
Add swirls of frosting on top of each cupcake, switching between red, pink, and yellow colored frosting as you move to each cupcake.
Piping Flowers: To pipe these beautiful flowers, let the piping tips do the work. They will create the shapes below. The piping tips I used are 2 Wilton 1M tips, 1 Wilton 2D tip, and 1 Wilton 4B.
Once you have your piping tip fitted in the piping bags with the frosting, start in the center of the cupcake and then slightly hover above the cupcake; use continuous pressure to pipe a tight circle around the outside of the previously piped frosting.
When you reach the edge of the cupcake, stop squeezing and continue to pull until the frosting breaks. I try not to lift up as I pull away. Instead, I hold it close so it tucks into the edge of the rosette. Pipe the stems last.
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Tips for the Best Results
If you attempt to squeeze the frosting out of the piping bag and it hurts your hands or makes them feel tired, it’s too stiff. Return the frosting to a bowl and add 1 to 2 teaspoons of milk. Mix and check the consistency to make sure it’s easier to pipe.
If the frosting gets too warm, it might stop holding its shape as it is piped. This is from your body heat holding the bag. Refrigerate the bag of frosting for five to fifteen minutes and try again. Don’t refrigerate it too long, or it will go in the opposite direction and be too hard to pipe.
Work quickly to keep the frosting from crusting. If it does start to crust over, simply stir it really well and begin again.
If you bought pre-frosted cupcakes and don’t think you will like how it looks with flowers piped on top, scrape off the frosting and apply your flowers directly to the cupcake.
Recipe FAQs
This type of frosting is not formulated correctly to be piped and hold its shape, but it can be altered so that it will work. Beat in 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to a 16-ounce can of frosting.
Yes. The beauty of this design is that it can be made with any cupcakes you choose, including gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan recipes.
Yes. Cupcakes will last and hold their shape at room temperature for two or three days. Do *not* seal the cupcakes in an airtight container, as that will soften the frosting. You should also avoid storing the cupcakes where they will be warmed up by sunlight or heat from your oven.
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Cupcake Bouquet
Ingredients
- 15 vanilla or chocolate cupcakes homemade or store-bought
- 4 cups vanilla frosting homemade or store-bought
- red red, bright pink, leaf green, and yellow gel food colors
Instructions
- Working quickly to avoid the frosting from crusting, divide the frosting equally into 4 medium bowls.
- Add as many drops as needed to form a bright yellow. Repeat with the green and two bowls of pink.
- Take one bowl of pink frosting and add 2 to 4 drops of red red gel food color to it to create a red.
- Fit 4 disposable piping bags with large piping tips. I used 2 Wilton 1M tips, 1 Wilton 2D tip, and 1 Wilton 4B tip, but any large star piping tips will work.
- Add each color frosting to a bag, making sure to place the green in one of the bags fitted with a Wilton 1M tip. Set aside.
- Line the cupcakes on the board, starting at the top by making an arrow.
- Make a second row of cupcakes beneath it.
- Followed by the last row of cupcakes.
- You can stick them to the board with a small amount of frosting to make transporting the bouquet easier.
- Add swirls of frosting on top of each of the cupcakes, switching between the red, pink, and yellow colored frosting as you move to each cupcake. Start in the center of the cupcake and then slightly hover above the cupcake, use continuous pressure to pipe a tight circle around the outside of the previously piped frosting. When you reach the edge of the cupcake, stop squeezing and continue to pull until the frosting breaks. I try not to lift up as I’m pulling away, instead I hold it close so it tucks into the edge of the rosette.
- Use the green frosting to pipe thick stems directly onto the board.
- Serve immediately. You can serve later, but the frosting will crust.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
