An edible bouquet Mum will adore!

Create a delicious vanilla cupcake bouquet for Mum this Mother’s day with this step – by – step guide.

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 300g unsalted butter
• 250g natural yoghurt
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 2 tps vanilla extract
• 250g self – raising flour
• 300g golden caster sugar
• 140g ground almond
• ½ tsp baking powder

Buttercream Ingredients:

• 300g unsalted butter, softened
• 600g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Food colouring of your choice
• 500g white fondant icing

Equipment:

• 15 green cupcake cases
• 2 disposable piping bags
• 1 large curved star piping nozzle (Wilton 2D Flower Nozzle)
• 3 – piece set of sunflower shaped cutters
• Coloured tissue paper to wrap the bouquet (pink, blue light and dark green preferably)
• A large sheet of clear cellophane (optional)
• 23cm oasis foam frame
• 24-25cm basket or bowl
• 15 lollipop sticks

Method:

Vanilla Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Celsius for fan forced ovens).
2. Line two 12 – hole muffin trays with 15 cupcake cases to make 15 cupcakes.
3. Melt unsalted butter in a small saucepan or glass microwave-safe jug in the microwave and set aside to cool. Once cooled, transfer the melted butter to a large jug and stir through the natural yoghurt, eggs and vanilla. Beat until combined.
4. Add the flour, sugar, ground almonds, baking powder and ½ tsp salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir dry ingredients until combined, then make a well in the middle.
5. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix using a spatula or electric mixer until the batter is lump-free. The batter consistency should be quite a runny mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture carefully into the cupcake cases until each case is roughly 2/3 full.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 – 30 mins until golden. Test with a skewer by poking the skewer lightly into the centre of the cupcakes. If the skewer comes out clean, the cupcakes are ready to be removed from the oven. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks for cooling.

Buttercream Icing

1. Beat the butter with half the icing sugar, then, once smooth, add the remaining icing sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Beat again until smooth and fluffy.
2. Reserving two large spoonfuls of the icing for the fondant cupcakes, halve the remaining icing and put it into two bowls.
3. Add a few drops of pink food colouring to one of the bowls, and add a few drops of purple (or red and blue added together) food colouring to the other small bowl of icing.
4. Mix until you have a bowl of pink icing and a bowl of purple icing. Set the icing aside at room temperature and cover with cling film (or store in the refrigerator overnight).

Decorations

1. Roll out 250g of the fondant icing to 2 -3mm thickness. Using the 3-piece sunflower cutters, stamp out the flowers on to the fondant. Make sure to cut 3 pieces in the large, medium and small size so you have 9 pieces of fondant.
2. Scrunch pieces of foil into donut shapes and place them into 9 holes of a muffin tin. Rest the flowers on top of the foil and leave to set for at least 30 mins. This will set the shape of the flowers to look more 3D.
3. Using the reserved white buttercream gently sandwich the layered flower shapes together. Dot buttercream in the centre of the large flower and lightly press on top the medium flower. Repeat with the smallest flower on top.
4. Pipe the buttercream roses using the Wilton 2D Flower Nozzle by piping the pink icing in a circular clock-wise motion from the centre of the cupcakes outwards. Pipe buttercream roses on to 6 cupcakes.
5. Pipe the buttercream hydrangeas onto 6 cupcakes using the Wilton 2D Flower Nozzle by piping the purple icing in small star shape dots to cover the entire surface.
6. Spoon the remaining white buttercream onto the remaining 3 cupcakes until completely covered. Carefully place the fondant flowers created earlier on to each of the 3 cupcakes.
7. Place the oasis foam frame into the bowl or basket.
8. Cut the green tissue paper into small squares, laying a lighter piece over a dark green piece and fold in half, then half again to create the ‘leaves’.
9. Using a small sharp knife poke a little hole in the bottom of the cupcakes and carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cupcake.
10. Push the bottom of the stick into the oasis frame, one by one, ensuring the stick is pushed into the foam frame and not the cupcake as this will damage the cupcake icing.
11. Arrange the flowers as desired within the foam frame.
12. Slot the green tissue paper in between each cupcake to surround the cakes in ‘leaves’.
13. Lay out blue tissue paper over the pink tissue paper and site your basket carefully on top. Using sticky tape, cover the entire basket in tissue paper. Once covered, cover the entire basket in a large piece of cellophane (optional). Keep in a cool place until you are ready to present Mum with your bouquet! The cupcakes will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

Credit: BBC Good Food