How to make Buttercream Succulents

DIY, Frosting & Buttercream, Recipes, springMay 4, 2017May 4, 2017 Betsy Eves

Spring has sprung and succulents are everywhere! Not only can you grow these beauties, but you can learn how to make buttercream succulents with this simple tutorial!

Most of you know I’m originally from Seattle and the inspiration for this blog came from the other foodies in the region. Specifically Jenny Keller of jenny cookies.

Jenny and I met in 2010 when I enlisted her help to make cupcakes for the Cupcakes Take the Cake 6th Birthday Bash. However, it wasn’t her cupcakes that I was a fan of… it was her sugar cookies and her use of buttercream instead of royal icing.

A couple years ago I put together a tutorial for royal icing flowers and more recently a tutorial for buttercream flowers for flower pot cupcakes. Buttercream succulents wouldn’t be too hard to make since I knew already how to make the other flowers.

I watched a few video tutorials, used pictures from jenny cookies Instagram feed for inspiration and got to creating!

How to make Buttercream Succulents

Name: Peeps White Chocolate S'mores
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 4 min
Ingredients: Honey graham crackers; Peeps; White chocolate; Baking sheet

Tools:

These are the tools I used to help me make the buttercream succulents. You may find other tips or tools are better for you. There is really no right or wrong way to do this!

Sugar cookies or cakes
Buttercream
Gel food colors
Bowls and spatulas
Disposable piping bags
Piping tips – Leaf tip (65), pedal tip (102, 104), semicircle/moon (81), star (4b)
Couplers
Flower nail
Parchment squares
Cookie sheet
Toothpicks
Paper towel or kitchen towel
Freezer/Refrigerator

Prepare your Work Space

Before you begin piping buttercream succulents, you’ll want to prepare your work space. Follow these simple steps to ensuring you’re ready!

Bake & cool completely cookies/cake.
Make buttercream and separate into smaller bowls.
Clear off a table or counter space. You’ll need lots of room to place your flowers once they are piped.Color the buttercream with gel food colors in your desired succulent colors. (Get creative!!)
Attach couplers to piping bags and fill with buttercream.If you don’t have parchment squares, cut parchment paper into 2-inch squares.
Arrange your work space how it’s comfortable to you. I put the large baking sheet on the right with the filled buttercream bags and parchment squares off to my left. Directly in front of me was for building the flower on the nail.

Pipe Buttercream Succulents

Instead of reinventing the wheel, I’m just going to share with you the amazing tutorial from CAKE STYLE I used to learn to make my buttercream succulents.

I also watched the Wilton Succulents Tutorial and found it helpful!

Assemble Cookies & Cakes

Chill buttercream succulents until they are firm.
Place a small dollop of buttercream where you’ll be placing the succulent.
Carefully peel succulent away from the parchment paper and place it gently onto the dollop of buttercream.
Continue placing succulents until you feel there is enough.
Fill in the holes between the succulents with remaining buttercream in your piping bags. Get creative with this! There is no right or wrong way!
Serve and enjoy!

Let me know if you make any buttercream succulents! I’d love to see how yours turn out!

Happy Baking!

Photography by Fanette Rickert Photography.

Flower Pot Cupcakes

Cupcakes, DIY, Recipes, Seasonal & Holiday, spring, Tips & TricksApril 4, 2016March 10, 2019 Betsy Eves

Spring is here and these Flower Pot Cupcakes will make the perfect dessert for a garden party or Spring soiree!

I subscribe to Cake Style on YouTube and one of their recent videos featuring piped cosmos flowers placed onto a layer cake inspired me to make these cupcakes!

So, I taught myself to pipe cosmos flowers and made these super cute Flower Pot Cupcakes…

With a video too! (Scroll to the bottom)

These cupcakes aren’t for beginners, unfortunately. You’ll need to know how to use a piping bag and a some experience working with buttercream.

Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 dozen Sweets & Treats Boutique Bake Bright cupcake liners
1 dozen cupcakes made with Pillsbury Funfetti Vibrant Green Cupcake and Cake Mix (8.25 oz. pouch) + the ingredients needed to bake them
Vanilla buttercream – I used this recipe
Wilton dyes in – green, yellow, & two other colors of your choice for flowers
Disposable piping bags & small couplers
Wilton tips #102, #3, #233, #67
Flower nail
Parchment squares
Baking sheet

I really love how the Sweets & Treats Boutique green dot liners really add to the overall look of the cupcake! I’m a firm believer that the cupcake shouldn’t just look pretty on top where the frosting is, but the it should be cute from top to bottom!

Instructions

Prepare the green cake mix as instructed on the package and bake them in the Sweets & Treats Bake Bright green dot liners. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
Separate the buttercream into two… 2/3 in one bowl and 1/3 in another.
Separate the 2/3 buttercream into three equal parts. Leave one white and color the other two any color you want for the flowers.
Separate the 1/3 buttercream in two parts, 2/3 and 1/3. Color the 1/3 yellow and the 2/3 green.
Fit the piping bag with the #102 small petal tip and fill the piping bag with the first color.
Place a dab of frosting onto a parchment square and place it on the flower nail. Pipe 7-8 petals onto the square, spinning the flower nail as you pipe. (See the video for more details) Place the flower onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the other two colors of buttercream until you’ve made at least 3-5 flowers per cupcake. (For more details on how to pipe the flowers, see the Cake Style video that inspired me to make these cupcakes)
Fill a piping bag fitted with the #3 small round tip with the yellow buttercream. Pipe 6-8 dots of yellow into the center of each flower. (See the video for more details)
Freeze all the flowers until they are firm.
Fill a piping bag fitted with the #233 grass tip with the green buttercream. Pipe little shoots of grass onto the top of each cupcake. (See the video for more details)
Fill a piping bag fitted with the #67 leaf tip with green buttercream. Pipe dabs of frosting onto the top of the grass. This will act like the glue to hold on the flowers.
Working with 3-5 flowers at a time out of the freezer, gently peel each flower off the parchment square and place it onto the cupcake. Place as many as you like in whatever way you feel looks best. (See video for more details)
Pipe leaves with the green buttercream around the flowers.
Repeat until all the cupcakes are covered.

NOTE: The flowers get soft very quickly, so keep them chilled until you are ready to place them on the cupcake.

I am so super in love with how well these cupcakes turned out. Piping the flowers first, chilling them and then placing them on top created the perfect little pot of flowers!

When the buttercream flowers come to room temperature, they meld onto each other making it impossible to tell how they were place on the cupcakes! I had people amazed and how I made these!

So whether you’re hosting a garden party, a bake sale or just want to make something adorable, these Flower Pot Cupcakes are perfect for all your cupcake needs!

Happy Baking!

Peeps White Chocolate S’mores

Dessert, Featured, Recipes, Seasonal & Holiday, springMarch 22, 2016October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

S’mores aren’t just for summertime campfires anymore! Just as the seasons are changing and the weather is getting warmer, these Peeps White Chocolate S’mores are the perfect dessert for Spring!

My husband is obsessed with Peeps. Seriously obsessed. It seems as though the last 5 years that I’ve been seriously blogging, my Peeps baking game has been brought up a notch because of it. The Funfetti Peeps Cupcakes and S’mores Peeps Pops from previous years are two of my most popular Peeps posts!

With my big move from Germany to the USA, I’ve found that I have less time and energy for big, extensive baking projects. So this year, I’m focusing on simple, yet still delicious recipes & projects to share with you. Thus, the Peeps White Chocolate S’mores were born!

These s’mores are so simple to make. You start out with a ton of peeps, white chocolate, graham crackers and a clean baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 350F degrees.

Line the baking sheet with halved graham crackers.

Since white chocolate bunnies are everywhere this year, I decided that instead of spending a ton of money on bars of white chocolate, I purchased an Easter bunny and cut it up into pieces. I’m all about spending less money on desserts!

Simply, chop the bunny up into tiny chunks and shards and evenly distribute it onto the graham crackers.

In a 350F preheated oven, pop the white chocolate and graham crackers into the oven for one minute. You want to get the chocolate soft and a bit melty.

Place the Peeps onto of the soft chocolate and press gently into place. I used a variety of colors and flavors! Bake for another 3 minutes or until the peeps are soft and begin to brown on the top.

Press another graham cracker onto the top of each soft Peep and press until the Peep oozes out the side and is short enough to fit in your mouth.

Eat immediately while still warm and gooey!

With so many new Peeps flavors, it was hard to choose which was my favorite. I used Vanilla Delight, Party Cake, Raspberry Delight, Strawberry Delight and Classic. Hands down my favorite was the Raspberry Delight with Vanilla being a close second.

The tangy flavor of the Raspberry Delight Peep paired with the sweet white chocolate and the crunch of the graham cracker was divine! If you love Peeps and if you love s’mores, you’re going to die for this dessert!

Peeps White Chocolate S'mores

Cook Time: 4 minutes

Total Time: 4 minutes

Ingredients

Honey graham crackers
Peeps
White chocolate
Baking sheet

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Break the graham crackers in half and lay them evenly on a baking sheet.
Place white chocolate on top of each graham cracker.
Bake for 1 minute.
Place Peeps on top of the white chocolate. Bake for an additional 3 minutes or until the Peeps are soft and the tops just begin to brown. Remove from the oven to a wire rack.
Press a graham cracker onto each Peep and press until the Peep oozes out the side.
Eat immediately!

Spring Painted Candy Jars

DIY, Party Planning & Tablescapes, Seasonal & Holiday, springMarch 19, 2016April 1, 2016 Betsy Eves

Whether you need a unique hostess gift or Easter decor for your home, these Spring Painted Candy Jars are uncomplicated to make and incredibly adorable!

Last year in my Glam Easter Brunch & Tablescape, I used upcycled jam jars filled with candies and topped with a porcelain bunny as a part of the decor. This year, since I’m still in love with the filled-jar concept, I wanted to do something a littler different.

I created a set of Spring Painted Candy Jars filled with pastel jelly beans which became the centerpiece of my entire home decor for the season.

They are absolutely adorable and I actually ended up going to Home Goods after I made them to buy a coordinating table runner (the bunny one in the pictures) and placemats for my dining table! I’m obsessed with the mint and yellow pastels this season!

Supplies

To make these jars, you’ll need only a few things…

Pint mason jars with lids, clean & dry
Chalk paint (water-based)*
Paint brush
Paper plate or paint tray
Q-tips or small cloth rag
Vinyl stickers (template here & here)
Lace or ribbon
Scissors
Hot glue gun & glue
Spring candy
Porcelain bunny

*I chose the chalk paint because I love the look of it when it’s dry. You can use any water-based paint you want for these jars.

Instructions

Using these templates (tall bunny & short bunny), cut out the bunnies using a vinyl sticker cutting machine to the size of your jars.
Apply the vinyl stick onto a clean jar.
Paint the outside of the jar. Do not worry about painting the bottom, you won’t see it when it’s finished. Wait a few minutes before adding a second coat of paint. Repeat with a 3rd coat if necessary.
While the paint is still a bit sticky and before it is completely dry, gently peel off the vinyl stickers. Do not wait until the paint is completely dry because it may chip when you pull the vinyl away.
Using a slightly wet q-tip or a damp towel, clean up any edges where the paint may have seeped under the vinyl.
Touch up the edges with the paint brush if necessary.
Paint the jar lids also with at least 2 coats. Allow the paint to dry completely on all parts before assembling.
Fill the jars with candy and screw on the lids.
Cut a piece of lace or ribbon to fit the size of the lid of the jar. Place it around the lid and apply a small dollop of hot glue onto the jar and press the ribbon into place. Hold for a few seconds to secure.
Optionally, hot glue a porcelain bunny to the top of the jars.

I am not a painter by any means, so I did this project with zero skill or knowledge of what I was doing. Which means ANYONE can do this! I learned a few things along the way that hopefully will make it easier for you if you try it.

Helpful Tips

You don’t have to make your jars look exactly like mine. Let my jars be an inspiration to you! Pick colors you love, candy you love, and ribbon you love! Make it your own!
If you don’t have access to a cutting machine, try having them custom made from a vendor on ETSY. My neighbor, Robby of Drapela Designs, made mine for me for very inexpensive. You can find him on ETSY here and Facebook here if you’d like him to make them for you too!
Size the bunnies before cutting them. Measure your jar and decide what width and height will work best for your jars.
Do not lift up the vinyl sticker once you have placed it. Make sure you know exactly where you want it before you press it down. Lifting it up will cause the edges to get dirty and dusty and will allow the paint to seep under the sticker. Also, try to keep the sticker on the flattest part of the jar. If you a place it too high or too low it will not lay flat where the jar curves.
Like I said above, do not let the paint dry all the way before removing the vinyl stickers. This step is very important! I made the mistake of doing that and I had a lot of touch-up work to do. You want the paint still tacky and wet so that it does not crack when you remove the stickers. A toothpick or tweezers can be helpful when trying to remove the vinyl.
Take your time! When I get really excited about a project, I often try to rush things. Don’t do that here. Take your time, enjoy the process and make sure you do good work the first time!
Enjoy and have fun!

Bunny Cupcakes

Cupcakes, Featured, Frosting & Buttercream, Recipes, Seasonal & Holiday, springMarch 16, 2016October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

Being a busy Mom coming up with cute, delicious desserts for Easter can sometimes be a daunting task. These semi-homemade Bunny Cupcakes are not only adorable, but they are sure to make everyone jump for joy on Easter!

I have realized that sometimes, it’s okay if everything I bake isn’t 100% homemade. It doesn’t make me less of a baker, less of a mother and it surely doesn’t mean what I bake isn’t going to taste delicious! So for Easter this year, I decided to focus on making my cupcakes super cute by turning them into bunnies!

Here are a few of the things you’ll need for these cupcakes. You don’t have to use exactly these items or these brands… just use what you have access to at the stores near you!

You’ll need:

Cake mix & all the ingredients to make the cake
Marshmallows
Black sugar pearls, spring colored jimmies, and pink sugar crystals
Small pink jelly beans
Sweets & Treats Boutique pink dot Bake Bright cupcake liners
Scissors
Frosting (not pictured)

After the cupcakes are baked and before you begin frosting the cupcakes, you’ll need to prepare the marshmallow ears for the bunnies.

Hold the marshmallow by the flat edges.
Using clean scissors, cut across the marshmallow from one corner to the opposite corner.
Press the exposed side of the marshmallow into a bowl of pink sugar crystals.
Set the two halves aside in pairs so they can be easily placed onto the cupcakes later.

Putting together the Bunny Cupcakes is super simple! Pipe a dollop of frosting to the top of each cupcake, use the tweezers to place each black sugar pearl eye and press in a pink jelly bean for a nose! Easy peasy!

You don’t have to do accent cupcakes, but I couldn’t resist buying these spring colored jimmies at the store when I saw them. I only did 4 of the cupcakes covered in these jimmies, but it really adds a fun pop of color to the cupcakes!

I have been obsessively buying cake stands since moving back to the USA. Home Goods, Michaels and Target have both had some inexpensive and super cute stands that I had to have! The pastel colors coordinate perfectly with the Bunny Cupcakes.

A bouquet of fresh cut daffodils, a few porcelain bunnies, and a few decorative eggs from Germany completely the display. The best part about putting together a display like this is that you don’t have to do it exactly like mine. Use what you have in your home, put out the decorations you love and make it beautiful! No need to go out and buy anything new!

I shared these cupcakes with my new neighbors. They have 3 girls and she reported back to me that they were a huge hit! That’s always the best feeling when you make something and your friends and family get true joy from them!

I really hope you give these a try for your family! They’re perfect for Easter, Spring or the bunny lover in your life!

Happy Baking!

Bunny Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 18 minutes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

Sweets & Treats Boutique Pink Dot Bake Bright Liners
1 box of Pillsbury Spring Funfetti Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water

Frosting

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2lb powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Decorations

24 large marshmallows
pink sugar crystals
black sugar pearls
small pink jelly beans
Spring colors jimmies

Other Supplies

large round piping tip
large piping bag
scissors
tweezers

Instructions

Cupcakes

Prepare the cupcake batter according to the directions on the box.
Line cupcake pan with Sweets & Treats Boutique Bake Bright liners.
Fill the liners 1/2 full and bake according to box directions.
Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.

Frosting

Beat together the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.
Add the vanilla, salt and half the cream and mix until combined.
Pour the remaining cream in and beat on high for 4 minutes.

Decorations

Pour the sugar crystals into a bowl.
Cut each marshmallow in half from corner to corner. Press the exposed area into the sugar crystals. These marshmallows will be the bunny ears. Set the ears aside in pairs so when you put them on the cupcakes, the ears match.

Assembly

Fill the piping bag fitted with the large round tip with frosting.
Squeeze a dollop of frosting multiReplace" id="1133" data-gr-id="1133">onto the top of each cupcake.
Press a pair of ears onto the frosting.
Using the tweezers, place two black sugar pearls on the "face" for eyes. Press a pink jelly bean almost all the way in under the eyes for a nose.
For accent cupcakes, squeeze a dollop of frosting onto the top of a cupcake. Completely cover the top of each cupcake with Spring colors jimmies.

Strawberry Lemon Cake with Spring Flowers

Cakes, Recipes, springApril 14, 2015October 19, 2018 Betsy Eves

Celebrate spring with this simple, delicious Strawberry Lemon cake with Spring Flowers!

I made this cake for no other reason than I was inspired by a cake that jennycookies made for Easter. Jenny made a “naked” carrot cake and topped the cake with frosting and a pile of fresh flowers. The look was unique and stunning. I had to recreate it!

Since I wasn’t making this cake for any particular reason or occasion, I decided I’d make a small 6-in cake so I wouldn’t have tons of cake to give away or waste. I know my family can’t eat an entire cake by ourselves!

For the cake, I used a German recipe I had just used to make an Osterlamm and kicked it up a bit adding fresh lemon zest and lemon extract and coloring the cake pink. I filled the cake with a simple strawberry filling and frosted it in my usual buttercream but added vanilla bean and lemon extra to bring out even more lemon flavor in the cake.

The weekend before I made this cake, I went to the Nuremberg Easter Market where the fresh flowers are abundant! I had in mind the kind of flowers I wanted to use and hoped I could find some. I knew these large Gerbera Daisy’s would be perfect to top my cake!

Cutting into the cake, you’ll see the beautiful pink cake and strawberry filling. That next to the white frosting and bright flowers, this cake is a simply gorgeous! I mean seriously… isn’t this cake stunning?

The flowers on top really bring it to the next level! You could easily use this cake for Easter, a baby shower, a birthday or a weekend BBQ!

I almost didn’t want to cut into it! I just wanted to look at it because it was so pretty!

Strawberry Lemon Cake with Spring Flowers

Yield: 1 6in 4-layer cake

Ingredients

Strawberry Filling

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
500g strawberries, cleaned and quartered
1/2 cup granulated sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Lemon Cake

240g unsalted butter, room temperature
220g sugar
zest of one lemon
4 large eggs
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
320g all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp whole milk
pink gel food coloring

Lemon Vanilla Bean Buttercream

12 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon extract
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
Fresh flowers

Instructions

Strawberry Filling

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the strawberries and stir to coat.
Mix in the sugar, lemon juice, salt and vanilla extract. Cook on medium high for 3-5 minutes or until the berries begin to break down, the sugar has melted and the berries begin to juice. Do not boil the berries, just simmer.
Remove a few tablespoons of the juice and mix with the flour until smooth. Add this back into the pan and stir to combine. Cook 1-3 more minutes or until the mixture has thickened.
Transfer the filling to another bowl and refrigerate until cool.

Lemon Cake

Grease and flour 2 6in round cake pans. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Zest the lemon into a medium bowl. Add the sugar. Using the back of your spatula, press the sugar into the zest until it becomes fluffy and fragrant.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and lemon sugar for 2 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Mix in the sour cream, vanilla and lemon extracts.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the wet, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl first. Mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add the milk and food coloring then mix again until combined. Give the batter a few mixes by hand with a spatula.
Divide batter evenly between the two pans and level with an offset spatula.
Bake on the center rack for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are golden.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely. When you remove them to the rack, place them top side down to encourage the top to level out flat.
Once the cakes have cooled, trim the tops so they are the same height. Measure the height then cut them horizontally down the center, creating two halves for each cake.

Lemon Vanilla Bean Buttercream

In the bowl of your stand mixer cream the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat on high until incorporated.
Add the heavy cream, salt, extract and vanilla bean seeds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 3-4 minutes. Scrape the bowl again and beat another 2-3 minutes.

Assembly

Place one layer of cake, cut side up, on a cake board or plate. Spread an even layer of strawberry over the top coming almost to the edge. Don't put so much on that when you put the next layer on it will all squeeze out. Place a second layer cut side down and repeat. Do this until all four layers are on the cake.
Spread a very thin "crumb coat" of frosting on the top and sides of the cake. This will help trap in the crumbs and frosting before you actually frost the cake. Chill the cake in the freezer 20-30 minutes or until the cakes are firm and the crumb coat is set.
Spread a 1/4 inch layer of frosting on the top of the cake and level flat with a spatula.
Using a piping bag fitted with a large round tip, use the petal technique to frost the sides of the cake.
Cut the stems of the flowers almost completely off. Leave about 1/4-1/2 inch to help stabilize the flower on the cake. Place the flowers on the top of the cake. There is no rule or right way to do this. Arrange the flowers however you think looks the most beautiful.
Chill the cake until an hour before you want to serve it. Serve it the day you make it.