Cupcakes with cream flowers

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1.5 cups of sugar
• 2.5 cups of baking flour
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Cream

• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 4-6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoons whole milk
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• Food coloring gel, different colors

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C and line 2 large muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
   
   Sift into a separate bowl flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the milk and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and milk mixture alternately to the butter, beginning and ending with the flour, beating well after each addition.
3. Spoon the batter (using an ice cream scoop works best) into the muffin tins, filling them one-third full, and bake for about 18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins.
4. To prepare the creamUsing a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and begin beating on low speed to incorporate, then increase the mixer speed to high to beat the frosting until fluffy. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
   
   Add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat, gradually adding more until you have 6 cups of powdered sugar, until you have a fluffy, spreadable icing (the amount of powdered sugar will depend on the softness of the butter you're starting with). Add a little food coloring if desired, or divide the white buttercream into several bowls and tint them different colors.
5. Fill pastry bags with various tips (available at kitchenware stores) with colored cream and begin decorating.
   
   

   Begonia

   
   Nozzle: Petal No. 104
   
   Colors: peach, orange, yellow, red and white
   
   With the tip of the bag facing away from you, pipe 5 loops in a circle to cover the entire surface of the cupcake, rotating the bag in your hand as you pipe. Pipe smaller loops into the spaces between the petals. Using a bag of yellow frosting with a small #2 or #3 plain tip, pipe small dots of "pollen."
   
   

   Pansies

   
   Nozzle: Petal No. 104
   
   Colors: Yellow/Blue, Yellow/Purple, Pink/Purple, White/Purple, White/Yellow
   
   With the narrow end of the piping bag facing away from you, pipe large loops covering two-thirds of the cupcake surface. Using a different colored frosting, but with the same #104 tip, pipe two small loops, filling the remaining third of the cupcake surface. Fill the empty spaces in each loop with a small loop of frosting of the same or a different color. Fill in the spaces around the flower by piping leaves using the #326 leaf tip.
   
   

   Gerbera

   
   Nozzle: Petal No. 104
   
   Colors: pink, peach, orange, yellow, white, red
   
   With the tip of the piping bag wide side up, pipe stripes of frosting from the edges of the cupcake toward the center. Then pipe a second layer of petals to create a raised, textured flower. Using a bag of yellow frosting and a small #2 or #3 plain tip, pipe small dots of "pollen."
   
   

   Sunflower

   
   Nozzle: Petal sheet #113, crushed chocolate cookies
   
   Colors: yellow for petals, green for leaves
   
   First, pipe a small amount of frosting, approximately 2.5 cm in diameter, into the center of the cupcake. Dip the center into crushed chocolate cookies, shaking off any excess "seeds." Pipe petals first around the edge of the cupcake, then closer to the dark center. Fill in the spaces around the flower by piping green frosting using a leaf tip #326.