Pretty in Purple

Happy birthday Aunt Sharee and cousin Zachary! This post is very late, but these cupcakes were decorated for their birthdays about a month ago.

The flowers are made from Wilton's royal icing recipe. The royal icing dries like cement so it's perfect for decorations. It is edible but it looks better than it tastes. I don't usually eat the flowers I make, but other people do! Maybe it's just to please me haha.

I made the flowers the day before because they have to dry completely before decorating or else they'll break. Also because I would be running around like a crazy person trying to get everything done the day of. The flowers last days so you could really make them a week in advance if you wanted to. They were made using piping bags and different piping tips.

I iced the daisies first, using white and yellow icing. I used a Wilton flower template for guidance and placed them on a curved plastic board for a realistic shape. All of the flowers were piped onto wax paper to assure easy removal when time to decorate.

The secret to a flat yellow center of a daisy is to gently push the yellow icing down with your finger after 5 minutes of drying. Its then dry enough to not stick to your finger and gets rid of the spiked yellow center.

I used purple and yellow icing to pipe the violets. Again, I used the Wilton template for guidance and the curved board for the realistic effect. I swear these violets gave me carpal tunnel. But it was worth it!

I used the Hummingbird Bakery cream cheese frosting recipe.
Using and electric mixer, beat together..
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
Then add 4 oz. cold cream cheese.

Beat for at least 5 minutes, until the frosting is light and fluffy, but do not overbeat or else it will become crumbly.

I dyed the cream cheese frosting lavendar with Wilton's food coloring, which is the best of the best. I iced the cupcakes up with a large round piping tip. I wish the frosting had been a little more firm; it would have made the icing process much easier. Next time I'll pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes before icing.

I hope you like them!