A Posy of Spring Cupcakes & A Giveaway

These fun and fanciful spring flowered cupcakes

could brighten anyone's day.

These vibrant colors were easy to make with

Duff Goldman's Color Gels Coloring (star of the 

television show Charm City Cakes)

which I found at Michael's Craft Store.

Homemade fondant is a breeze to make and it tastes

great too.

If you want to color a whole batch just add the

coloring while everything is mixing

If you wanted a lot of different colors like

for these springtime cupcakes, you can mix

the colors in by hand (more work and more mess

but it is easy to do.)

Easy Homemade Fondant Recipe

16 oz. marshmallows

2-3 T. water

2 lb. powdered sugar

2 tsp. almond flavoring

gel food coloring

Place the marshmallows and water in a large microwave

safe bowl.  Microwave for 90 seconds on high.  the

marshmallows will begin to puff but still will hold their

shape.  Dump the marshmallows and water into a large

mixing bowl (Kitchenaid or other heavy duty mixer)

with the dough hook on.  Add powdered sugar,

flavoring and coloring.  Turn the mixer on and let it knead

the dough, scraping the sides as needed.  Knead for about

5 minutes.  The fondant will be warm, let it cool for a while.

If you try and use it before it cools it will stretch too much.

Place in a ziploc bag to store.

This will cover about an 8 or 9 inch cake.

(Let the kids roll out flowers and shapes, it is like a tasty

playdough.)

Easy Frosting Recipe

1/2 C. softened butter (not margarine)

3 C. powdered sugar

1 tsp almond flavoring

3-4 T. water

In large mixing bowl using the whip beater, mix

everything, adding as much water as needed to make 

a soft and fluffy frosting.  Most people don't add enough

water.  Add it 1/2 T. at a time once you have added the

3 T. until it is light and fluffy.

We had a cake decorating competition at church for

our Young Men and Young Women so I made all of

these colors in full batches.

We divided the youth into 6 teams of about 5 or 6

on each team.  They were provided with frozen cake rounds,

a bowl of frosting, choices of fondant, rolling pins, a plastic

sheet 30x30 inches (I just went to a fabric store and bought

heavy clear plastic for $2.99 a yard), cookie cutters, clear

vanilla (for gluing the fondant on) and cornstarch.  They

had 45 minutes to decorate their cakes.  I walked around and

consulted if they needed help on frosting or rolling fondant.

They showed amazing talent.

Then we gave each cake an award and they got to eat them.

All of these fun flower shapes were made by rolling the fondant

out with a little cornstarch and cutting with various Wilton

shapes.  To get the ones with a little more curl, you use the

 special ball shaped tool and roll the edges on a sponge block.

(Wilton images)

  Use clear vanilla or

almond extract to glue the pieces together.

So fun and so easy.

Check out my Giveaway for a beautiful floral headband

from my daughter in law's Etsy shop

Me Oh My Couture

Click here to enter the Giveaway.  It ends

Sunday night.  (Don't you wish the Giveaway included a hug

and a squeeze and an "I love you Grandma!" to go with it?!!)

I will be posting with 

Foodie Friday

Sweets For a Saturday

Favorite Things Saturday

Pink Saturday

Seasonal Sundays