How to Make a Cupcake Bouquet

Spring means Mother’s Day, bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, and brunches. When working on my April editorial calendar, I wanted to publish a dessert fit for all of these April and May occasions that would stand out in a multitude of fabulous spring dessert recipes. Additionally, one of my goals this month is practicing a new cupcake decorating technique. The pieces all fell into place and before I knew it, a cupcake bouquet had bloomed.

Today I’m teaching you how to arrange a beautiful cupcake bouquet complete with buttercream stems and a charming buttercream bow. A little nervous about all this piping? I have you covered. Crafting these buttercream flowers is a lot simpler than it looks. It just takes a little practice, guidance, and a sturdy frosting.

Completely new to piping tips? Here is my how to use piping tips post with a video.

The main focus today = buttercream hydrangeas and buttercream roses.

Tools for Cupcake Bouquet

1. A large star piping tip for the roses, hydrangeas, and bow. I like the 1M piping tip, but the 2D piping tip works too!
2. 352 leaf piping tip for the leaves
3. A round or flat tip for the stems. I used a round tip, but it ended up looking messy so I flattened the stems out.
4. Piping bags (disposable or reusable— 12 or 16 inch)
5. Gel food coloring (I used dusty rose, mint green, and violet)
6. White sugar pearls and green sprinkles for decoration, both optional

I only used 3 piping tips: flowers + bow, leaves, and stems. Using the same piping tip for the roses and hydrangeas makes things convenient. You could even get away with only 2 piping tips if you use the leaf tip for the stems! If you don’t have this 22-piece piping tip set and are interested in cupcake/cake decorating, pick it up. I LOVE IT. All of the piping tips you need for this cupcake bouquet are included. (You’ll get the 2D instead of the 1M, but both can produce a rose and hydrangea!)

Aren’t the colors beautiful? The muted pink, violet, and mint green are all calming and soft shades for springtime. “Dusty rose” and “mint green” are sold in a 12-pack with other pastel colors and “violet” is sold in another 12-pack with more basic colors. Get creative with which colors you use! I will say that I prefer using gel food coloring instead of liquid food coloring in frosting. Liquid coloring isn’t as concentrated, so you usually need more—and more liquid could alter the consistency of your frosting.

If you don’t want to tint the frosting for the flowers, use my strawberry buttercream frosting instead for a naturally pink frosting.

Cupcake Flavors

First, bake some cupcakes. I stuck with basic vanilla cupcakes. One batch of my vanilla cupcakes recipe yields 12 standard, plus 12 mini cupcakes. I loved the variation of cupcake sizes for the cupcake bouquet presentation, but you can keep them all the same size if you prefer. Other flavor suggestions:

• Lemon Cupcakes
• Chocolate Cupcakes
• Carrot Cake Cupcakes
• Banana Cupcakes
• Confetti Cupcakes
• Pistachio Cupcakes
• Strawberry Cupcakes

Vanilla Buttercream

We’ll use vanilla buttercream, of course. You want a very sturdy frosting that will hold the detailed flower designs. I strongly recommend the vanilla buttercream recipe below. I love it because while it’s sturdy and strong, it’s also creamy and fluffy. Functional AND tasty, I love it!

Piping Hydrangea Flowers

The piped hydrangea technique is very popular right now and great news: it’s a wonderful technique for beginners. I was pleasantly surprised (1) how quick it is and (2) how easy it is. To produce a gorgeous and real-ish looking hydrangea flower, use 2 or 3 colors of frosting. More than 3 colors could look overwhelming and maybe a little messy, too. I used 3 colors. I tinted the frosting pink, purple, and kept some white. There are many ways you can fill the piping bag to pipe hydrangea flowers, but I prefer to keep it REALLY simple. Drop spoonfuls of colored frosting into your piping bag, alternating colors. 1 spoonful of pink, 1 spoonful of purple, 1 spoonful of white, repeat. Your piping bag will be marbled with different colors.

The first hydrangea you pipe may have only 1 color of frosting, so you can always pipe a little frosting onto a plate until you begin to see all the colors coming out. Grab your cupcake and place the piping tip on top of the edge. Using steady and medium pressure, begin piping stars all around the edges, then fill in the center, the same way you make monster cupcakes for these Halloween cupcakes. It’s easier to watch than to read!

Impressive looking, but easier than you ever imagined. What I love most is that every hydrangea cupcake is unique. Some have more pink, others have more purple, some have white and pink, etc. Makes each one special.

Piping ROSES

I taught you how to pipe two-toned frosting roses last year, remember? We made two-toned roses. You can just use the same piping bag you use for your hydrangeas since it’s the same exact piping tip. I piped solid color roses with leftover pink and white frosting. Place the piping tip directly on top of the center of the cupcake. Using steady and medium pressure, pipe a tight spiral around the cupcake. Lessen some pressure as you come to the end. If the end looks a little messy, add some leaves using 352 leaf piping tip.

Roses are really fun and your cupcakes have never looked more lovely!

Arranging a Cupcake Bouquet

Now that you have your hydrangea cupcakes and rose cupcakes, begin assembling your cupcake bouquet. There are many ways to present a cupcake bouquet. You can get REALLY crafty and assemble a pot with Styrofoam, but I just used a tray. Any large serving platter is great! Use your leaf tip to fill in any gaps. Adding green sprinkles on the stems, as well as a bow, was a last minute decision because my stems looked a little bare. White sugar pearls are a nice finishing touch.

Do you want your cupcake bouquet to have only roses, only hydrangeas, or both? Maybe some buttercream sunflowers too? Get crazy, have fun! By the way, you use the same leaf tip for the sunflower petals.

Cupcake bouquets are so simple and look way more intimidating than they really are. They’re a wonderful addition to any bridal or baby shower, part of your Mother’s Day recipes, brunch, wedding, or any event this season!! Assuming everyone loves flowers… and cupcakes… and a lot of buttercream. 😉

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