Mini Sunflower Cakes Recipes

SUNFLOWER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• By slowly moving end of round handle of wooden spoon back and forth, make deep, 3/4-inch-wide indentation in center of top of each cupcake, not quite to bottom (wiggle end of spoon in cupcake to make opening large enough).
• In medium bowl, beat lemon curd and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Spoon into small resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut 3/8-inch tip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Insert tip of bag into top of each cupcake; squeeze bag to fill cupcake.
• Stir 4 drops food color into frosting until pale yellow. Frost cupcakes.
• Place unopened icing tube in tall drinking glass filled with hot tap water for 15 minutes. Remove from water; wipe dry. Knead tube gently with hands to soften. Using leaf tip on icing tube, pipe 2 concentric circles of leaves, starting with outside edge of cupcake and working toward center; leave quarter-size area in center with just frosting. Carefully spoon 1 teaspoon chocolate chips onto center of each cupcake; press into frosting. Arrange on tray using sour candy straws for stems and leaves. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Loosely cover and refrigerate any remaining cupcakes.

SUNFLOWER CUPCAKE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt into a bowl.
• Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat in vanilla.
• Butter a 5-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, dust with all-purpose flour, and tap out excess. Line mini-muffin tins with mini baking cups (you'll need 75 cupcakes total).
• Fill tart pan halfway with batter (about 1/2 cup), then fill each baking cup halfway with batter (a generous tablespoon each). Bake until tops spring back when lightly touched, about 12 minutes for the cupcakes and 14 minutes for the cake. Transfer pans to wire racks, and let cake and cupcakes cool completely.
• Transfer 1/4 cup buttercream to a bowl, and stir in cocoa powder. Divide remaining buttercream among 3 bowls, and tint each batch a different shade of yellow or orange with gel-paste food coloring. Frost tops of cupcakes using the 3 colors. Frost top of cake with chocolate buttercream. Arrange berries over top of cake to cover and create "seeds." Arrange cupcakes around cake to create "petals," forming a sunflower shape.

SUNFLOWER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy - about 2 minutes. Add 5 cups confectioners' sugar, the heavy cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add another Tablespoon of cream if frosting is too thick. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. (I like 1/8 tsp salt.)
• Spoon 3/4 cup of frosting into a separate bowl. Stir in green food coloring. This will be for the leaves.
• Tint the remaining frosting with yellow and orange food coloring to obtain desired sunflower color. See my note below for what I used.
• Fill piping bag with leaf tip + yellow frosting. If you have a second leaf tip, fill a 2nd bag with leaf tip + green frosting.
• Pipe or spread a circle of frosting in the center of the cupcake. My cupcake centers are about 1.25 inches in diameter. Dip into chocolate sprinkles.
• See video above for a visual of this step. (It's hard to explain perfectly!) Start on the outer edge of the cupcake. Pipe yellow petals all the way around, lifting the piping tip in an upwards direction. Pipe a second layer closer to the center/on top of the first layer. Pipe a third layer of petals right against the center of the sunflower. Pipe any additional petals to fill any gaps, then pipe a couple green leafs on the edges.
• Refrigerate cupcakes until ready to serve. Cupcakes are fine at room temperature for a few hours, as long as they have been refrigerated for a couple hours after frosting/assembling. (The time in the refrigerator helps the petals hold their shape before serving.)
• Cover leftover cupcakes and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

MINI SUNFLOWER CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour cups of sunflower mini pan, or spray pan with baking spray with flour.
• Make cake batter as directed on box, adding food color to batter. Pour batter into pan, filling each cup about three-fourths full.
• Bake 18 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pan to cooling rack, placing sunflower side up. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the chocolate chips onto center of each cake. After chips melt slightly, spread chocolate with knife. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Store loosely covered.