Succulent Cupcakes

It's difficult not to pass any neighborhood flower shop or overlook the multitude of Pinterest boards showcasing the adorably trendy succulent plant. I get it... They're small, extremely easy to maintain and crafty terrariums have just about replaced all mini zen gardens. These water saving plants (did you know cacti are succulents!) are so popular right now, I had to scour four different plant shops to find some to model these cupcakes after. The cupcakes might get eaten, but the plants are here to stay. Say hello to spring and swap these cupcakes for a cake at your next event.

To make the "terra-cotta flower pots" and the actual plants, you'll need fondant. Fear not—you can buy it at any craft store—it's just like working with clay, so have fun with it! Before we start rolling out any fondant, we need cupcakes to work with. I rarely do this, but for today's post I decided to cut corners and use a cake mix. I know its taboo in the pastry world to use a "box" cake, but no one can deny the convenience of it! (I won't tell, if you don't.) To elevate the cake mix, I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne. Voilà! Mexican Chocolate cake:)

I also kept things simple with frosting. Domino Sugar has the simplest buttercream recipe around. It's pretty sweet, but this buttercream is the perfect base for the "dirt." I dyed the buttercream to match the graham cracker crumbs, but then I realized the color resembled a peanut butter frosting. Next time, Ill skip the food coloring and just use peanut butter in my frosting.

Is there anything graham cracker crumbs can't solve!? Once you've frosted and covered your cupcakes with "dirt" you're ready to work with the fondant. Use gel food coloring (also available at craft stores) to match the terra-cotta and the succulent green leaves. For the terra-cotta, you'll need a few drops of orange and brown. For the succulent green, use a few drops of electric green and a small drop of black. Knead the color into the fondant until you have the right shade. It helps to have a real succulent plant nearby to compare it to. 

Dust your work surface with a little confectioners sugar to prevent the fondant from sticking and roll the fondant out to make your terra-cotta pot. Use buttercream to stick the fondant to the cake. Remember to wrap any unused fondant immediately or it will dry out.

Build your succulent from the inside out. Use a dab of water to stick the leaves to each other.

Roll out the green fondant to 1/8-inch thick to make the succulent leaves. I've found that Petunia cutters work best to mimic the succulent shape. Look for 3 cutters, ranging in size from 1 1/2 to 2 3/4. 

Mini muffin tins help to mold the leaves. They will harden as they sit, then you can nest the smaller leaves into the larger ones, using a dab of water or buttercream as glue.

I had purple edible petal dust to highlight the tips of the succulent leaves, but you could easily use cocoa powder instead. I used powdered sugar to add the "frosted" effect.

Can you tell which one is the plant and which one's the cupcake?

Brighten up your Kitchen with Color Swatches

I work with Pantone swatches on a daily basis. They are integral to graphic designers, printers and interior decorators alike. Yet how could it be that I have no use them in the kitchen! In an effort to try and bring my two worlds a little closer, a brainstorm ensued for ways to incorporate my love of Pantone into the kitchen. It seems to me that the closest equivalent to a tool such as a Pantone swatch book in the kitchen would be measuring spoons, so I decided to give my spoons a color makeover. 

I decided to go with a cheery green palette for my measuring spoons. To re-create the Pantone colors, I had to mix acrylic paints in green, white and black. Painters tape helps keep clean lines and prevents the paint from getting near the spoons.

These colorful measuring spoons had to be put to use, so I made matching Pantone Petits Fours. These bite-size iced cakes are commonly flavored with Marzipan and the layers filled with fruit preserves. Petit fours is actually a French word, meaning small oven. Seems fitting considering I'm making them in a NYC oven. (which is basically one step up from an Easy Bake oven)

Petit fours were the perfect excuse for me to bring Pantone colors into baking. For mine, I baked a simple yellow cake, trimmed the edges and sliced it into two layers. Then I pureed some raspberry preserves and spread it in between the layers of cake. Finally, I cut the cake into one inch squares and chilled them for a few hours to make them firm enough to coat.

Now, it's time to decorate these suckers.

White chocolate icing 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white chocolate 

1 pound confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup hot water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the white chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until evenly melted. 

2. In another bowl, mix the confectioners' sugar, light corn syrup, hot water and vanilla. 

3. Stir in sugar mixture to the melted white chocolate and mix until smooth and icing easily pours off the spatula. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting to keep icing warm.

4. Place a petit four on a fork and, holding it over the bowl, use a spoon to gently pour icing over the cake. Once it's coated, place the petit four on a wire rack to set. It's best to have a lined baking sheet under the rack to catch the extra icing that drips of the cake. 

5. Decorate any way you like! I recommend piping tinted icing or adding some bling with dragees. 

I colored rolled fondant to achieve the Pantone green I wanted. Once the color was perfectly tinted, I rolled the fondant out very thin, cut a square and used a little water to adhere it to the petit fours. 

The final step was to number the petit four "swatches" with an edible ink black marker. 

So maybe it is a stretch to try and unite a couple of my favorite things, but even if Pantone doesn't really have a place in the kitchen, at least it inspired some colorful treats!