Daffodil cupcakes recipe

These bright and vibrant daffodil cupcakes not only look good, but they also taste delicious too. 

Infused with orange zest, spiced with cinnamon, and packed with grated carrot. Each cupcake is topped with a lemon-infused cream cheese frosting. Finish by decorating with a handmade daffodil, which is made from ready-to-roll fondant. These cupcakes are ideal for birthday parties, food gifts, or bake sales.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 2 large eggs
• 130g golden caster sugar
• 120ml vegetable oil
• ½tsp vanilla extract
• 2tsp fresh orange zest
• 120g plain flour
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 225g of grated carrot

For the icing:

• 350g icing sugar, sifted
• 100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 125g cream cheese, cold
• 1tsp lemon extract
• ½tsp vanilla extract

For the daffodils:

• 200g ready to roll fondant
•  ½tsp Tylose powder (optional but helps with the shaping)
• Yellow and orange food colour

You will also need:

• Deep muffin pan
• Cupcake cases
• Piping bag with Wilton 1E nozzle
• Petunia flower cutter
• Sharp knife

Method

1. To make this cupcake recipe (opens in new tab), preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Line a 12 hole muffin tins with cupcake cases.
2. Put the grated carrots in a large bowl and place to one side. Beat the eggs and sugar together for several mins and then carefully add the oil, vanilla extract and orange zest and beat together.
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon into a separate bowl and then slowly add these dry ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition.
4. Pour this mixture into the bowl containing the carrots and mix with a large metal spoon or spatula until they are well incorporated.
5. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling each case about two-thirds of the way up the paper. Place the trays in the oven and bake for approx 25 mins. When cooked, the cupcakes will be quite a dark brown in colour and feel ‘spongy’ to the touch. Allow them to cool in their tins for 10 mins or so before placing them on a wire rack to cool
6. For the icing: Beat the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar bit by bit and beat until smooth. Add the lemon/vanilla extract and beat again.
7. Add to a large piping bag and pipe 12 swirls with the 1E nozzle, starting at the outside edge of the cases, working your way up into the middle. To finish release the pressure, push down slightly and pull up quickly.
8. For the toppers: Knead the Tylose (if using) to the fondant and knead for a couple of minutes. Colour 150g of fondant yellow and 50g orange.
9. Using the yellow fondant, roll and cut 12 petunias. Victoria used a veining tool but if you don’t have one you could use a toothpick. Leave to dry on a drying sponge (or you can use ice cube trays/plastic egg trays) and push each one slightly in the middle, ready for the centre.
10. To make the centres. Roll the orange fondant out to 1/8 of an inch thick and with a sharp knife cut into 1.5cm ribbons and trim the ends. Starting at one end of the ribbon, roll it up and, using a sharp knife, trim when you get to the desired size.
11. Stick ribbon rolls in the centre of each flower with a brush of water. Pop a daffodil on the top of the buttercream.

Top tips for making daffodil cupcakes

If you fancy being creative you could add some food colouring to the buttercream icing (opens in new tab) like green to make the daffodil leaves or pink for a summery feel.

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