Rose Carrot Cake and Cupcakes!

Tonight starts Course 2 in the Wilton Method Classes that I am taking and I haven't even worked on the Ribbon Rose from Course 1 that I learned! Today, I wanted to make a Carrot Cake using the Duncan Hines Decadent Classic Carrot Cake mix. I don't want all my carrot cakes to look the same and since I have wanted to practice the ribbon roses that I learned in Course 1 of the Wilton Method Classes, I decided to make orange ribbon roses instead of carrots on the carrot cake.

I made the cake according to the box directions, except, as usual, I replaced the oil with applesauce in the recipe and this time I added an additional small box of raisins. I poured the batter into 2- 6 inch pans and had a little batter left for cupcakes. I baked each according to box directions.

While the cakes were cooling, I added confectioners sugar one tablespoon at a time to about 1.5 cups of Wilton Decorator Icing to thicken it up to stiff consistency for the ribbon roses. You can tell when it is "stiff" by putting your straight spatula up right into your bowl of icing and it doesn't fall over. The leaves are made from thin consistency, which just a few drops of water are added to your icing to thin it out.

Once the icing was colored and to desired consistency, I began making my ribbon roses. I did this using a flower nail and flower squares. Flower squares are little pre-cut pieces of wax paper that you stick to your flower nail with a dab of icing and it allows you to remove the roses for later use. To make the rose, you first place tip 12 on your piping bag and make a Hershey Kiss type shape, then you switch to tip 104 and pipe a little "scarf" on the Hersey Kiss shape. Finally you make the ribbons around the rose with the large side of the tip facing downwards each time facing the tip farther and farther out. For better instructions and step by step photos can view Wilton's Ribbon Rose technique on the Wilton Website. The 1.5 cups made about 15 roses.

I decorated the cupcakes by first spreading a thin layer of the Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting that came with the  Duncan Hines Decadent Classic Carrot Cake mix in a double package (from BJ's Wholesale). On top of the frosting I used my hand to coat with chopped walnuts. I piped the leaves on top of the walnuts with tip 352 and finished it off by gently placing on one of the ribbon roses that I had made. The roses were stiff enough that I was able to gently place them by hand.

For the cake: I leveled the 2- 6 inch cakes with a serrated knife and spread a layer of the Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting in between layers. Once that was done, using my angled spatula, I frosted the entire cake. To get the cake smooth I did have to put the cake in the freezer about 8 minutes to thicken the frosting and then smooth over the cake with the angled spatula once again. I used my hands to press the chopped walnuts into the icing on the side of the cake. This part went really quick. Finally, I used a small angled spatula to gently place each rose that I had earlier made on top of the cake, and finished it off by piping leaves around the roses.

To view my other Carrot Cake Cupcakes visit my post Crazy for Carrots!

To view my other Ribbon Rose Cake visit my post Wilton Course 1: Decorating Basics Lesson 4

This Cupcake is linked to Cupcake Tuesdays!

My New High Heels!

Whether it be for Mother's Day, a girlie girl party, princess party, or just for fun, these High Heeled Cupcakes are sure to be the talk of the party!


This is my shoe collection!



I first saw this idea presented by Karen Tack from the "Hello, Cupcake" and "What's New, Cupcake?" books on the Today's Show back last summer. You can watch the video from the Today's Show featuring these High Heeled Cupcakes and other cute cupcakes on the Hello, Cupcake! Book website.

 More recently, this idea was featured as a "Mother's Day Cupcake" idea on one of my favorite blogs Hoosier Homemade and in the Hoosier Homemade Cupcake Chronicles Email Newsletter (you seriously need to subscribe...it's a little goody in your email box!)

Now...it's my turn to try out these High Heels!

I wanted to make this High Heeled Cupcakes with Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix. I prepared the box mix as directed, except with applesauce instead of oil and baked at 325 for 28 minutes. One box makes 12 brownie cupcakes. The picture I took of the naked cupcakes didn't turn out or I would show you that.

While the cupcakes were cooling, I used a small knife to slowly cut the graham crackers into a wedge shape. I cut extras in case some ended up breaking later. I did break a few during the cutting process and ended up with lots of scraps, so I will just save these in a sealed container for graham cracker crusted cupcakes like the Coconut Cupcakes that I made for Easter.

I used my Wilton Chocolate Pro to melt the Wilton Dark Cocoa Candy Melts and added a little shortening to thin it. When that was melted, I spooned the chocolate over one side of the graham cracker and refrigerated until hardened, about 5 minutes. As soon as the chocolate had hardened, I repeated on the other side. (Oops! I forgot to take a picture of this part!) I didn't get the chocolate applied as smoothly as I would have liked either. This was the most time consuming part. I felt like one of the Keebler Elves!

I then took the chocolate graham cracker wedges and painted a stripe up the side with corn syrup and dipped in colored sanding sugar.  Then, I frosted the cupcake and dipped in colored sanding sugar and topped with a plastic ring.

I cut the Pirouline sticks with a knife right on the line, worked perfect! I dipped the flat end into the chocolate and let that dry a couple minutes (to look like those little rubber tips on the bottom of a real high heel). I followed that step by dipping the slanted end and propping it up under the chocolate coated graham cracker wedge and letting it dry like that, propping them up with a sprinkles bottle where needed, but most didn't need any extra support.

They were really easy to move, just holding the graham and the cupcake, the heels all stayed attached fine.

Lovely in Lilac

Pretty in Pink

These cupcakes were a lot of fun to make and easy too!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mother's out there!

Pick-ing Princesses and Kissing Frogs!

It's Flashback Friday!
This is a "now just occasional" segment that I post to show you some of my past adventures...

I had totally forgot about these cupcakes that I made last year to celebrate a milestone for my Littlest Princess!

Usually, I start my 1M Swirl from the outside of the cupcake and swirl in. For these cupcakes, I swirled from the inside to the outside and it kinda gave it a rose look. As a rose, it would make a very quick and easy Mother's Day Cupcake. However, I made these to celebrate a milestone for my Littlest Princess!

A liner and matching pick, some pink sanding sugar and poof...quick and easy cupcakes!

Lots of Princess Cupcakes!

When your child brings home a fundraiser catalog and you are trying to pick from all the overpriced stuff just what to buy (yep, I said it!)...THINK CUPCAKES!

I called these "Princess and the Frog" Cupcakes!

The little "Fudgy Frogs" were from a fundraising catalog. The frog had a mint flavor so I carried that through using some Peppermint flavoring and green icing coloring to color the "Funfetti" boxed cake mix....made with a can of diet soda...no eggs or oil! It looks like I got the cupcake a little too brown on top...but I didn't hear any complaints! A little leftover buttercream icing and a shake of the purple sanding sugar...and again quick and easy!

The Princess and the Frog Cupcakes!


These cupcakes are linked to Cupcake Tuesday where you can find all kinds of cute cupcakes ideas!