Mum Cupcakes Frosting Technique

How sweet are these pretty mum cupcakes?  You may remember that I am participating in a quest to find the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake , with Stephanie from the Cupcake Project.  These cupcakes were part of the 6th round of baking and I used this frosting technique to make them a little fancier than the traditional Wilton 1M swirl.  I got the idea from these chrysanthemum cupcakes from Martha Stewart.  Patients is definitely not a virtue I practice often, but I was still pleased with the overall result.  I used a swiss meringue buttercream and I love the snowy white of the frosting against the dark chocolate cupcake.  It would be fun to dye them with a little gel food coloring as well though!

It’s been a stressful week here.  I had my last exam and my last rotation of medical school yesterday.  Today residency placements are announced and I’ll find out where I’ll be working for the next three years!  I also leave for India this afternoon!  Needless to say, I’m a bundle of nerves.  I’m going to shift gears on the blog to more travel stories and photos while I’m working in a Tibetan refugee hospital for the next 6 weeks.

Ok, so onto the technique….

Mum Cupcakes Frosting Technique

Butter Cream Frosting

Number 80 Fluted Frosting Tip

Disposable frosting bag (The reusable one collect a lot of bacteria!)

Cupcakes

1. Place the frosting tip in your frosting bag and fill with butter cream frosting

2. Starting at the outside, hold the bag at a 45 degree angle and squeeze the bag while pulling out in a quick stroke.  Do the entire outer circle that way.  Repeat with several layers, shortening the petals with each layer.  I found that releasing pressure on the bag and dragging it outwards gave me the best result.