These cheery cupcakes from Peanut Blossom blogger Tiffany Dahle are not only tasty but deceptively easy to make. The recipe, featured in Dahle’s cookbook, “The Ultimate Kids’ Baking Book” (Page Street; $22), uses snipped fluffy marshmallows to form perfect flower petals and chocolate candies as the center. Just make sure to decorate the cupcakes on the same day you plan to serve them. The marshmallows tend to dry out if cut more than a few hours ahead of time.
Dainty Daisy Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
1 lemon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup milk
1½ cups cake flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 batch Sweet Buttercream Frosting (see below)
Decorations: Marshmallows (regular size, not mini), pastel chocolate candies
Directions
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line each well of a 12-muffin tin with a double layer of cupcake wrappers and set aside.
Wash and dry the lemon. Use a Microplane zester to rub the lemon and remove the yellow zest. Zesters can be very sharp, so you might want to ask an adult for help. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Remove any of the lemon seeds that may have fallen in.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat them together until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, crack the eggs and check for shells. Add them to the butter and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the lemon zest and beat until just combined. Add the milk and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice to the butter and beat to combine. Scrape the bowl.
Add the flour and salt to the batter and beat on medium-low speed to combine. Scrape the bowl to check for pockets of dry flour.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin wells, filling each well about two-thirds full. Bake for 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes cool in the muffin tin for 15 minutes. Carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Spread or pipe the frosting evenly over each cooled cupcake.
To decorate, use clean kitchen scissors to cut each marshmallow in half on an angle to form flower petals. Place five petals in a flower formation on the top of each cupcake. Place a pretty chocolate candy in the center. You might want to use a little dot of frosting to hold the candy in place.
Sweet Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
1 pound (4 sticks) salted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1½ tablespoons vanilla extract
Directions
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat it with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating it on medium speed until it is mixed into the butter, and scraping the sides of the bowl before adding the next cup.
Once all of the powdered sugar is mixed in, add the vanilla. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl and then beat the frosting on medium-high speed until it is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (Frosting can be made a few days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Just remember to bring it to room temperature so it can soften up).
— From “The Ultimate Kids’ Baking Book” by Tiffany Dahle (Page Street Publishing Co; $22)
