Yellow Cupcakes with "Rose" Icing: Baby Shower

I helped throw a baby shower for a friend a few weeks ago. We decided to have a bumblebee theme since that was the theme of the baby's nursery. You can do oh-so-many cute things with bumblebees!

Like this.....

And this......

But I had the most fun making the cupcakes. Each vanilla cupcake was topped with an elegant, pastel rose with a swarm of bumblebees buzzing over the pretty faux petals. 

The cupcakes themselves were okay. Sour cream gives them moistness and density without being overly sweet. I found them to be slightly dry, so take care to remove them from the oven as soon as they are done and ice them immediately after they are cooled.

The icing is a hybrid, using shortening and butter. All-shortening recipes, while keeping their shape perfectly, also taste greasy and bland. All-butter recipes, on the other hand, taste delicious but tend to lose their shape. I found that a 1:1 ratio of shortening to butter worked perfectly. They were tasty yet also set up perfectly. And it's so fun to make these beautiful roses. I found these great directions which made my rose-making simple. I used a Star 22 tip which worked well.

Four different colors and a few toothpick bumblebees and I had a beautiful rose garden, fit for any shower.

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Yellow Cupcakes

Makes 12

Note: Remember to set out your butter and eggs a half hour to an hour before baking so they can come to room temperature. 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 T. (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1 large egg, plus two egg yolks, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. 

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in bowl of standing mixer. 

Then add butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla.

Beat ingredients together at medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. 

Scrape sides of bowl and stir once or twice by hand.

Divide batter evenly into waiting muffin cups. 

Bake until cupcakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes clean, about 20 - 24 minutes. (Remember to take care to remove cupcakes as soon as they are done! 

This helps them maintain their moistness.)

Let cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes, then ice right away. 

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Perfect Icing

Makes enough for 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

3 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup (start with less) cream

In bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat together butter and shortening until fluffy, about 3 minutes (don't beat too long or butter can turn greasy). Add sugar and salt and continue creaming until well-blended. 

Add vanilla and 1/4 cup cream. Continue to mix, adding more cream as needed, until you achieve the desired consistency (you don't want to make icing too soft or it won't hold its shape). 

Separate icing into four separate bowls and add desired food coloring. Mix until color is evenly distributed. Fill pastry bag, fitted with a Star 22 tip, and pipe flowers onto cooled cupcake. Make sure to  apply pressure constantly to the bag as you pipe or you will have a break in the flow of the icing.