Sunflower Cupcakes made with Oreo Cookies

My kids will go back to school in one week, and I have such mixed emotions.

First of all, I'm SO excited!

I'm ready to get back to a real routine and a little less chaos.

But I'm also nervous and worried.

My oldest daughter is starting high school, after 3 years of home school.

My younger daughter (who is autistic) is entering the craziness of middle school.

My son (also autistic) will be part of a typical class for the first time, in 1st grade.

So my feelings are a bit confused!

Whether you feel excited or nervous,

either emotion is a great reason to make these easy Sunflower Cupcakes...

If you aren't ready for your kids to go back to school, make these cupcakes.

They will distract you from worrying and make you feel better!

If you are excited that your kids are finally going back to school, make these cupcakes.

It's time to celebrate!!!

What You Will Need:
A batch of cooled cupcakes
A decorating bag fitted with Wilton #32 tip
Yellow buttercream frosting
Oreo Cookies

First, fill the decorating bag with frosting.

 Spread a thin layer of frosting on your cupcake.

 Pipe petals all around the edge of your cupcake.
To form a petal, hold the tip slightly about the cupcake surface.
Squeeze the bag until the frosting forms a large dot.
Stop squeezing and pull the tip up and away to form a point.

Divide an Oreo cookie in half, and press half on top of your cupcake.

Pipe another layer of petals on the outer edge of the Oreo.

 Smile and eat a Sunflower Cupcake. :)

Enjoy!

I share my recipes and tutorials at these fun link parties.

More flower cupcake tutorials...

Perfectly Packaged Rose Cupcakes

Pretty Flower Cupcakes 

Easy Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

One of my all-time favorite drinks is Cherry Limeade.

It's such a fabulous flavor combination!

Today I am sharing a simple and delicious cupcake version. :)

The Cherry Limeade Cupcakes I have seen combine lime cake and cherry frosting.

I decided to do something different...

I made cherry cake full of maraschino cherry chunks, topped with tangy lime frosting.

DELISH!

I also wanted these cupcakes to be quick & easy, so I started with a cake mix.

So here is my version...you are going to love it! 

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

by Bird On A Cake

6050215

Ingredients (18-20 cupcakes)

Cherry Cupcakes

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 10 oz. jar maraschino cherries (cut into quarters)

Lime Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/8 cup milk
• Stemmed cherries for garnish
•  green & yellow food coloring gel (optional)

Instructions

Cherry Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, cherry juice, water, oil and eggs. Mix until well blended. Fold in maraschino cherries. Pour batter into prepared liners and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Lime Frosting

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar; mix well. Add lime juice and milk. Mix in the remaining confectioners' sugar. Add just a dab of the green and yellow food coloring gel. Keep covered.

Pipe frosting on the cooled cupcakes and top with a stemmed cherry before serving.

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Enjoy!

I share my recipes and tutorials at these fun link parties.

I also have a fabulous recipe for Maraschino Cherry Cake from scratch...you can find it here.

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Lemon Meringue Cake

  

Oh, how I love a good bargain!

My daughter and I especially like to browse for books in our local thrift store.

(Neither of us is content unless we are in the middle of a good book.)

On our last trip, we hit the jackpot!

She found a treasure trove of Star Wars books and I found a pile of cookbooks.

While flipping through "Southern Living - 1999 Annual Recipes",

I spotted a picture of Lemon Meringue Cake.

Wow! I had never seen a cake covered with meringue before!

And I knew I had to make one.

I adapted the recipe to include a lemon cake (the original was a white cake)

along with the lemon filling and meringue frosting.

This cake is SO GOOD!!!

Like, "I skipped lunch and ate a piece of cake instead" good!

Lemon Meringue Cake

by Bird On A Cake

6048984

Ingredients

Lemon Filling

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 egg yolks (save whites for the cake)
• 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 3/4 cup lemon juice

Lemon Cake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 package lemon instant pudding powder
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 6 egg whites

Meringue Frosting

• 3 tablespoons meringue powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions

Lemon Filling

Bring the first 5 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly.

Boil 1 minute or until thickened, still whisking constantly.

Remove from heat; whisk in butter and lemon zest. Gradually whisk in lemon juice until smooth. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Lemon Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottoms of three 9 inch round cake pans with wax paper, grease the sides.

In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening with electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, lemon pudding powder, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in lemon extract.

Beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of egg whites in to batter; gradually fold in remaining egg whites.

Divide batter evenly into prepared pans; spread and smooth the batter with a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes our clean. Cool on a wire rack before removing from pans.

Meringue Frosting

Beat meringue powder and water on high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.

Assembling Your Cake

Level your cake layers. Spread lemon filling between the layers, with the cake on an oven-proof cake stand or platter. Spread meringue frosting on top and sides of cake. Bake at 425 degrees for 5-10 minutes, until golden. Watch carefully so it doesn't get too dark! The top will brown more than the sides. Keep covered and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

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 You need to plan ahead for this cake. I recommend making the lemon filling the night before.
You should also chill the cake for a few hours after you brown the meringue.

I made the filling layers quite thick, so It got a bit messy when I sliced my cake...
but no one cared because it was so delicious!

Enjoy!
I know you will. :)


I share my recipes and tutorials at these fun link parties.

Another yummy lemony recipe...

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

This post was featured!

 

Patriotic Ruffled Bunting Cake

To celebrate the Fourth of July with style,

you can make this Patriotic Ruffled Bunting Cake.
It's the cake version of red, white & blue bunting!

The ruffles are made with buttercream frosting...no fondant here!

I happen to be a cake decorator who despises fondant.

I'm an anomaly, I know!

Let me introduce you to my new favorite decorating tip...
the 050 frill border tip. It makes buttercream ruffles so easy!
You can get one here and here.

You hold this tip with the long slit on the bottom.
I put my cake on my rotating cake stand (best invention EVER!)
and piped with one hand while turning the cake with my other hand.

Helpful Hints:

• I used 6 inch pans to make this cake. If you use 9 inch pans, I recommend making three rows of each color ruffle instead of two.
• To color my frosting, I used Americolor "Super Red" gel paste, Wilton "Royal Blue" icing color and Wilton "White-White" icing color.
• The topper is a cherry sour candy.

Happy Independence Day!

I share my recipes and tutorials at these fun link parties.

More patriotic cake creations...

4th of July Fireworks Cake

Patriotic Mini Star Cakes

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Don't Lose Me!

If you follow me on Google Reader, this quick post is for YOU.

In just 6 more days, Google will be shutting down this service!

So you don't miss out on any of the cakey goodness, here are a few options...

You can follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or by email.

If you would like to use another reader service, check out Bloglovin'.

It is easy to sign up and you can even import all your blogs from Google Reader!

 Follow my blog with Bloglovin

You guys are so important to me...I don't want to lose touch with any of you!

You are what makes Bird On A Cake so much fun!! :)