Beautiful Blooming Succulent Cupcakes

Take your decorating game up a notch by adorning the top of your cupcakes with a beautiful looking and delicious succulent! This recipe turns a batch of regular chocolate cupcakes into mini cactus themed treats with ease. Use Wilton’s selection of specially made decorating tips to help you craft plants and flowers that look like the real deal! And if you need a little help decorating, we also have some really helpful How-Tos filled with lots of tutorials, inspiration and even a few must-have tools to make your treats blossom.

Prep1 hr 45 min
Total Time2 hr 35 min
Skill LevelBeginner

Amount24 cupcakes

Ingredients & Tools
Instructions

Instructions

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Bake cupcakes, either using Wilton’s recipe or one from a box mix. Remember to insert white liners into a muffin tin or cupcake pan, before adding the batter. Baking typically takes between 18-to-20 minutes. Once cupcakes pass the toothpick inserted test and are done, be sure to let them cool for at least 10-minutes.
While cupcakes are in the oven, prepare a batch and a half of our Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
Next prepare icing colors to add to completed buttercream frosting. Start by separating the completed batch of buttercream into 5 parts, 4 that are 1/2 a cup each and one that is 1 cup.
Combine Moss Green and Lemon Yellow icing colors to produce a medium green color and add to one of the 1/2 cup separated batches. Combine Royal Blue and Juniper Green icing colors to produce a dark blue color and add to one of the 1/2 cup separated batches. Combine Juniper Green and Royal Blue icing colors to produce a light green color and add to one of the 1/2 cup separated batches. Combine Rose and Sky Blue icing colors to produce a medium magenta color and add to one of the 1/2 cup separated batches.
Leave the remaining batch of buttercream frosting as is, should be 1 cup. There should be more than is needed to complete this recipe.
Once batches are mixed, they are ready to be loaded into piping bags with specific tips attached.
Put medium green frosting into piping bag with #199 Open Star Piping Tip and using our How to Pipe a Cactus Technique, pipe cacti. Put medium magenta frosting into piping bag with Open Star Cake Decorating Tip 18 and using our How to Pipe a Star Technique, pipe flowers on cacti. Put regular/white buttercream frosting into piping bag with Round Cake Decorating Tip 2 attached and pipe pull-out white dots on cacti using our How to Pipe Dots technique. In the piping bag with the Round Cake Decorating Tip #8 attached, use a spatula and stripe half of the bag with light green icing. Fill the remaining side with dark blue icing. Then using our How to Pipe a Succulent technique, pipe some succulents, starting from the outside and working towards the center.
Once decorated, plate and enjoy!