How to Make Sunflower Cupcakes

Decorated cupcakes make a great substitute for a traditional birthday cake.

Using colorful frosting and decorating techniques, you can make special cupcakes for a birthday celebration, summer party or picnic. Children and adults will both enjoy cupcakes decorated with seasonal images such as sunflowers. A number of methods can be used to decorate cupcakes to look like sunflowers, such as using candy or cookies; but using decorating tips and frosting is an easy and elegant way to make realistic sunflowers on your cupcakes. Does this Spark an idea?

Print this article

2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. white vinegar
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 decorating bags
2 couplers
2 coupler rings
1 large round decorating tip
1 leaf decorating tip
Brown frosting
Yellow frosting
1 small star decorating tip

Instructions

Baking the Cupcakes
- 1
  
  Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until well combined.
- 2
  
  Add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
- 3
  
  Place paper liners in a muffin pan and fill with batter until they are half full.
- 4
  
  Bake the cupcakes in the oven at 350 F for 15 to 20 minutes.
- 5
  
  Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool them completely before decorating.
Decorating the Sunflower Cupcakes
- 6
  
  Cut the tip off a cake decorating bag and insert a coupler through the opening. Place a large round tip (# 1A or 2A) on the coupler on the outside of the bag and secure with a coupler ring.
- 7
  
  Prepare a second decorator bag with a large leaf tip (# 69, 70 or 112) using the directions in Step 1.
- 8
  
  Fill the bag with the round tip with brown frosting. Fill the bag with the leaf tip with yellow frosting.
- 9
  
  Pipe a quarter sized circle in the center of the cupcake with the brown frosting. Set the brown frosting aside for use later.
- 10
  
  Use the yellow frosting to pipe petals around the edge of the cupcake. The tips of the petals should point away from the center of the cupcake and may hang over the side of the cupcake.
- 11
  
  Pipe a second layer of petals above the first. The second layer's petal tips should lay halfway down the first layer. Continue piping overlapping layers until you reach the circle of frosting in the center.
- 12
  
  Remove the coupler ring and tip from the brown frosting bag. Replace the round tip in the brown frosting bag with a small star tip (#13, 14 or 15) and secure with the coupler ring.
- 13
  
  Pipe small brown stars in a circle over the brown frosting in the center of the cupcake. The stars may overlap the petals slightly. Add a second layer of stars over the circle for a fuller look, if desired.

Tips & Warnings

Use black frosting instead of brown, if desired.
Use oven mitts when removing the cupcakes from the oven.
The cupcakes must be completely cool before decorating or the frosting will melt.