Inspired by the cold ground of winter and the new budding flowers of spring, this cupcake that combines rich chocolate with a Dum Dum Pops treat for after.
NEEDED INGREDIENTS
- 12 chocolate cupcakes
- Chocolate frosting
- 2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
- Green licorice
- Fondant leaves
- Two cups of miniature marshmallows (cut large marshmallows if you have those on hand)
- A splash of water
- Green food coloring
- Powdered sugar (1 bag, the actual amount will vary)
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
How to make it
- Make cupcakes according to preparation directions, or purchase premade chocolate cupcakes.
- Frost cupcakes, either with a spatula, or use a piping bag and fluted tip. Whichever you choose, make sure to cover the top of the chocolate cupcake with plenty of frosting for the cookie pieces to stick.
- Place a mound of crushed Oreo pieces on a piece of parchment paper, then take cupcakes by the bottom portion, flip upside down and gently press the cookie pieces onto frosting.
- Once your 'dirt' is in place for the cupcake, you will move onto the flower portion of the Easter cupcake.
- Slide the lollipop stick of a Dum Dum Pop, into the premade center hole. The licorice will be too long, however you can feel where the lollipop stick ends and you can either pull it apart or use a knife to gently cut it off at the end.
- Unwrap the Dum Dum Pop and make sure the top of the licorice is flush to the candy. We chose to use pink and yellow because of their bright, Easter colors.
- Poke the candy flower into the middle of the cupcake and insert about an inch. Make sure to leave plenty of 'stem' visible to let taste-testers know it can be removed.
- Next, place fondant leaves next to the stem to finish off the look.
- If you lost any cookie crumbs in the process, you can shake some of the left-over cookie crumbs over the bare spots to fill them in.
Make the marshmallow fondant for the leaves:
- Put your marshmallows into a microwavable bowl.
- Add a small splash of water to the marshmallows in order to moisten them.
- Place your bowl in the microwave for 15 second increments.
- End each increment by rotating in the microwave and stirring until melted. This may take up to a minute.
- When the marshmallows are melted down and still warm, add your green food coloring. Make sure to add enough to make the flower petals bright.
- Next, begin to slowly add your powdered sugar into the marshmallow batter. The amount you add will vary on how hot your marshmallows are and sometimes the brand.
- Begin to knead the mixture like dough after you've added around 2-3 cups of powdered sugar. (You may need to spray hands with cooking spray to keep them from sticking.)
- Work a bit more powdered sugar in a little at a time until your fondant starts to feel like play dough.
- Take a rolling pin, you can spray in with cooking spray to keep the dough from sticking, and roll your fondant ball out on parchment paper.
- If you have a leaf cookie cutter, you can use that, however we used a knife to cut different shaped leaves.
*You can use a toothpick and create texture on the leaves to make them more realistic.