Carnation Cupcakes

Easter weekend: synonymous with copious amounts of pastels and foods. In my family, the classic meal involved smoked turkey and a lamb cake, with side dishes galore. 


This year, we did things a bit differently. I brought home guests. Well, brought one and saved another from the wreckage of an airport. Anyways, two guests and a desire to bake was my focus. Luckily, Aaron saved the day with his GORGEOUS carnation cupcakes. It deserves a blog post.


The Recipe: Carnation Cupcakes
Makes 24 of the most beautiful pieces of art that you can eat!

• 1 box of cupcake mix [choose whatever you'd like! We used funfetti, but I imagine you could use anything] and the ingredients that go with that
• 1 jar of pre-made icing [or the equivalent of homemade goodness. We used white, but you could probably use any color]
• 1 package of mini-marshmallows
• 72+ Colored oval candies [We chose sour Jelly Belly candies, but Aaron normally used Good and Fruity]
• Sugar
• Plastic bags [one for every color]
• Food dye
• Wax paper

1. Cook your cupcakes. Make sure you put enough batter in the tins so the cupcake will come over the edge of the papers. This means filling it about halfway. Better too much than too little.
2. While those cook and then cool, make the dyed sugar! Using small sandwich bags, put about 3 inches of sugar in, then add 2-3 drops of food dye. Mix and match to make it fun! Mix up the dye in the sugar, then spread the sugar out on some wax paper. Thin out the layer of sugar, or it will dry in clumps. Don't throw away the bag! You can save it.
3. When the cupcakes and sugar are cool and dry, respectively, it's time to start decorating. Put the sugar back in the bag it was in.
4. Ice a few cupcakes at a time, but not all at once. You don't want the icing to dry. 
5. Cut the mini-marshmallows in half at a diagonal [corner to corner]. The inside will be sticky. Toss a handfull in the colored-sugar of your choice and shake it up. The inside of the marshmallow should be covered in sugar.
6. Starting on the outside of the cupcake, place the marshmallows on the cupcake, colored-side facing the center. Work your way around the edge, then start the second tier, then the third.
7. Fill the center with your colored oval candies.
8. EAT or place in a air-tight container. The marshmallows go stale quickly.

The Process:

Do not take on this project unless you have a couple hours free and don't mind making a mess. I also wouldn't make these alone, though cooking alone is never fun...

The process of decorating took 2-3 hours. Most of that time was just tediously spent sticking marshmallows to icing. During that time, we had some nice conversations, jammed out to music and took some "artsy-photographs."Some of the time, however, was wasted wondering what kind of color combinations we could make. Honestly, that was the hardest part.

It's pretty messy. Sugar has a way of getting absolutely everywhere, no matter how many paper towels you work over. That said, it was still fun and relatively simple. Just very, very time consuming.

The Result:

The perfect pastel treat for the family. My soon-to-be cousins loved these, though that may be because I told them they were cupcakes covered in marshmallows and sugar.

Really, though, it is a GORGEOUS treat perfect for Easter, a bridal shower or just a gathering with friends. Plus, the hours spent decorating these are a great chance to have good conversation and pretend you're a good artist. 

Until the next time someone let's me wreak havoc on their kitchen...

Salut, mes amis.