Out of the Comfort Zone: Succulent Cupcakes
A custom cake bakery in New Jersey is a fun place to be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a LOT of hard work. But making decorated cake for birthdays, baby showers, weddings and more is always varied and interesting. No two cakes are ever the same, and I am always learning and experimenting with new techniques.
Last week I had an order for succulent cupcakes. Buttercream flowers and cupcakes have always alluded me. I’ve never been fully happy anytime I’ve tried them, they were always a little off, the petals not quite in enough, or not quite out enough, the angles somehow wrong. I’m completely self-taught, and have managed to teach myself more complicated things, so why can’t I get this right. So off I went to figure it out. In my trial and error (and some internet rabbit hole diving), I found the two essential factors for getting buttercream flowers right.
Piping Tips
So with a quick internet search I identified a few piping tips that are deemed essential for succulents. I had close numbers, but not quite the exact number. Good enough, right? Nope, apparently not. For petal tips, I had a 104 but not a 102. So I figured I would try it with the right tip this time. It turned out to be an essential element to getting these suckers right. The right tip = a HUGE difference in the end result.
Varying the Colors
Another thing that makes a huge difference is the color element, especially for succulent. It doesn’t take much, just put one color inside the bag in the middle, and then another color around the edges and see how it pipes. So much of this is trial and error, but introducing bright colors and different shades of purples, greens and even some bright coral, makes a huge difference to these cupcakes.
Buttercream Stability
The buttercream stability is essential. In the bakery, we make two kinds of buttercream, a classic American buttercream, and a Swiss Meringue buttercream. American buttercream doesn’t hold up well as we make it for flowers – we would need to make a stiffer version by adding more sugar, which then makes it sweeter, which we don’t want. The swiss meringue holds up nicely. It’s smooth, takes color well, and chills quickly. And it’s DELICIOUS. That’s my number one priority.
Make them in Advance
In a busy bakery with lots of custom cakes every week, being able to make items in advance is a bonus. These buttercream flowers are piped on a ‘flower nail’ and then we can refrigerate or freeze them until we need them. This is why they are popular with bakeries for buttercream decoration.
succulent cupcakes, the end product
Making a comeback?
Buttercream flowers have gone out of style in the last few years, but as buttercream cakes and cupcakes come back en vogue, mixing up flowers with succulents and other decorations seem to be gaining traction. This buttercream cake is an example of that, the flowers are mixed in with our cake truffles and other decorations. So I’m ready for this new trend. I have my (correct) piping tips ready to go, bring on the buttercream succulents and flowers!
