Create your own DIY succulent cupcake garden!

You heard me right! Create your very own adorable and delicious DIY succulent cupcake garden!

Need something to do in your free time? Ready to bring joy to your next social gathering with the cutest cupcake recipe yet? Follow along for tips, tricks, supplies and delicious recipes that will have you crafting your very own DIY succulent cupcake garden in no time!

Digging up old hobbies!

Nothing like an afternoon of boredom, sorting through old boxes in the basement, to uncover a long-lost hobby you had completely forgotten about.

It’s been a good 6 years since my cake decorating supplies saw the light of day, and with a good washing they have found a new home in the kitchen, and also just helped me complete a very fun project for some of my favorite people! A DIY succulent cupcake garden!!

If this is something you’d also like to do, keep reading for the recipes and supplies!!

The cupcakes and buttercream are a scratch recipes, but in a pinch you could do box batter for the cupcakes. I wouldn’t recommend another buttercream, this one is hearty and DELICIOUS. almost dangerous to be honest!

Also, all supplies for your DIY succulent cupcake garden can be easily found at Michaels!

 

Cupcake and Succulent Supplies:

• Piping bags
  • I used 12in for almost all the details except the large cacti which were from a 16in tip/bag
• Piping tip couplers
  • you’ll need small and large
• Piping tips
  • 103 for multi-colored succulent
  • 57 for purple succulent
  • 107 for blue succulent
  • 32 for the large green cacti
• Cupcake ingredients listed below
• Buttercream ingredients listed below
• Food colorings of choice
• Damp paper towels
• Spatulas (I personally love the corer and spatula combos)
• Cupcake tins
• Cupcake carriers
• A flexible winter glove

 

 

 

Recipe: Sara’s Super moist Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• Dry ingredients
  • ¾ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
• Wet ingredients
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ cup buttermilk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Prepare baking pans – this recipe will make 12-15 cupcakes
• Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside
• In a new bowl, combine all wet ingredients
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well combined, but do not overmix
• Using a scooper, fill cupcake tins ¾ full for a well-rounded cupcake
• Bake 20 min or until center is done baking
• Allow to completely cool

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Delicious Creamy Buttercream Succulent Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks room temp butter
• 2 cups Crisco butter flavor
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon butter flavor
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond flavoring
• 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar

** Watkins flavorings are delicious, they can be found at Walmart and Target

Instructions

• In an electric mixer, combine butter and Crisco until well combined. This may take up to 5 minuets on low
• Add butter, vanilla, and almond flavoring, mix well
• Add 1 lb of confectioners’ sugar and fold in before using the mixer. Slowly incorporate the remaining sugar until well combined
• If adding color, do so at this time
• Use immediately or refrigerate if using for detail work

*this recipe makes about 3.5 lb of buttercream

 

Now its time to create your DIY succulent cupcake garden!

 

Decorating instructions!

• The cupcakes and frosting were made in the same sitting. After cooling the cupcakes, it was time for the initial frosting.
• I decided I wanted the frosting base to be brown to look like soil, so I added a little unsweetened cocoa powder to the buttercream until it was the desired taste and color, then frosted the cooled cupcakes.
• To make it appear as though the succulents were on a rock/dirt garden I crushed cinnamon graham crackers and Oreo thins, combined, and rolled the freshly frosted cupcakes in the mixture, then refrigerated overnight

• I divided the buttercream into separate containers and mixed in my desired Wilton icing colors until I was satisfied with the color and consistency. The colors used were Leaf Green (for the bright green), Juniper green (for the multicolored large succulent), pink, cornflower blue, purple.
• After coloring, the colored frostings were covered with wrap and placed in the refrigerator overnight.

• The following day, it was time to decorate!
• Beginning with the multi-colored succulent! The color combination comes from adding a thick stripe of pink (I honestly missed in a tiny bit of juniper green to make it more early) on one side of the bag, then filling the rest of the bag with Juniper green. This succulent is made leaf by leaf in a circular pattern with the #103 piping tip, you can rotate using the rounded end at the base and the sharp end, to add more variation in color and shape

• Next, the cactus. I used a 16 in bag and large coupler, with the #32 piping tip. This one was easiest, just dragging the tip upward, and snipping when at the desired level.

• I topped off the cactus with a pink dollop to appear like a cactus flower, which was made just by using a Ziplock bag with a small hole cut in the corner to pipe.

• The blue cactus was a simple circular motion using the #107.

• The purple succulent was made by using a #57, planting it at the base of the cupcake, and using pressure to direct frosting out the sides of the tip, I then turned the tip 90deg and repeated to make the succulent look like a star. I used a baggy with white and purple to decorate the succulent with pearls of frosting.

• For this project I had an end-goal in mind: surprise my friends and family who I miss so much. So, I made a little hand-drawn design on my iPad, printed it out, and added it as a finishing touch to the top of my cupcake 4-packs. I will never be above plant humor.

 

• After decorating, place the cupcakes into a delivery container with ample space for the toppings. I like Michaels Clamshell containers by Celebrate It! they’re deep enough for heavily decorated cupcakes, and very sturdy.
• Jake and I spent the rest of the evening dropping them on porches and dashing off, it was a blast.

There you have it! you’re officially finished with your first DIY succulent cupcake garden! I hope you loved this activity as much as I did! Now, share it with your friends, bring some life to your next party, or dig in to this delicious pretty treat yourself!

Tips:

• AMOUNTS: For this creation, I doubled the cupcake recipe, but I did not double the buttercream – that was left as written. Even with the amount of buttercream that a single recipe made, I was able to decorate >24 cupcakes and I could have easily done another dozen.
• KEEP IT COLD: When piping the buttercream it is imperative that it is kept cold. It’s very hard to control this buttercream for piping if it is warm. For that reason, I only take it out of the fridge when its needed, and I wear a small winter glove during piping in order to stop heat transfer from my hand to the bag. It worked great.  Now for the smaller details like the pink flower and the small purple pearls, you do want slightly warmer buttercream or it will not stick. Simply not using a glove during this piping was enough to warm the buttercream to the correct consistency.
• DELIVERY: again with temperature – these babies are meant to be served cool. The frosting won’t melt away, but it can begin to sweat, and if you don’t have a good base on your decorations you may see some wilt or slip. So, if planning to deliver these, make sure to keep them in the fridge until the last moment, then brown paper bags are good for transport, as they act as insulators. You can also use Hot/Cold carrying bags!
• SUPPLIES: If you’re looking for any of the supplies above, try clicking on the individual pictures! Many of the items are linked!

 

I hope you have as much of a blast with this treat as I did! Perfect for these long days inside, or when you just need to get a little creativity out of your system. Take care, until next time!

– XOXO, Sara

 

 

 

Need some background noise for your day of baking fun?

Check out my most recent Podcast roundup

Podcasters Anonymous, session 2