Sunflowers

Makes 24 sunflower cupcakes

The petals on these bright, sassy cupcakes may look complicated but are actually quick and easy: just grab a ziplock bag filled with 2 colors of frosting and squeeze, pull, and release. Practice makes perfect.

• 24 vanilla cupcakes baked in green paper liners (see Sources)
• 2 cans (16 ounces each) vanilla frosting
• Green, yellow, orange, and black food coloring (available at baking supply stores or see Sources)
• 14–16 regular chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies (Oreos)
• 25–30 mini chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies (Mini Oreos)
• ½ cup table sugar
• 15–20 candy spearmint leaves or 2 rolls green fruit leather
• 2 tablespoons dark chocolate frosting
• 6–10 red candy-coated chocolates (M&M’s)
• Basket lined with green tissue paper (optional)

1. Tint 1½ cups of the vanilla frosting green with the food coloring. Spread an even layer of the green frosting on top of the cupcakes and smooth. Arrange the chocolate sandwich cookies, regular and mini, randomly over the cupcakes, pressing them into the frosting to secure.
2. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting bright yellow with the food coloring. Remove ½ cup of the yellow frosting and tint it orange with the food coloring. Spoon ¼ cup of the orange frosting into one side of a ziplock bag and spoon half of the yellow frosting into the other side of the bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Repeat the process with another ziplock bag and the remaining orange and yellow frosting. Reinforce the corner of each bag with 6 overlapping layers of Scotch tape. Pinch the taped corners flat and cut a small V-shape in the corner to make a leaf tip. Pipe yellow-orange frosting around the edge of each cookie to make petals (see Techniques). Pipe another circle of petals just inside the first and slightly overlapping.
3. Sprinkle the work surface with the sugar. Roll out the spearmint leaves, one at a time, to ⅛ inch thick. Using clean scissors, cut the candies or fruit leathers into 1½-inch-long leaf shapes. Press the leaves into the cupcakes just under the petals.
4. Tint the chocolate frosting black with the food coloring and spoon it into a small ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Snip a 1/16-inch corner from the bag. Pipe a dot of black frosting on some of the cookies and attach the red chocolate candies to make the ladybugs. Pipe a line of black frosting down the center of each ladybug and add a dot for the head and a few dots on the back.
5. Arrange the cupcakes close together in a basket lined with green tissue paper, if you like, in small cups or on a platter.