Honeycomb Cupcakes Centerpiece
Serves: 5
Estell Schumm
1 January 1970
Based on User reviews:
45
Spice
57
Sweetness
41
Sourness
43
mins
Prep time (avg)
5.4
Difficulty
Ingredients:
1.5 cups
All-Purpose Flour1.5 tsps
Baking Powder3 cup
Granulated Sugar3 cup
Sugar2 large
Egg (at room temperature)2 tsps
Pure Vanilla Extract1 cup
Milk4 large
Egg WhiteDirections:
1
Stack 7 more cupcakes, making a second tier in the honeycomb pattern, saving 3 cupcakes to put on the top tier
2
Special equipment: 2 1/4-inch hexagon cookie cutter 1 1/4-inch hexagon cookie cutter Mini offset spatula For the almond bees: Fill a piping bag with a very small round tip with the chocolate
3
Pipe 2 eyes side by side on the rounder end of each almond, followed by 3 crosswise stripes starting in the middle of the almond down to the narrower end
4
Attach 2 sliced almonds (like wings) to the top chocolate stripe (the one closest to the eyes)
5
Repeat to make 18 almond bees total
6
Allow to dry
7
For the sugar cookies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
8
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl
9
Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with a handheld electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds
10
Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing until fully incorporated
11
Slowly add the flour mixture and continue beating just until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed
12
Divide the dough in half, pat into discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours
13
Generously flour a clean work surface
14
Gently roll out the chilled dough to about 3/8-inch thick
15
Cut 24 cookies using a 2 1/4-inch hexagon cookie cutter, working quickly so that the dough stays chilled
16
(If the dough has become too soft, transfer to the refrigerator on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill again for 30 minutes
17
) Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them
18
Lightly dust off any excess flour with a dry pastry brush
19
Refrigerate the formed cookies for at least 30 minutes
20
(Excess dough can be gathered together, pressed into a disc, chilled and rerolled
21
) Bake the cookies until the bottoms are golden, about 10 minutes
22
Cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
23
If not using right away, cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week
24
For the decorative cookie border: To create the honeycomb shapes on your sugar cookies, roll the yellow fondant out and cut out 24 hexagon shapes with a 2 1/4-inch hexagon cutter
25
Place a 1 1/4-inch hexagon cutter in the center of your existing fondant hexagon shape and press
26
Remove the center piece
27
Thinly frost the cookies with some buttercream
28
Place a cut-out hexagon fondant border on each cookie
29
Mix the clear and yellow sanding sugars together, and then fill the inner space of the cookies with the mixed sugar
30
Flip the cookies over to shake out any excess sanding sugar
31
Reserve the remaining sugar mixture for the cupcakes
32
To assemble the cupcakes: Frost the vanilla mini cupcakes with some buttercream using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip
33
Sprinkle with some of the sanding sugar mixture
34
Garnish 12 of the mini cupcakes with 1 almond bee
35
Reserve the additional 6 bees to garnish the honeycomb cookie cupcakes
36
Frost the standard-size frangipane cupcakes with some buttercream using a mini offset spatula
37
Dip the outside edges of the frosted cupcakes into the mixed sanding sugar and place the hexagon sugar cookies on top
38
To build the honeycomb structure: Place 14 of the standard-size cupcakes in a hexagonal honeycomb pattern
39
Scatter 20 mini cupcakes (including 8 with the almond bees) around the base of the honeycomb structure
40
Garnish the structure with the remaining 4 mini cupcakes with almond bees
41
Then arrange the remaining 6 bees on the tops of the hexagon cookies
42
Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the middle of the oven
43
Line one 12-cup standard muffin tin or two 24-cup mini-muffin tins with cupcake liners
44
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl
45
In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes
46
While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla
47
While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients
48
Then add all the milk and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients
49
Take care not to overmix the batter
50
Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tin
51
Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, rotating the tin about halfway through, 18 to 20 minutes (10 to 12 minutes for minis)
52
Cool the cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, and then remove from the tin
53
Cool on the rack completely
54
Decorate as desired
55
Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a heatproof stand mixer's bowl above the water
56
Add the sugar, lemon juice, salt and egg whites to the mixing bowl, and whisk together by hand
57
Set the bowl above the boiling water and whisk until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar completely dissolves
58
Transfer to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat at medium-high speed until cool and the whites hold stiff peaks, 10 to 15 minutes
59
Toss in a couple of chunks of butter at a time, making sure the pieces are incorporated before adding more
60
After all the butter is added, continue whisking on medium-high speed
61
The mixture will deflate and appear curdled
62
Continue whisking until the buttercream comes back together to form a smooth and spreadable consistency
63
Slowly drizzle in the optional flavoring while beating until smooth and light
64
(If the frosting is very soft or begins to break, refrigerate until set but still spreadable and then beat until light before using
65
) Chocolate: Remove the buttercream from the stand mixer into a large bowl and, in three batches, fold in 6 ounces melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate
66
Citrus: Stir in the zest of half a lemon or orange
67
Boozy: Stir in 2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur and 1 tablespoon vodka
68
Pulse 4 tablespoons soft unsalted butter, 1 large egg, 3 tablespoons each almond paste, sugar and cake flour, and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in a food processor until very smooth
69
Scrape out into a small baking dish and spread into an even layer
70
Freeze until firm, about 1 hour
71
Scoop 12 slightly heaping tablespoonfuls and roll into balls
72
Return to the freezer until firm again, about 30 minutes
73
Make batter for Go-To Vanilla Cupcakes (recipe above) and fill the bottom of each liner with a heaping tablespoonful of batter
74
Place 1 ball of frangipane in the center of each and divide the remaining batter among the liners to top
75
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes