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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Dessert "Reveal" {mini marshmallow flowers}

Hmmmm... using the word "reveal" in my post title sounds so dramatic! But, since I gave you a "teaser" in my last post, I suppose it'll work. LOL.

So as I mentioned, we went to my in-law's house for an Easter Brunch on Sunday. I was in charge of fruit salad and dessert. I decided to make cupcakes for dessert and immediately knew that I wanted to go with a spring-like theme so that meant... FLOWERS!

First I just made some plain yellow cake cupcakes - I was able to get 12 regular size and 24 mini size out of one box of cake mix. Then frosted them with white, vanilla frosting (yes, from a can - for shame, I know!). Sounds pretty boring up to this point, doesn't it? Well... that's when I added the piece de resitance! :) These flowers...


DIY edible flower


Before I tell you how to make them, let me show you a couple more pics of these little beauties.


 
Mini Marshmallow Flowers are so easy to make!

I love all the pretty colors

So how do you make these beautiful little things? It is really very easy, but I'll admit it, kinda time consuming so be sure you have a couple hours set aside. 

Here is what I used: mini marshmallows, colored sugar sprinkles, white chocolate and mini M&Ms. You'll also need a sharp pair of scissors, some wax paper and a plastic bag.


My supplies for Mini Marshmallow Flowers

First you want to cut your mini marshmallows in half - along the diagonal.

Cut the Marshmallows diagonally

Drop your cut halves into the sugar sprinkles. Shake them around and you'll see that the inner, sticky part of the marshmallow (the edge that you cut) will pick up all those pretty colored sprinkles.

Toss the halves in the sugar sprinkles

Melt some of your white chocolate in the microwave. Place it in a small plastic bag and snip off a tiny bit of one corner.

Cut off a tiny corner of your plastic bag filled with white chocolate.

Squeeze out a dime-size amount of chocolate onto some wax paper. I recommend only doing about 3 dollops at a time otherwise the chocolate will start to set up on you too quickly. Take my word for it! LOL. As you can see in the below photo, I didn't take this approach at first and had to re-melt most of those dollops! :)

Dime sized dollops of white chocolate

Take 5 of your marshmallow halves and place them in a circle around the edge of your white chocolate (you want the marshmallow to actually be about halfway in the chocolate). 

Place your "petals" in the white chocolate, leaving a little room in the middle.

After you place your 5 petals, add a mini M&M in the center. Of course, you don't have to use an M&M here - a small round pearl sprinkle would work well, or some other mini round candy. Whatever you happen to have or find! :)

When the chocolate sets up, the marshmallow "petals"  and the M&M will stick to it, creating a solid flower that can be peeled off the wax paper in one piece. I was worried that the marshmallows would harden overnight but I stored them in a ziploc bag and they were still nice and soft the next day. (And for the record, it is now Wednesday -  4 days later - and the leftover flowers are STILL nice and soft!). Now keep making flower after flower after flower! LOL.


I then just stuck one flower on each mini cupcake and 3 on each large cupcake. The white frosting really helps the colors of the petals POP!

Stick 3 flowers into the frosting of a big cupcake and voila! Beautiful Marshmallow Flower Cupcakes!


You could put all the same color flowers on each cupcake, but I chose to mix it up!

Mini cupcakes got one flower. For these petals, I mixed up the sprinkle colors together.
The kids actually placed these flowers - they just stick right to the frosting - so easy!

I also made a few bunny rabbits for the kids using some big marshmallows I had on hand for the ears, a big dollop of chocolate for the face, chocolate sprinkles for the whiskers and a heart sprinkle for the nose. I put one each on a big cupcake - the kids loved them!

hop hop hop


Ready to go! (I always have to keep one naked cupcake for my niece who doesn't like frosting - whaaaat???)

You could even customize the colors of your sugar sprinkles to suit your needs - think baby shower or wedding shower. Oh and they'd be sweet for Mother's Day too! And the nice thing is you can prepare the cupcakes and flowers in advance like I did. Then on the day of the event, simply frost and apply the flowers.

So, what do you think? Pretty? Fun? If nothing else, they're cheap frugal! :) The cake mix and frosting cost $1 each on sale. The bag of mini marshmallows was on sale for $0.99 (and I only used about half of it). I actually had all of the sprinkles on hand already (I admit it, we let the girls put sprinkles on their fruit cups and applesauce) so there was no cash out of pocket for those. And the mini M&M's were from a snack size bag left over from trick or treating so again, no cost to me. Gotta love a pretty dessert for less than $3 out of pocket! :) Not to mention the YUM factor!

Lots of pretty marshmallow flowers - I just love looking at them!


This project was featured! Thank you!
 
UndertheTableandDreaming

It's a Keeper

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Linking up here:

Also Linked up to the CSI Project's Flower Challenge!
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32 comments:

  1. WOW!!!!!!!!!! These may be the cutest things I have ever seen!!! So adorable! You did an awesome job!!

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  2. Oh my! Those are adorable!!! Great idea!
    I would love for you to share this at my linky party @ {nifty thrifty sunday}!
    xoxo,
    Vanessa

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  3. Oh my goodness--these are freakin' amazing! Sharing on FB today!! ;)

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  4. OH MY GOSH! These are just stunning! I am SO saving this idea -- my "kids" are all in college but these would be so fun for my girls on their birthday! Thanks for posting!

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  5. Those are so cute and clever! Please share these with our readers by linking up at Muffin (and Cupcake) Monday. Thanks!
    http://www.talkingdollarsandcents.net/strawberry-muffins-with-a-sweet-topping

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  6. Wow! That's really neat! Hey, I would be honored if you'd post this or something similar as a "Blogger Spotlight" post on my website www.MeasuringFlower.com! Let me know if you're interested! You can contact me via the Contact tab at the top of my site. :-D Have a great day!

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  7. Wow!!!! These are so amazing! I love your flowers!

    Thanks for stopping by and linking up!

    Ashley
    www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com

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  8. Beautiful flowers! Very nice!! I dont think there is anything wrong with canned icing :) I like it better than homemade! :)

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  9. Love these too cute, I will have to do this next year. Saw you at while he was napping.

    Mindie from
    http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/

    PS it's not all bacon

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  10. gorgeous!!!!! I am totally bookmarking this! :)

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  11. I just wanted to let you know that I will feature these cute flowers at tomorrow's linky party! :)

    Thank you so much again for stopping by and linking up with {nifty thrifty sunday}!
    I hope to see you again tomorrow!
    xoxo,
    Vanessa

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  12. Those are the happiest marshmallows I have ever seen. I will never look at a marshmallow in the same boring ol' way again!

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  13. These are too cute! I'm going to making some today with cupcakes. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. Hey there I am your newest follower! Hope you stop by to see me. Your blog is way too cute!!

    http://bestpartofbelieveis.blogspot.com/
    &
    http://nikkisniknacks.blogspot.com/

    ~Nikki

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  15. what a great idea and such adorable cookies and cupcakes!

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  16. Oh these are gorgeous! How smart and clever are you to figure this out! Can't wait to try. I bet they would make perfect poinsettias for holiday desserts as well! Thanks so much, I mean it, for sharing!!!

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  17. These are such a fun idea!!! :) And they look so pretty! Thanks for sharing on Fancy This Fridays! P.S. I shared this on our facebook page today! ;)

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  18. This is TOO CUTE! I will have to remember this one! Thanks for sharing, and thansk for visiting my blog at lifewiththeahlmans.blogspot.com! I love your idea for the printable as well :-)

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  19. You had me at marshmallow! These flowers are so pretty! I just have to share this on my FB page! Thanks for linking to Gettin' Krafty With It!

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  20. Your flowers are really incredible, Kyra. I love the assortment of colors. Beautiful!

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  21. These are seriously the most creative way to make cute flowers for cupcakes!! I'm totally going to do this when I make cupcakes on Friday for the teachers at my son's school... wow, THANKS for sharing!!

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  22. Kyra - These are so creative and super cute! I love the added sugar sprinkles too! Thanks so much for linking to the Sunday Showcase - I greatly appreciate it. I have featured this today. Hope you are enjoying your week ~ Stephanie Lynn
    www.bystephanielynn.com

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  23. Hello! spotted your link on nify thrifty things..and this is just too cute!! Very impressive! Almost looks too pretty to eat ;)

    Delighted Momma

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  24. I had cupcakes similar to this at my baby shower! IT IS ADORABLE! I found you from everydaytastes- i'd love for you to come share these at my linky party tomorrow! www.smallfineprint.com (and any other creations you have!)

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  25. I made large marshmallow flowers for my daughter's birthday cake a few months ago, but I'm in love with the mini version!! So cute! So are the bunnies! Visiting from It's a Keeper.

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  26. Those are so cute! Thanks for the tutorial. I just featured these on my blog. :)

    http://www.polishthestars.com/2011/05/link-party-monday-18.html

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  27. These are just too cute - would you mind if I snagged one of your photos to post on WynnieBee.com? I started a new category - Check This Out! to showcase finds from the internet. You did a great job on the photos and the tutorial! Wish my kids were little so I'd have a chance to try this out : D

    wynniebee (at) gmail.com

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  28. Hello, friend! I'm admiring your creativity as shown in your blog so will you kindly share some of your posts in the Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop? Hope to see you there at the party :)

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  29. This looks like so much fun and the kids could join in, too. My granddaughter is 9 now and can do so many things. Thanks for showing us how.

    Linda at http://twosucculentsisters.blogspot.com/2012/03/green-spring-wreath-with-daisies.html

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  30. Oh so cute! These are almost too pretty to eat :) What a fun idea...my little guy will be thrilled to make these for our next bash...if he doesn't eat all of the mini marshmallows that is. TFS!

    Amy*

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