Monday, June 10, 2019

Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece: Fireflies Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

Blog With Friends, a multi-blogger project based post incorporating a theme| Featured on and graphic property of www.BakingInATornado.com



This month's theme is Fireflies.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here's a peek at what we all came up with:

Blog With Friends, a multi-blogger project based post incorporating a theme, Fireflies. | Featured on www.BakingInATornado.com


I made a Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece.

A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer

Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece

I have to admit I really had a hard time with this one. And that's saying a lot. Often in interpreting these Blog With Friends themes into a recipe, my logic can be, shall we say, a bit difficult to follow. A stretch, really. Well this time, with Fireflies, I had a hard time even doing that. Fireflies? Now how am I going to cook or bake fireflies (sounds kinda cruel when I say it). So here's what I came up with, I decided to make a firefly out of cupcakes. Which, I think you'll agree, is much better than trying to make cupcakes out of fireflies, right.

This is sort of a marriage between a craft and a recipe. And you can make this pretty easily using a boxed cake mix and canned frosting, or go all out for flavor by making both from scratch. I went the doctored up box route this time, but wanted to give you an option for homemade as well. You can use my Chocolate Mint Cupcakes recipe (this recipe makes 24 cupcakes). For the frosting, you can use the mint extract or substitute vanilla, don't use the green food coloring, substituting yellow for 1/3 of the frosting and adding 1 TBSP baking cocoa powder and 1 TBSP chocolate syrup to the rest.

The cake box says that it makes 24 cupcakes, bw, but they're stingy ones so I use one box and make 18 cupcakes. You'll just have to bake them a little longer.

NOTE: along with the ingredients, you will also need 2 lollipop sticks for the antennae. 

A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer 






Start with your ingredients, first for the cupcakes:












A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer 







Fill the cupcake papers and bake. They need to cool completely before frosting. 




A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer
A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer 








While they're baking, melt a couple of white chocolate chips and use them to glue the candy balls to the lollipop sticks for the antennae and the candy "eyes" to the candy melts.



A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer 








Next is the frosting. You'll use chocolate for the face and wings and yellow for the body. 


A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer 













Frost 6 cupcakes yellow and the rest chocolate. 



To assemble, place the yellow frosted cupcakes in a line and add 2 chocolate cupcakes at the top. Place one "eye" in the center of each of the chocolate cupcakes and stick the "antennae" into the top. Arrange 2 cupcakes on either side of the body with 3 cupcakes on the far side of them to form the wings. 

A Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece is perfect for summer parties or cookouts. Cupcakes are decorated and assembled for a fun edible centerpiece. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #summer







Cute dessert centerpiece for a summer party or cookout, don't you think?















As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Blog With Friends, a multi-blogger project based post incorporating a theme, Fireflies.  | Shrimp Summer Salad by Dawn of Spatulas on Parade | Featured on www.BakingInATornado.com 

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shared her recipe for Shrimp Summer Salad






Blog With Friends, a multi-blogger project based post incorporating a theme, Fireflies.  | DIY Adult Playground by Lydia of Cluttered Genius | Featured on www.BakingInATornado.com



Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares her DIY Adult Playground




Blog With Friends, a multi-blogger project based post incorporating a theme, Fireflies.  | DIY Adult Playground by Lydia of Cluttered Genius | Featured on www.BakingInATornado.com 



Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares a project, Escaping the Ordinary




Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

Cupcake Firefly Centerpiece
                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

 NOTE: To make the cupcakes from scratch, use the recipe for my Chocolate Mint Cupcakes (which makes 24 cupcakes). For the frosting, use the same recipe. You can use the mint extract or substitute vanilla. Do not use the green food coloring, to 1/3 of the frosting add yellow food coloring and to the rest, add 1 TBSP baking cocoa powder and 1 TBSP chocolate syrup.

Ingredients:
1 box (15.25 oz) chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water 
1/2 cup sour cream

1 TBSP white chocolate chips, melted
2 candy coated chocolate pearls, your choice of color
2 candy melts, your choice of color
2 candy "eyes"

1 can chocolate frosting
1 can white frosting
yellow food coloring
OPT: colored sugar, candy coated pearls or other decorations for the yellow frosted cupcakes

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 18 paper cupcake cups into cupcake pans.
*Make your cupcake batter if making from scratch. If using a box mix, beat the dry mix with the eggs, oil, water and sour cream for 2 minutes. Divide evenly into the paper cupcake cups. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the center springs back to the touch. Remove from the cupcake pans and set aside to cool completely.
*While the cupcakes are cooling, melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave. Dip the ends of the lollipop sticks into the melted chocolate and use it to attach the 2 candy pearls to the sticks to make the antennae. Dip the bottoms of the candy "eyes" into the melted white chocolate and attach them to the flat bottoms of the candy melts. Set aside.
*Make your frosting, if making from scratch and place about 1/3 of the frosting into a bowl. Mix in yellow food coloring. To the other 2/3 of the frosting, add 1 TBSP baking cocoa powder and 1 TBSP chocolate syrup. If using canned frosting, add yellow food coloring to the white frosting.
*Frost 12 cupcakes with the chocolate frosting and frost the remaining 6 cupcakes with the yellow frosting. OPT: decorate the yellow frosted cupcakes with colored sugar and/or candy coated pearls.
*Assemble: Place the yellow cupcakes in a line and add 2 chocolate cupcakes at the top. Place one "eye" in the center of each of the chocolate cupcakes and stick the "antennae" into the top. To form the wings, arrange 2 chocolate frosted cupcakes on either side of the body, 2 more to the far side of those and 1 at the end.

12 comments:

  1. This would be perfect for a kids' celebration for summer. Love it. (And I'm glad you didn't literally make firefly cupcakes - although maybe more protein that way? ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely would have had the "ick" factor that way. But you can always tell them you used fireflies . . .

      Delete
  2. Those mint chocolate chip cupcakes sound delicious and I love your twist on them, with the theme! SUPER CUTE!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love it. Since I never remember ever seeing a firefly I will assume your rendition is accurate!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have never seen a firefly? I thought everyone'd seen at least one. I'll try to take a picture for you this summer.

      Delete
  4. Very cute and yummy I'm sure. I struggled with the firefly theme but hopefully pulled it off okay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You did great. I'd love that Shrimp Summer Salad out on the deck while watching for fireflies.

      Delete
  5. That’s cute and i know how delicious they probably are. Do you deliver? I think I’m unknownagain it’s me Rena There are no sharing buttons on the mobile but I will come back and share in a bit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, you're Rena today!
      I don't deliver but you're welcome to stop by.

      Delete
  6. This is cute. If I had grandchildren...oh well, thinking about chocolate mind cupcakes. The sour cream is an interesting addition that I never would have thought of. I'm so happy no fireflies were harmed in the creation of this recipe. I love seeing them, alive and lighting up summer lawns. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too, ever since I was little I've loving seeing fireflies in the summer.

      Delete

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