Here Comes the Sun(flower)

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I do not have a sunny disposition (it’s more gloom-adjacent), but it’s summer and I’m trying to perk up instead of wilting in the heat. In order to avoid a funk, I wanted to create a good connotation to go along with the sun. You know, trick myself mentally into liking it and whatnot. Naturally, this meant a Pavlovian-response was going to be necessary. You know, see sun: want sweets (and not, “see sun: burst into flames”). There are few things in the world that make me happier than a good dessert, so in the name of science, I forged ahead. After all, what is brighter and more cheerful than a field full of sunflowers and more determined than the bumblebee?

These un-bee-liavably cute cupcakes are chocolate Disaronno cupcakes with cream cheese Disaronno frosting; if I can’t trick myself into liking summer, I’ll at least be somewhat tipsy for it. I was actually going to make Baileys cupcakes, but I didn’t know I was out of baking Baileys (this is most assuredly a thing), so a quick compromise was made, and this chocolate amaretto deliciousness came to bloom. The Disaronno really brings out the chocolate flavor, and you’re left with that smooth amaretto aftertaste with each bite: so moist, so chocolately, so amazing. I thought about liquefying my leftover frosting to drink it–because that Disaronno cream cheese is HEAVENLY. The “sun most definitely shone down, angels sang, whole nine yards” kinda good. Also, because I’m either a witch or a very determined fit person, these are super macro friendly. You know, so you don’t have to worry about becoming chub-bee. They’re only 141 calories per cupcake, 18 cupcakes total.

I was saving my last Whole Foods gluten free cake mix left from our move for something really, really good. I’ve tried about 95 different GF cake mixes, but this one will always reign supreme. So if you’re near a Whole Foods…hook a baker up. To make the cupcakes, you need:

• 1 box of gluten free chocolate cake mix, regular if you’re a fortunate soul that can eat gluten
• 3 egg whites (92 grams)
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce (111 grams)
• 1/2 cup of fat free or skim milk
• 1/4 cup plus 2 TBS Disaronno

You can also up the boozy ante and just use 3/4 cup of Disaronno, but since my Disaronno is drinking Disaronno and not baking Disaronno, I went with less. I need to be able to have an ounce over the rocks in a snifter from time to time to swirl around and feel like a James Bond villain. It’s a real mood booster.

Preheat your oven to 350 and line two trays with 18 cupcake liners. Dump all the ingredients into your stand mixer, mixing on low for 30 seconds before bumping to high for 30 more. Never overmix a gluten free recipe unless you enjoy chewing tire rubber. Use a cookie scoop to fill each liner at least halfway full. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center of a cupcake clean.

Now, let your cupcakes rest in the pan on top of a cooling rack for about 10 minutes before you remove them. Let them cool completely on the same rack before frosting. I always stick mine in the fridge while I make my frosting, and by then, they’re ready for piping.

Totally forgot to strain yogurt overnight for this frosting, so here we are, using butter with all its delicious fat and calories.

• 1/2 cup of butter, softened to room temp (112 grams)
• 8 ounces of 1/3 the fat cream cheese, softened to room temp (225 grams)
• One 16 ounce bag of Lakanto powdered monkfruit or regular powdered sugar (456 grams)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 ounces Disaronno (3 TBS)
• 1 TBS cocoa, reserved
• Gel dyes in brown and yellow

Mix the butter and cream cheese on medium high until fluffy and light in color, 3 minutes. Add in half of the powdered monkfruit, the vanlla, and 1 TBS of Disaronno. Mix well before adding the remaining monkfruit and 2 TBS of Disaronno. Set aside a small portion in a separate bowl. Add the cocoa powder to this and some brown gel dye. Dye the rest of the frosting in the mixer bowl yellow.

To make the sunflowers, you’re going to need a leaf tip of some kind (I used a Wilton 352) and a small open star tip (I used a Wilton 16). Put a hefty amount of yellow frosting into a piping bag with a coupler. Grab a cooled cupcake, and before you add the leaf tip, just pipe a circle of frosting around the outside edge with the coupler. This way your leaves have something to stick to.

I avoid leaf tips because they are very finicky. You need a moderate amount of pressure to pipe, and perfect timing to pull out and away when needed. Every single sunflower looked different because of this. I started with an outside layer of petals, pictured above.

I was frustrated but also was not going to let the leaf tip best me, a hobby baker of almost 10 years. This tiny tip would not be my downfall. I added a second layer of petals on the inside of the ring I created earlier, trying to alternate so my petals didn’t overlap the first layer. To finish, I grabbed my chocolate frosting, placed into a piping bag fitted with a #16 open star tip, and piped a few layers of stars in the center of the circle for the sunflower seeds.

I repeated on half of my cupcakes. Some ended up looking more like sadflowers, but here we are, still able to eat them even if they aren’t pretty. In your face, leaf tip. Happy to report the bee cupcakes are 900 times easier to decorate. At this point, I was determined–a force to bee reckoned with.

A few cheap tools from Amazon made the bee cupcakes possible:

• This silicone honeycomb mat
• These sugar bees
• Edible gold dust (yells, “I love goooolllllddddd,” a la Goldmember).
• You’ll also need some food-safe paint brushes

Place the silicone mat on a small cutting board or sturdy surface so it’s easy to move later. Take a paint brush, and paint the entire surface with the edible gold dust. Use the remaining yellow frosting to top each cupcake. I used a nice, thick amount, spread flat (seen above).

So the buzz on Instagram lately is something called the flip and freeze method to get perfectly flat cupcake tops. The problem is, no one ever actually explains how they do it. Are the cupcakes chilled first? How long are they frozen for? Why won’t you tell me your trade secrets??! I need more than 5 second reel with trending music to show me how to do this!

I followed my instincts, and as luck would hive it, nailed this method on the first try. Since I’m not trying to make money off my reels (shameless plug, follow katebakescakes87 on Instagram), let me give you the deets.

• Take a room temperature, frosted cupcake, and flip it frosting-side down on the honeycomb mat. I twisted mine down gently to imprint.
• You should have room to fit 3 cupcakes face-down.
• Now, take the cutting board with your mat and cupcakes on it, and put it into the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the freezer and gently peel each cupcake off the mat. The tops should have the comb imprint in gold. If you see any areas where there aren’t any gold dust, come in with a small paintbrush and brush on more gold dust while the cupcake is still frozen.
• Once they’ve softened a few minutes, add a bee on top!

Honestly, these turned out so much better than I had hoped. I am so ready to try this again with other mats, patterns, and just plain cupcakes.

The sunflower represents longevity…however, these are definitely not gonna last long in the fridge, and my hopes for summer are also the same. I might not have been able to trick myself into liking summer so much as I did remind myself why I love chocolate and booze combos together so much. If you’re on the fence, don’t be a wallflower–just try the recipe. You’ll see what I mean. Baileys, Kahlua, Disaronno, whiskey, rum: it doesn’t matter, the actual alcohol will bake out, but it leaves behind this rich flavor that enhances the chocolate and makes a super moist bake; these are rich but not at all dense, quite the opposite. I still can’t get over that amaretto cream cheese frosting: it’s slightly tangy, sweet, and finishes with a cherry aftertaste. You could say these cupcakes are the bees knees (not sorry, and I will not beehive). Consider me the Queen Bee of terrible puns and delicious boozy cupcakes. ‘Til next time, my fellow eaters!

Recipe and Instructions