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Daisy Cupcakes, with a Secret
Daisy Cupcakes, with a Secret is a modern British recipe for a classic wild food cupcake that includes daisy petals in the batter. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Daisy Cupcakes, with a Secret.
prep time
10 minutes
cook time
25 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Makes:
12
Rating: 
Tags : Wild FoodBaking RecipesCake RecipesBritish Recipes
These are classic vanilla sponge cupcakes, decorated with vanilla buttercream icing and garnished with royal icing daisies. The secret is that daisy petals are baked into the cupcakes. It’s little known, but daisy petals (removed from the flower) are edible and quite tasty. You could just as easily substitute dandelion petals, or the petals of any edible flowers. Sour cream is used as the raising agent here (you could also use buttermilk) as the acid aids with the raising process, giving you perfectly domed cupcakes.
Ingredients:
For the vanilla sponge:
300g (2 ½ cups) fine cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
175g (¾ cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
300g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
½ cup daisy (common daisy or ox-eyed daisy) petals
250g (1 cup) sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the icing (frosting) and decoration:
Royal Icing (some coloured yellow with food colouring)
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
1.2kg (3 lbs) icing sugar, sifted
600g (1 1/3 lbs) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl (this adds air, again helping with the rise). Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar in another bowl until pale and fluffy (you can do this by hand, with a hand-held mixer or in a stand mixer). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to combine thoroughly after each addition. Now mix in the daisy petals (if using), sour cream and vanilla extract.
With your mixer set on low speed, add in the flour mixture and beat with the liquid ingredients for a minute. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and beat for another minute.
Scoop the batter and divide between the prepared pans. About 3 heaped tbsp should fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Transfer to your pre-heated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cupcake emerges cleanly (the top of each cupcake should also be golden and will spring back when lightly pressed with a finger.
Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before decorating.
In the meantime, use the royal icing to prepare the flowers. Take a small piece of the icing and colour yellow with food colouring. Take the white icing and roll out into a rope about 5mm (1/5 in) thick. Cut into 2cm (4/5 in) lengths then shape into petals (leave a long stem in one end).
Take the yellow icing and shape into balls then flatten into daisy centres. Take eight of the petals and arrange them in a circle, with the extensions in the centre. Use water to moisten the extensions and the bottom of the yellow centres then press them together. Allow to set and harden as you make the buttercream.
For the buttercream, sift the icing (confectioners’) sugar into a bowl then beat in the butter and vanilla extract along with 2-3 tbsp boiling water (this will loosen the mixture and make it more spreadable).
Beat the mixture until smooth then use to fill a piping bag and pipe over your cupcakes. Attach a royal icing flower to each cupcake and serve.
These will keep for up to a week in an air-tight tin.
