A Bouquet of Edible Blossoms

Photographed by Albertine Ellinwood

We celebrate birthdays often at the magazine, as we enjoy creating and designing our party themes and incorporating the Gulf Coast Living design ideas. The latest event was held on March 8 for the birthday of our publisher, Christiane Francin. Two creative staff members, Romaine Purdy and Betsy Eno, designed the tablescape for this gathering. We felt the centerpiece, which showcases a basket of edible posies, was worthy of sharing with our readers. The sweet spring basket, with cupcakes baked and decorated by Betsy, is a showstopper and can be given as a gift not only for a birthday, but for any type of joyful celebration.

Our Tablescape
The table was draped with a silk cream-colored tablecloth with matching placemats. The napkins were folded into a floral design, and a small piece of gold foil-covered chocolate was placed in the middle to resemble the center of the flower. Ivory colored plates, cups and saucers trimmed with gold graced the table. Dessert plates became the base for individual coffee cups filled with our floral cupcakes.

The Menu
We feasted on Caprese salad with arugula, drizzled with homemade balsamic dressing that had a hint of brown sugar. The fresh mozzarella cheese and garden tomatoes were wonderful! For our entrée, we enjoyed Chicken Marsala and Pasta e olio, paired with tasty garlic bread.

After this incredibly delicious meal prepared by Romaine, we moved on to dessert. The cupcakes were so beautiful that, at first, we just wanted to look at them. We managed to hold off for about a minute, before we were enjoying every bite!

Here is how we created the cupcakes in a cup…

Written and Designed by Betsy A. Eno

Materials
7 (9-oz) plastic cups
Stapler or low-temp hot glue gun
1 bag of flavored mini marshmallows (in pastel colors)
Decorative basket
1 bag of white mini marshmallows
A variety of colored sugars complementary to pastel marshmallows (1/4 cup each)
7 cupcakes baked in paper liners • White icing
Yellow and orange coated candies, gum drops or jelly beans
Paper plates • Tissue paper • Ribbon

Directions

Start by stapling or hot-gluing six cups around the outside of the seventh cup to form a circle. Fill each cup two-thirds full with some of the multi-colored mini marshmallows (to elevate the cupcakes), set aside. Note: Make sure the secured cups fit inside the basket you plan to use for your final display before you begin the decorating and assembly process.

Pour each color of the decorative sugar onto a separate paper plate (one plate per sugar). Using clean kitchen shears, cut approximately 20 marshmallows (more or less may be needed) of one color diagonally in half, and then drop into like-colored sugar. Spread a thin layer of icing onto a cupcake. Press the cut marshmallow’s sticky part into the sugar, and place them along the cupcake’s outer edge so that the narrow end of the petal is pointing up and the colored sugar is showing. Make two additional rows. To add the finishing touch, place a yellow or orange piece of candy in the center. Repeat the process until all cupcakes are decked out in a colorful bouquet. Note: To firm up the petals, leave the cupcakes out overnight. This will not affect the taste or quality.

When you’re ready to present your bouquet, line a basket with tissue paper and set the prepared cups inside. To avoid over-handling, you may want to arrange them on the table and determine your pattern for the final display before placing them inside the cups. When you are ready, carefully place your first cupcake atop the marshmallows in the center cup. If the cupcake does not sit high enough, remove it, fill the cup with more marshmallows until you achieve the desired height, then replace the cupcake. Continue the process until all the cups are filled. Finish by tying a ribbon around the handle of the basket.

Note: The 9-oz. cups are recommended because it might pose more of a challenge to remove the cupcakes from the smaller cups without damaging them.