Make a Special Treat for Mom this Mother's Day

I have two major cooking goals: 1.) Learn to make the perfect frosting for decorating cakes and cupcakes 2.) Learn to make perfect icing roses. So far, I have accomplished neither. That has not stopped me from trying to make pretty cakes and cupcakes though.

As with most of my recent baking attempts, this week's project was inspired by a photo on Pinterest. Honestly, it turned out to be far easier than I thought it would be. I have a peacock cupcake on my to-try list that looks as if it will be far more difficult, but that is a project for another week.

Now, in the way of disclosure, I don't usually do cupcakes or cakes from scratch and I didn't make them from scratch for this project. In fact, I didn't even make the cupcakes — my daughter Lisa did (with a little help from Betty Crocker). Our good friend Duncan Hines chipped in to assist with the frosting. That brings us to the fun part — marshmallow flowers.

What you will need:

Frosted cupcakes

One bag of miniature marshmallows

Scissors

Colored sugar

I'm not going to tell you how many marshmallows you need. That really will depend on how much time and patience you have. You can start with about a cup and see how it goes.

Using scissors (trust me, a knife will not work as well), cut the marshmallows in half diagonally. Place halved marshmallows in a Ziploc bag. Add a teaspoon of colored sugar, seal the bag and shake until the sticky parts of the marshmallows are coated with sugar.

Starting from the outside of the cupcake, place the sugared marshmallow pieces in a circle with the sugared side facing up (see photo) and work your way to the center of the cupcake.

That's it. 

The little ones can help decorate, but results may vary. I saw a photo of one done by a 3-year-old and it really didn't look much like a flower at all — more like what a flower looks like after a cat has attacked it or something. I'm sure mom will love it just the same.

About this feature: Dacula Patch Editor Kristi Reed invites you to share your favorite recipes with the Patch community. Send your recipes to dacula@patch.com along with a photo and you could be the next featured cook.