Recipe: Mum's the Word Cupcake Bouquet (decorated with mini marshmallows)

MUM'S THE WORD CUPCAKE BOUQUET

"Moms love mums. We cut mini marshmallows on the diagonal and dipped the sticky side in colored sugar to make dozens of pink, yellow, purple, blue and orange petals. Your mums will leave Mom speechless."

8 vanilla cupcakes baked in orange paper liners
1/4 cup each blue, white, light yellow, bright pink, bright yellow,
orange, and purple decorating sugars
1 (10.5 ounces) bag flavored mini marshmallows (assorted pastel colors)
1 (10.5 ounces) bag mini marshmallows
1 cup canned vanilla frosting
40 pastel-colored licorice pastels (Jelly Belly)
Green licorice twists (Twizzlers Rainbow Twists)

Place each colored sugar in a separate shallow bowl. Sort out 22 like-colored marshmallows for each cupcake. Make the petals for each cupcake by cutting the 22 mini marshmallows in half on the diagonal, allowing all of the marshmallow pieces to fall into one of the colored sugars. Shake the bowl and press the cut sides of the marshmallows into the sugar to coat. Repeat with the remaining marshmallows and colored sugars.

Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of 1 cupcake. Starting along the outside edge of the cupcake, arrange like-colored marshmallow petals, sugared sides up, close together. Continue with another 2 rows of the same color marshmallows to almost completely cover the cupcake. Repeat with the remaining frosting, cupcakes and marshmallows.

For the stamens, insert 5 like-colored licorice pastels in the center of each cupcake. Arrange the flower cupcakes on a serving platter. Trim the green licorice twists to look like stems and place on the platter.

Makes 1 bouquet, 8 cupcakes
Source: What's New, Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson