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March 17, 2014

Hydrangea Cupcakes Recipe

Name: Easy and Delicious Hydrangea Cupcakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; 1 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 cup warm coffee (freshly brewed); 1 Tbsp white vinegar; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1/3 cup olive oil; 1 stick (8 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temp); 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 1/8 tsp fine sea salt; 8 oz 1 stick cream cheese, softened to room temp and cut into 8 pieces; Blue (Red, Green food coloring gel (whatever colors you want))

4.75 from 76 votes
442 comments

Hydrangea Cupcakes tutorial, plus a recipe for incredible, moist chocolate cupcakes! How to make beautiful hydrangea cupcakes - it's easier than you think! | natashaskitchen.com

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

Big thank you to Sub-Zero and Wolf for sponsoring this recipe. Each of these hydrangea cupcakes is unique and beautiful, just like you. Did you know that March is Women’s History Month?

That’s why this post is dedicated to all of you moms, wives, sisters, daughters, and girlfriends–you’re awesome. I’ll take any excuse to celebrate, especially when I’m celebrating YOU. I hope you have a sweet and super blessed day. P.S. Make sure to enter the great giveaway at the end of this post!

Can I tell you a story? I worked as a realtor for 4 years while I was getting my first degree in business (what haven’t I tried?). Can’t imagine me as a realtor? Yeah… I’m much better at making food ;). Anyway, on the days my hubby wasn’t working, we toured gorgeous homes (our idea of fun).

I’ve seen hundreds of incredible homes and you know what they all seem to have in common? A quality range–a Wolf range. I’m pretty sure I touched every single one of them. They are hard to resist. Some people are obsessed with socks, but ranges really do it for me.

Quality equipment, like Wolf, matters in delivering the performance that you need for achieving delicious dishes. I don’t own a Wolf range yet, but I will and when I do, I’ll share a picture of myself hugging it on Instagram and tell you all about it.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS:

Now, I’ve always said, “If you can read, (a well-written, well-photographed, tested recipe) you can cook!” So let’s talk about what you’ll need to be successful with this recipe.

#1: a great cupcake base. I love the contrast of the chocolate cupcake and it kind of looks like the dirt in a flower pot ;). This chocolate cake base is a tried and true recipe that I’ve used before for my chocolate cupcakes with prague frosting (originally adapted from Simply Recipes). Why re-invent the wheel, right?

#2: a frosting that is color friendly. i.e. something that will still keep it’s form when food coloring is added. This frosting is just right and holds up beautifully. It also keeps its form once it’s piped onto the cupcakes.

#3: The right cooking tools: Gel food colors, a Wilton 2D tip (a large, drop flower decorating tip) and piping bags (preferably one-time use bags to save washing time if you want to use different colors).

#4: A reliable range. For the recipes I post, I generally use the regular baking setting (since not everyone has convection), but when I’m in a pickle (and I love pickles, but not this kind!), I turn to my convection setting. Wolf offers dual convection – two fans and four heating elements producing a more uniform heating than most ovens with a single convection fan.

You’ll have greater consistency with food (no more browning on one side or half-cooked cupcakes!) and you can put foods on multiple racks with perfect results. Imagine: multiple racks of cookies perfectly browned, without even rotating the trays.

Click here to learn more about the Wolf range’s features (prepare to be dazzled). I like that Wolf knows moms put great care into the food they provide their families, and they make appliances that help us all do just that. I served these cupcakes to all the women in my family – after my husband and son took their 10% cut. I guess they’re entitled ;). On to the recipe!

Ingredients for 12 chocolate cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour *measured correctly
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm coffee (freshly brewed)
1 Tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup olive oil

Hydrangea Cupcakes tutorial + recipe for incredible, moist chocolate cupcakes!! @NatashasKitchen

Frosting Ingredients:

1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened to room temp
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
8 oz (1 stick) cream cheese, softened to room temp and cut into 8 pieces
Blue, Red, Green food coloring gel (whatever colors you want)

Hydrangea Cupcakes-17

How to Make Hydrangea Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Brew your coffee.

2. In a large bowl combine your dry ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, sift in 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt and whisk together until there are no more cocoa lumps.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together your wet ingredients: 1 cup coffee, 1 Tbsp vinegar, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/3 cup olive oil.

4. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until they come together. Your batter will still be a little lumpy.

5. Use an ice cream scoop to pour your batter into the lined cupcake pan. They should be about 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes on the center rack or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.

Making Hydrangea Cupcakes Frosting:

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the 1 stick of softened butter with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and salt on low speed or until combined, scraping as necessary ~ 1 min.

Don’t start on high speed or you will be surrounded in a cloud of powdered sugar (lessons learned). Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is pale and fluffy (2-3 min).

Hydrangea Cupcakes-18

2. Add cream cheese 1-piece at a time and mix until combined. (I waited maybe 3 seconds in between each piece; just one after another). Once all of the cream cheese is incorporated, continue to beat 1 more minute until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

You need your frosting to be super smooth without any globs of cream cheese or they will get stuck in the piping star, so if you see globs, keep mixing.

Hydrangea Cupcakes Recipe - 5

3. Separate frosting into as many bowls as you want different colors. I had ramekins for: white, pink, light blue, lavender and green). If you don’t like food coloring or just don’t have any, feel free to make beautiful pure white hydrangeas.

How to Make a Hydrangea Frosting Flowers:

1. Start with placing a Wilton 2D tip into a piping bag. Place the prepared bag into a tall glass and fold the bag over the glass. Blend food coloring into the frosting to get your desired colors. For purple, I used 2 parts red and 1 part blue, for blue I used 3 parts blue and 1 part red to tone it down a little.

Hydrangea Cupcakes-21

2. Add one color on the left side of the bag and a second color on the right side of the bag.

Hydrangea Cupcakes Recipe - 6

3. Pipe a little into a plate until you see both colors coming through. Start by piping the border of the cupcake and work your way in.

Place the tip right over the cupcake, pull directly away from the cupcake about 1/3″ and release creating a petal-like design. Work all the way around keeping the petals close together so you don’t see the cupcake through the flowers.

Hydrangea Cupcakes Recipe - 7

Tip for success:

Your hands will cause the frosting to warm up as you pipe, so try not to handle it too much between cupcakes. If the petals start to soften and aren’t holding their form, place the piping bag into the fridge to firm up for 5 minutes or so, then continue.

Hydrangea Cupcakes tutorial + recipe for incredible, moist chocolate cupcakes!! @NatashasKitchen

P.S. If you are doing a variety of colors, disposable frosting bags would be a good idea. It was a little tedious to wash it over and over… and over. But you must know, I did it for you! Happy Women’s History Month! I’d pass one of these to you if I could.

Here’s the Print-Friendly Recipe 😉

Hydrangea Cupcakes tutorial + recipe for incredible, moist chocolate cupcakes!! @NatashasKitchen

For amazing kitchen design and cooking inspiration, hop on over to the Sub-Zero and Wolf website and Facebook page.

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.