Buttercream Succulent Cupcakes Tutorial

Succulents are one of my favorite plants. With their striking intricate appearance and its ability to thrive with minimal care, succulents are often grown now as ornamental plants. But if it’s almost impossible to have succulents in your place, don’t worry because you can create one using it as cupcake decorations. In this post, I will make delicious buttercream succulent cupcakes as I turn these lush and prickly plants into a delightful dessert. I am sure that you would enjoy doing this too.

It has been 10 years since I left my family to improve my skills and to make this dream job a reality. Being far from them never stopped me from staying connected. I would often send gifts to my parents and my younger sister during their birthdays or make a phone call every time I would feel homesick. But I never tried giving them a handmade gift, even though they know my passion for cakes. Honestly, they haven’t tasted even one cake I made, especially my sister.

My sister loves succulents and cactuses too. I still remember she used to grow succulents in plant pots around my parent’s house. Since I’ve been missing my family and my sister, I will make her upcoming 30th birthday more special by sending her a delectable succulent cake. This would surely surprise her. I hope you stick around as I make this tasty cake that you can follow and make one for your loved ones.

What is the difference between succulents and cactus?

Many think that succulents and cactus are just the same. There are about 60 families of plants within the group of succulents. Cacti belong to one of these families, which are called the Cactaceae family. Cacti are just subcategories within the group of water-storing plants, which is collectively known as succulents. Since cacti are fleshy plants that store water too, therefore all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. The word “succulent” comes from Latin “succus,” meaning juice or sap. These plants can be found in dry, arid climates where rainfall is infrequent, so they heavily rely on dew and mist to survive.

These are just quick tidbits of the difference between succulents and cactus. There are a lot of interesting articles on the internet on how to grow them. But on this article, I want to show on how to make these beautiful plants turn into a delicious ornament on top of your cupcakes by making 3 types of buttercream succulents and 3 cactus as well as assembling them on cupcakes.

Tips to become pro in making succulents.

Making succulent cupcakes can be very time-consuming but keeping your working area organized, you can finish this job with ease. So here are some tips to become pro at making succulents.

• There are many choice of buttercream you can choose from, but I always prefer Italian buttercream, especially once it comes to combine with gel color, it turns out so beautiful with a shiny look, I use 2 main tone colors are dark green and light green, I also use the red shade for couple succulents. And before I attach them, my cupcakes be always frosted and sprinkle some smashed cookies and rocky chocolate on top for a nature look, like a little plant pot. Here is the image what I mean:

• To make the assembling process on cupcakes or cakes, I always pipe them ahead and store in the fridge, then use a pair of plastic scissors to release from the paper.

• Attach piping bags with couplers and fill each bag with colored buttercream (or any style you wish). If couplers are not available, you can use piping tips by inserting it at the very end of the piping bags. Arrange your workspace based on how you feel comfortable working. You can also place a baking sheet with buttercream bags on your right and parchment squares on your left and flower nails in front of you. If you don’t have parchment squares, you can improvise by cutting parchment paper in 2” squares. With these tips, you are ready to make your buttercream succulents.

Buttercream Succulents Cupcakes

Echeveria blue rose

This attractive succulent derived its name from the blue-green color leaves and highly valued for its stunning rose-like structure. Though I see its leaves in light green color, I am using a mainly green shade for this plant.

How to pipe: First, place a square parchment paper underneath the flower nail. Use piping tip #104, start by squeezing a dollop with 3 small overlapping petals in the center to create like a rosebud that is around 1 cm high. The first inner circle must have 3 petals. Likewise, the next ring needs to have 5 leaves. First, Pipe the petals in small size and as you reach the very end increase the size of the petals until it becomes bigger. Then I use a brush and deep in water to make the leaf head look sharp, keep going till you reach round 3 or 4.

Aeonium (sprig florals)

Nest, we are going to make is the succulent Aeonium, which is also called tree house leeks. There are about 35 species of this succulent belonging to the family of Crassulaceae. Aeoniums got its name from the ancient Greek word “aionos” meaning ageless. The small, star-like flowers that grow into clusters has a light green shade with a contrast of pink on the edge of the leaves.

How to pipe: To create this plant, I am using tip #104 as well. The color is a light green with a little bit of pink at the point. For the first and second rounds, make sure the large tip is facing down to the center. It is the center point of making the flower pattern. Apply pressure in a 30-degree angle to release the buttercream as you spin the flower nail. In this case, you need to drag and continuously move up and downwards.

Haworthia cupsidata (star window plant)

These small succulents have a star-like structure. It has bright green rosettes of thick and fleshy leaves. The leaves are marked by mottling of translucent leaf windows.

Piping using Ateco #352 tip with dark green buttercream, just like what we did on the rest of the succulents, we need to pipe out a small mound of frosting at the center of the flower nail, then attach the square parchment paper. Start at the base of the frosting, squeeze several leaves around the center. Once you have one row of spikes, continue moving up and at the center until you reach the top. I use 3 of them to attach on the cupcake, so cute!

Buttercream Cactuses Cupcakes

Powder puff

It may not look very attractive on the real plant, but with this edible cactus, I am sure that the final result will look very lovely and delicious. For this cactus, I use tip number #10 to pipe the thick and high fleshy leaves in the middle. Then I use the head from spatula knife to smoothen the head top. To finish the structure, I pipe from top to bottom with tip #3.

Echinopsis

To make this sea-urchin like succulent, hold the piping tip #807 at a 90-degree angle. Carefully pipe the buttercream and release the pressure until it reaches the size you want, then I make the edge point size with tip #352. Next is to pipe small white dots with tip #2. Finally, use piping tip #80 to create a cute little flower at the top of the cactus. This technique is unique compared to one you see from the internet. Trust me, this will improve the look of your succulent.

Peanut cactus

Peanut Cactus is another distinct plant that looks like a peanut. To make a trunk, I use tip #199 and squeeze the piping bag, starting at the bottom going to the top. Just like the previous cacti, make a small flower on top using piping tip #80.

Now then How to create a big succulent cactus cake

For this post, I mainly focus on how to decorate cupcakes with buttercream succulents. But some of you may want a bigger cake. You can do it and might be a lot easier to create a gorgeous succulent cake. Since I have an extra 7-inch naked cake in the fridge, I will also show you how to arrange your dessert garden easily just follow these steps and let’s make a surprise for your family.

Step 1: You can either use a cake with frosting or a naked cake. Whatever cake you have on hand would be fine.

Step 2: Start decorating the cake by gently peeling off the parchment paper on one of your chilled succulents. Place it on top of your frosted cake if the frosting on the cake has crusted dab some buttercream to keep the succulent in place. Using a pair of scissors, carefully slide the succulents in the cake. To create a layered effect, you can work on piping a mound of buttercream before adding a succulent or a cacti. Your cake would be more realistic by filling in gaps and edges of your arrangement with smaller succulents piped directly in the cake.

Step 3: Now that we have put our succulents into place, we need to make some finishing touches for our cake. Using a small round tip to fit in a piping bag, fill in the remaining details with green buttercream. To create a vine effect, pipe a line over the edge of your cake, and apply another layer over the line a few times to thicken it. Add small dots down the entire line, leaving spaces in between to make it more realistic. Complete the look of your succulent cake by sprinkling mashed cookies and rocky chocolate, see a video for tutorial

Now you can make your version of succulent cupcakes with this step by step guide that I shared with you. I would love to see how’s your version came out, so feel free to post it in the comment section.