Okay, I know this is completely last minute.  BUT, it’s simple enough that you can still gather what you need to whip these up on Sunday.  A super easy treat, perfect for mom, that tastes sooo delicious!  Honestly, I can’t tell you how many of these little guys I ate during the test run.  Well, I could tell you.  But I won’t!  Pastry, baked high until it’s incredibly flaky.  Sprinkled with sugar.  And inside is a single slice of strawberry.  It’s almost like a little strawberry donut…. but way, way better!  Bake them up and serve with a cup of coffee or tea, for an unexpectedly easy treat for mom.  You’d never know it started with a frozen box of puff pastry!  I won’t tell if you don’t.  So why not treat mom to some Strawberry Filled Pastry Flowers on Mother’s Day!

While not part of the tutorial… I had to share this next picture!  My little helper is really starting to enjoy being in the kitchen with me!  Making this an extra special Mother’s Day tutorial!

PUFF PASTRY FLOWERS – A MOTHER’S DAY TREAT
(makes 12)

SUPPLIES
1 Box Frozen Puff Pastry
sugar
strawberries, sliced
egg wash (1 egg, beaten with a little water added)
parchment paper
cookie cutter

1. Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.  Either overnight in the refrigerator or 30 minutes on counter.  Unfold and sprinkle both sides with sugar.
2. Cut out flowers using cookie cutter.  You will use two flower cutouts for each pastry.
3. Place one flower onto parchment paper on baking sheet.  Place a slice of strawberry in the center.  Brush edges of pastry with egg wash.
4. Take another flower and cut a whole in the center or make an X in the middle with your knife.  Place on top of the first flower and strawberry.  Press down on outside edges with thumb to create a seal.
5. Sprinkle entire pastry with sugar.  Repeat for desired number of pastries.  Place pan into refrigerator for 15 minutes.
6. Bake at 400 for 15 – 20 minutes until puffed and golden brown.  Best served freshly baked!

Wishing all of the mother’s a wonderful Mother’s Day this weekend!  Enjoy!

Our cupcake contributor, Lauren of Crave. Indulge. Satisfy., is back today!  We missed Lauren last month… she was busy becoming a new mother!!  Congrats to Lauren on the birth of her son!  And speaking of moms, Lauren is sharing a fabulous recipe just in time for Mother’s Day!  I’ll let Lauren take it away from here…

Just in time for Mother’s Day I’m excited to share a delicious cupcake recipe that any mom is sure to love! This recipe is packed full of special flavors to create the ultimate sweet treat for mom’s special day. Not only do these cupcakes taste amazing, but they are displayed in some adorable DIY cupcake wrappers. Your mom will feel like a queen if you bake her a batch of these Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Strawberry & Vanilla Meringue Buttercream.

We all love a traditional vanilla cake, but these are extra special with the addition of vanilla bean paste to enhance the flavor and appearance. I love the little black vanilla bean seeds that are sprinkled throughout. To finish off the cupcakes a meringue buttercream made from egg whites, sugar and butter is swirled on top. This frosting is not your standard buttercream, but one that is more light and fluffy and not overly sweet. To give these special cakes the “wow factor” I decided to flavor the buttercream as two flavors: vanilla and strawberry, which created a beautiful white and pink swirl on top. Using fresh strawberries in the icing created a pale pink color with specs of the red berries throughout. The texture and flavor of this icing is the perfect compliment to the vanilla bean cakes.

If you’re feeling a little crafty and want to take these cupcakes to the next level of fabulous then you can create your own DIY cupcake wrappers. Wilton makes some adorable Ruffled Baking Cups now in assorted colors that you can pick up at your local craft store. I grabbed some pink and white ones to fit with the color scheme of the swirl icing colors. I found some adorable rick rack ribbon to match and by attaching them with double sided tape around the outside of the cupcake liners you have a super simple and beautiful way to display these delicious cakes.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Strawberry & Vanilla Meringue Buttercream Swirl
(makes 24 cupcakes)

For the cake:

3 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
6 egg whites
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste (I used Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste)
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
2. In medium bowl combine dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In bowl of stand mixer beat butter, sugar, vanilla bean paste and vanilla on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
4. Gradually add in the flour mixture and milk alternately, starting and ending with flour. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
5. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold into cake batter.
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Let cupcakes cool on pans for 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling.
9. Once cupcakes are completely cool frost with Strawberry & Vanilla Swirl Meringue Buttercream.

For the icing:
First create a base buttercream, then modify to make the Vanilla & Strawberry flavors.

4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
5 egg whites
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup strawberries, chopped

Base Meringue Buttercream:

1. In bowl of stand mixer combine egg whites, sugar and salt. Place over a pan of simmering water and whisk continuously until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. (The mixture should feel smooth when rubbed between your fingers).
2. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high whisk until stiff peaks form and mixture is fluffy and glossy, about 10 minutes.
3. With mixer on medium speed, add butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Separate icing evenly into 2 batches, one for Vanilla and one for Strawberry.

Vanilla Meringue:

1. To half the batch of icing, add vanilla.
2. Switch to paddle attachment and beat about 2 minutes until icing is smooth.
3. Place Vanilla icing in 12 inch piping bag and snip off tip with scissors.

Strawberry Meringue:

1. Puree strawberries in a food processor..
2. To the second half of icing, add the strawberries and beat until combined.
3. Place Strawberry icing in 12 inch piping bag and snip off tip with scissors.

To Frost Cupcakes:

1. Take both the Vanilla and Strawberry icing piping bags and place inside of a 16 inch piping bag fitted with star tip 1M.
2. Squeeze piping bag starting on the outer edge of the cupcake and go in a circular motion towards the center to create the Vanilla & Strawberry Swirl look.

DIY Cupcake Wrappers:
12 Wilton White Ruffled Baking Cups
12 Wilton Pink Ruffled Baking Cups
Pink & White Rick Rack Ribbon
Double Sided Tape

1. Place baked cupcakes into ruffled baking cups after they cool. (I baked my cupcakes in standard liners, and then placed them in the ruffled cups. You could always just bake your cupcakes in the ruffled cups to begin with).
2. Cut rick rack ribbon so that it will wrap around the outside of your cupcake.
3. Place 3 pieces of double sided tape evenly spaced around the cupcake wrapper.
4. Add the rick rack ribbon on top of the double sided tape, gently pressing it all the way around the cupcake.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and fun way to embellish your cupcake wrappers! Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there!

	Lauren is a regular contributor for Half Baked. She is a self-taught baker and lover of all things sugar. Read more about Lauren on her bio page.

Our cupcake contributor, Lauren of Crave. Indulge. Satisfy., is here today to make you drool…

I don’t know about you but one of my favorite sweets as a runner up to cupcakes of course, is Oreos!  My all time favorites are the Double Stuf.  But now there are even more options for the chocolate sandwich cream-filled cookies than when I was a kid…like Berry Burst, Peanut Butter and Cool Mint flavors!  I even saw a new Birthday Flavor with sprinkles in the cream center at the grocery the other day.  Well come to find out Oreo is celebrating their 100th birthday this month!  WOW!  I had no clue Milk’s Favorite Cookie was turning the big 100, and much less the month I planned to do an Oreo themed cupcake.  I must say the timing turned out quite nicely!  So today I’m excited to share with you some delicious Chocolate Mint Oreo Cupcakes.

This recipe is super simple and doesn’t require a ton of ingredients.  The base of the cake starts with a chocolate box mix, which I’m sure most everyone has on hand in their pantry just in case you need to whip up a cake in a pinch.  Add a few extra ingredients to the mix and you’ve got yourself a cake that tastes like its from scratch!  I always keep a few box cakes on hand just in case I want to save the extra time and measuring of all those ingredients when making a cake.  And if you make the frosting from scratch I guarantee know one will even know the cake was from a box…it can be our little secret!

The fun thing about Oreos is that they are just the right size to sneak into the bottom of your cupcake liners before adding your cake batter.  The cake bakes up perfectly leaving the Oreo at the bottom of the wrapper so its completely hidden.  It is not until someone takes a bite into the cupcake do they discover the surprise of the cream-filled cookie inside and that extra burst of color from the green Cool Mint!  I must say these go over great with the kids…it’s like they found a hidden treasure inside their cake!

With all the Oreo flavors these days, this recipe can be easily adapted to suit your flavor cravings! So have fun experimenting with your favorite Oreo flavor.

Chocolate Mint Oreo Cupcakes

For the cake:

1 box Devils Food Cake Mix
1 small box (3.9oz) Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
24 Cool Mint Oreos

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
2. Place one Cool Mint Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake liner.
3. In medium bowl combine cake mix, chocolate pudding, vegetable oil, milk and eggs.
4. Beat with electric mixer until incorporated and then continue mixing 1-2 minutes.
5. Scoop batter over top of Oreos in cupcake liner.
6. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling.
8. Once cupcakes are completely cool frost with Crushed Oreo Mint Frosting.

For the icing:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
6 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp mint extract
green food coloring
12 Cool Mint Oreos, crushed

1. In bowl of stand mixer beat butter and vegetable shortening until creamy.
2. Gradually add in confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
3. Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time as needed until reach desired consistency.
4. Add mint extract and a few drops of green food coloring to tint to desired color.
5. Mix in crushed Oreos.
6. Place icing in piping bag and snip off tip to create a large hole. Swirl icing on top of cupcakes.
7. Garnish cupcakes with 1 Cool Mint Oreo cookie on top if desired.

Go pour yourself a tall glass of milk and enjoy a Chocolate Mint Oreo Cupcake! Happy 100th Birthday Oreo!

	Lauren is a regular contributor for Half Baked. She is a self-taught baker and lover of all things sugar. Read more about Lauren on her bio page.