We’re usually not crazy about cupcakes with colored frostings but find ourselves totally charmed by the succulent and cacti cupcakes Alana Jones-Mann created, a happy relief from the usual flower motifs.  She shows you how you can do it yourself in her great tutorial.  It shows you how to make the “sand” the cacti stand in, green fondant and/or icing for creating what are, in effect, tiny cacti and or succulent sculptures. (The old food stylist/chef in us is thinking making a NATURAL green dye, made from juiced parsley or another mild, food-based plant, to avoid the scary dye question altogether, although most food-grade colorings are pretty benign. See Comments, below.)

alanajonesmann.com
alanajonesmann.com

Jones-Mann also shows how to make “leafy plant’ cupcakes. Dig this wonder:

alanajonesmann.com
alanajonesmann.com

via Neatorama

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4 replies on “DIY Succulent and Cacti Cupcakes

  1. hi-
    really love your blog! also love listening to your visits on The Splendid Table–these are my favorite shows.

    just wanted to point out that food colorings are NOT benign, unfortunately..
    yes, they are in small amounts, but their effects accumulate over time.
    there has been a lot of research into this, and for a long time; not sure why the EPA, FDA and the USDA still allow these substances in our food system, but they do.
    here is one such research article on the NIH website concerning food coloring and other artificial substances. you can follow links there, and elsewhere, for a LOT more research on this topic: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1469907/

  2. Yikes. I was thinking a teensy amount wouln’t hurt much IF you weren’t a consumer of the stuff generally. But I see your point, and would definitely go with my old tried-and-true method of juicing vegetables for colors.

  3. Clever and cute but one big mouthful of icing!!!

  4. You said it. But I’d suffer through that, or pull the top off to continue admiring it and eat the cake part.

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