Butterfly Cupcakes

"If you wish, you may eat with both hands and both feet. So get in there and munch. Have a big much-er-oo! Today is your birthday! Today you are you!" 

- Dr. Seuss from "Happy Birthday To You!"

Today is a wonderful day in my house. My little girl is two years old!!! I can't believe how the time has flown by... Ok, I need to stop before I start sobbing and thinking that she's going to leave me and go to college. Sniff.

Her birthday party is not for a few days yet since my husband will be away, but I still wanted to do something special for her (Look for pictures from the party on Monday!). 

I still thought it was important to make a big deal of today though. I put of decorations and blew up what felt like a bajillion balloons even though it's probably closer to 20. I also made some special cupcakes for our tea party. 

Faith is the specialty cupcake maker in our family, but I thought I'd show a quick and easy way to make it seem like you spent hours slaving over them, when in fact, it only took about 15 minutes. 

To start, decide which type of cupcake you want. I decided on a healthier type today since we'll be having lots of cake and candies in the next few days. I found the recipe for Carrot Muffins here and they turned out beautifully. I liked the fact that they were whole wheat (I used spelt flour) and contained honey instead of sugar. 

To make the butterflies for the top you'll need chocolate chips, wax paper and about 8 hours for setting time. The cheaper the chocolate chips are, the better your designs will turn out. Melt the chocolate in a pot on medium heat, stirring so that the chocolate does not burn. Put the melted chocolate in a small bag and cut off the tip. I found it was easier to put the chocolate in the bag using the tip from here:

                                                                            Source: bakingdom.com via Melody on Pinterest

Cut your wax paper so that it sits evenly over a pan (if you need to, tape the paper down). Create designs with the chocolate. Make sure that it's not too thin, otherwise it will snap and break too easily. I chose to make butterflies, but you could easily make hearts, flowers, initials, or whatever you want. Put your chocolate into the freezer for 8 hours to set. Once you're ready for them, they'll be easy to lift off the wax paper.

For the icing, I decided to use whip cream in a can (I know, I know). I sprayed in small bursts, lifting and twisting to create the look of small flowers. I placed the cupcakes into some liners that I made on my Cricut and placed my wonderful butterflies on top. Done!

Put your wonderful cupcakes onto a nice cake platter and when everyone asks how long everything took, tell them hours. :)

Hopefully, that's not too confusing for you. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. I'll be blogging on Monday about her animal themed party. I'm hoping it all turns out nicely! Have a wonderful day!