Mini Sunflower Cakes Recipes

SUNFLOWER CUPCAKE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt into a bowl.
• Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat in vanilla.
• Butter a 5-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, dust with all-purpose flour, and tap out excess. Line mini-muffin tins with mini baking cups (you'll need 75 cupcakes total).
• Fill tart pan halfway with batter (about 1/2 cup), then fill each baking cup halfway with batter (a generous tablespoon each). Bake until tops spring back when lightly touched, about 12 minutes for the cupcakes and 14 minutes for the cake. Transfer pans to wire racks, and let cake and cupcakes cool completely.
• Transfer 1/4 cup buttercream to a bowl, and stir in cocoa powder. Divide remaining buttercream among 3 bowls, and tint each batch a different shade of yellow or orange with gel-paste food coloring. Frost tops of cupcakes using the 3 colors. Frost top of cake with chocolate buttercream. Arrange berries over top of cake to cover and create "seeds." Arrange cupcakes around cake to create "petals," forming a sunflower shape.

MINI SUNFLOWER CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour cups of sunflower mini pan, or spray pan with baking spray with flour.
• Make cake batter as directed on box, adding food color to batter. Pour batter into pan, filling each cup about three-fourths full.
• Bake 18 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pan to cooling rack, placing sunflower side up. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the chocolate chips onto center of each cake. After chips melt slightly, spread chocolate with knife. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Store loosely covered.

SUNFLOWER CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with shortening or cooking spray. Make cake batter as directed on box--except stir chocolate chips into batter. Reserve 1 cup batter. Pour remaining batter into pans. Stir cocoa into reserved 1 cup batter. Drop chocolate batter by tablespoonfuls randomly onto batter in pans. Cut through batter with knife for marbled design.
• Bake 27 to 32 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around edges to loosen cakes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Place 1 cake round on large serving plate. Cut remaining cake into 8 triangles; place around cake pointed sides out to look like sunflower petals.
• In medium bowl, stir white frosting and tube of yellow gel food color until well blended. Frost sides and top of cake with yellow frosting. Sprinkle petals with yellow sugar. For sunflower seeds, pipe black decorating icing in center round of cake, using star tip. Make small bee using decorating icing. Store loosely covered at room temperature.