Buttercream-Blossom Cupcakes

These beautiful piped-flower cupcakes seem to have been just been picked from a spring garden. They may look intimidating, but with a bit of practice (on parchment paper), you should be able to produce the piped designs with relative ease. Stems can be trickier than they appear, so be sure to also try out a few of these; pipe too quickly and the stems break, too slowly, and they won’t be straight. (Any breaks may be filled in with more buttercream.) Before piping onto cupcakes, lightly mark the pattern on the frosting with a skewer or toothpick. When piping, use your writing hand to hold and squeeze the bag near the top and your other hand to steady and steer the tip.