Hydrangea Cupcakes

Our neighbor owns and runs two early education programs in New York City—as he is from France, they are French immersion classes. The school offers a Mommy & Me class for toddlers and he offered to give Alex a free semester. We attended our first session a few days ago, and wanted to thank him with flowers, with a twist; so I decided to make hydrangea cupcakes. 

I used a basic vanilla batter, but added about one tablespoon of vanilla with two tablespoons of almond extract (the batter smelled delicious!). 

After the cupcakes were baked and cooled, I mixed my colors—I made three types of colors:

• A pale blue (using royal blue, violet and a smidgen of yellow coloring)
• A pale green (using green and yellow coloring)
• White

I lined the pastry bag with the blue frosting and then added the green to the center, topping it off with the white. I made loose star shapes around the perimeter and worked inwards. 

After the cupcakes were frosted, I packaged in a white box, cut out a label and adhered it to the top. I added a Tiffany blue ribbon to the box. 

This was my first time using a pastry bag to make cupcakes. I had a ton of fun, but there are some definite areas of improvement needed.

What can be improved next time:

• I think the colors should be just a touch bolder next time.
• I need to add more confectionery sugar to my frosting, so the stars are a bit more firm. 

This will not be the last time I try to make these! I think with a few improvements, these cupcakes could be spectacular.