Recipe: Sunflower Cupcakes

May 15, 2008— -- Everyone loves cupcakes, especially when they look as good as they taste! Karen Tack, co-author of "Hello,Cupcake!" stopped by "GMA Now" to share some of her amazing cupcake designs that are easy for anyone to make!

To watch how easy it is to make some of Tack's designs, be sure to click on the video to the left of this text. Please find the step-by-step recipe for her Sunflower cupcakes below:

The petals on these bright, sassy cupcakes may look complicated but they are actually quick and easy: Just grab a ziplock bag filed with 2 colors of frosting and squeeze, pull and release. Practice makes perfect.

Tint 1 ½ cups of the vanilla frosting green with the food coloring. Spread an even layer of the green frosting on top of the cupcakes and smooth. Arrange the chocolate sandwich cookies, regular and mini, randomly over the cupcakes, pressing them into the frosting to secure.
Tint the remaining vanilla frosting bright yellow with the food coloring. Remove ½ cup of the orange frosting into one side of a ziplock bag and spoon half of the yellow frosting into the other side of the bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Repeat the process with another ziplock bag and the remaining orange and yellow frosting. Reinforce the corner of each bag with six overlapping layers of scotch tape. Pinch the taped corners flat and cut a small V-shape in the corner to make a leaf tip. Pipe yellow-orange frosting around the edge of each cookie to make petals. Pipe another circle of petals just inside the first and slightly overlapping.
Sprinkle the work surface with the sugar. Roll out the spearmint leaves, one at a time, to 1/8 inch thick. Using clean scissors cut the candies or fruit leathers into 1 ½-inch-long leaf shapes. Press the leaves into the cupcakes just under the petals.
Tint the chocolate frosting black with the food coloring and spoon it into a small ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Snip a 1/16-inch corner from the bag. Pipe a dot of black frosting on some of the cookies and attach the red chocolate candies to make the ladybugs. Pipe a line of black frosting down the center of each ladybug and add a dot for the head and a few dots on the back.

For more cupcake creations, visit www.hellocupcakebook.com.