I've had a Pillsbury pink lemonade cake mix and frosting that's been sitting in my pantry since the beginning of this summer and needed to put it to use!  Since the frosting was pink I thought I'd try out a rose frosting technique that I've always wanted to do.

These cupcakes are mini size.  Most of the time when I make cupcakes I make them mini size.  Why?  Well there are a few reasons:  Making minis doubles the batch of 24 regular cupcakes to 48 mini ones so you get double the quantity out of the mix.  I feel more people are likely to grab a mini one being served at a function because its a smaller portion and less calories than a regular sized one.  They're just a little cuter in mini form and I'm personally a little partial to mini ones!  : )

So how do you do this technique?  I turned to a video online from Created by Diane.  Diane shows how to do this rose technique in 20 seconds, YES 20 seconds.  It's that easy!  Check out the video here.  I wasn't sure if this technique would turn out on a mini cupcake since there isn't as much square footage to work with as a regular sized one.  I think they turned out pretty good though.  I'm not sure if mine look like roses but it looks like some kind of flower and pretties up the cupcakes a little more than just frosting with a knife.  These really are super easy to do after you watch the video, I swear.

Tips for the rose frosting technique to be a success: 1. You'll need a 2D icing tip like this (left side of pict. below) and an icing bag. 2. Sometimes it's a little hard to hold the icing bag and scoop your frosting in it at the same time, you sometimes feel like you need a third hand.  Enter your third hand...use a tall glass and put your empty icing bag with the 2D tip in a glass and fold down the top of the bag over the glass and begin to put your frosting in it (right side of pict. below).  This is one of the best tips I've learned over the years to fill an icing bag and not create a mess!  3. You need a fairly stiff but squeezable frosting when doing this technique so the rose will keep it's shape while you are piping it on the cupcake.  If you are making homemade frosting just add a little more powdered sugar to your frosting to thicken it up.  I used a can frosting for these and I feel most of the canned frostings are a little soft to work with when piping on frosting for the shape to hold up.  To help the frosting hold it's shape better while piping put the frosting filled icing bag in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so to firm it up.  You can also mix in a little powdered sugar to the canned frosting to thicken it up too. 4. When working with an icing bag the heat of your hand will kind of "melt" your frosting.  If you notice the frosting isn't holding it's shape as well as when you started put your filled icing bag in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to stiffen up again. 5. It took 1 1/2 cans of frosting to frost these (48) mini ones.  I think piping frosting on vs. using a knife uses up a little more frosting.  If you're making homemade frosting you might want to make 1 1/2 batches and if you're using canned frosting pick 2 up so you don't have to go back to the grocery store...like I did!  FYI if you have some leftover frosting it tastes awesome on graham crackers...just sayin'! ; ) 6. Loosely cover your cupcakes up after you frost them.  If you store and seal up your cupcakes in an air tight container the moisture of the cake will start to loosen up your frosting and the beautiful work you did will start to lose shape and your frosting will kind of look like it's melting.  I just put the cover on kind of crooked so a little air can get in the container and help the frosting keep it's shape. 7. Don't get too critical of your work.  I wasn't sure if the first ones I frosted looked very good.  I can become a little critical of myself...anyone else have that issue?  Anyways when I looked at them individually I wasn't sure if they looked very good, but when they were all placed together they looked fine.  (I think tip 7 is mainly a tip for myself in general! #selftherapy ha ha) 8. Now go try this technique and WOW all your friends!

Below is what rose frosted cupcakes look like when your husband takes them to work and brings the leftover ones back home! Oops!!  ha ha

Happy Baking!! What's Baking is a section on my blog where I share various items I've been making and baking!  I've loved to bake since I was little!  Some recipes or creations I've made up myself and some are things I've made from my way too many Pinterest boards and from way too many bloggers I follow.  To take a look at some other things I've been baking go here!