Mother’s Day Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting and Edible Gold Leaf

It’s Mother’s Day! Every year this day gets better and better, and I enjoy spending time with these amazing, crazy, imaginative and adventurous little creatures that have made me a mommy!

This year the kiddos surprised me with fancy coffee in bed, a new houseplant, adorable little cards, and some yarn dandelions (I had helped them make these for all the grandparents, but didn’t know my hubby helped the kids make some for me!).

So awhile back, while homeschooling the kiddos, the topic of edible gold somehow came up. The kids were just flabbergasted that you could actually eat REAL gold. So I bought some sheets of edible gold flake weeks ago, and have been saving it for a special occasion. With Mother’s Day coming up, it seemed like the perfect excuse to use it. So we decided to make… gold cupcakes!

I made the cupcake toppers on Canva, and we had a ton of fun peeling off the gold and making flakes to gently tap into the frosting. This stuff was a LOT harder to work with than I anticipated.. but the kids had a lot of fun, and they were a lot of fun to eat. We all kept saying how rich we felt while eating these, but I had to argue that I am the richest since I have these three wonderful children who made me a mommy AND I get to eat golden cupcakes, haha!

If you’d like to give these cupcakes a try, check it out!

You Will Need:

• For the Cupcakes:
• ½ cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 3 stiffly beaten egg whites
• ¼ cup sugar

• For the Buttercream Frosting:
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons cooking sherry
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1 egg white
• Gold sprinkles
• Edible gold leaf

1. Thoroughly cream the shortening and 1 cup sugar. Add the vanilla.
2. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add to creamed mixture and then beat in the milk.
4. Beat egg whites until foamy, then gradually add ¼ cup of sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the cupcake batter.
5. Fill greased cupcake cups and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
6. To make the buttercream frosting, thoroughly cream 1/3 cup butter and 2 cups of powdered sugar.
7. Add the sherry and orange peel and mix well.
8. Add the egg white and then beat till the mixture is of spreading consistency.
9. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and decorate with gold sprinkles and edible gold leaf.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mommies out there!!!