Cupcakes!

The daisies are a borrowed idea from Bakerella, made using the technique from The Whimsical Bakehouse. I love that book! I also made daisies with white borders that are even cuter, but they didn't "pop" on the cupcakes. I tried dying some purple frosting so they'd show up better, but the colors didn't match, so I went with these.

The cupcakes themselves are "Ice Water White Cake", posted by Chiqui on the Fine Cooking message board. It's a tender but firm cake, made with whipped egg whites.

The frosting is Mousseline Buttercream from The Cake Bible. Last night I gave Gary fair warning that I would be getting up early today, before it got too hot, and I'd be cranking the air conditioner way down. Otherwise, "room temperature" in Texas in June in a heatwave would not be "room temperature". The good news is that if you ever need a buttercream that is stiff and stable enough to pipe, this is it! I have plenty left over to freeze, so now I need an occasion to decorate a cake.

Here they are all boxed up to go. I'll have to be sure the car is cool before they go in, or this was a waste of time, butter, and eggs.