Edible succulents

To make cupcakes we will need:

60 g cocoa powder (nesquik will not work)
100 ml boiling water
250 g flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
150 g butter
200 g sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla sugar
120 g sour cream

Preparation:

  And so, the first step is to pour boiling water over the cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Set aside. Place the butter and sugar in a saucepan and place on the stove. Cook, stirring until the butter dissolves. Then transfer the mixture into a bowl and start beating with a mixer. Beat until mixture cools to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.
Add vanilla sugar and cocoa mixture, beat until smooth. Sift flour with salt, soda and baking powder. Add flour to the egg-chocolate mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream.
We place our dough into greased molds (if you use paper liners, there is no need to grease), filling them no more than 3/4 full. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees until dry, about 25-30 minutes.
Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

 
While our cupcakes were in the oven, we prepared a substrate for succulents from cookies and sweet cream on which we poured cookies.

For cream:

180 g powdered sugar
80 g butter
80 g cream cheese
140 g chocolate from 50% cocoa

  Preparing the cream. Melt the chocolate in a water bath or in the microwave, mix with powdered sugar. Then beat the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth, add the chocolate and powdered sugar, and beat again. The cream is ready! You can apply using a pastry bag or an ordinary spoon.

We prepare the succulents and the pot from a thick glaze or cream called “marzipan”.

Marzipan is a kind of sweet mass, reminiscent of plasticine in consistency, which, due to its plasticity, allows you to create decorations for desserts of a wide variety of shapes. Possessing a natural, exquisite, magical taste, marzipan is considered one of the healthiest delicacies, because it is based on nuts and sugar.

To prepare marzipan:

2 eggs,
2 yolks,
225 g sugar,
225 g powdered sugar,
450 g ground almonds,
6 drops vanilla essence,
2 tsp lemon juice
and food coloring of the desired color.

Preparation:

Pour hot water over the almonds for a few minutes to make them easier to peel, dry in the oven over low heat for several minutes, without allowing the nuts to change color. Grind the dried nuts in a coffee grinder. Mix sugar, powdered sugar and ground nuts.



In a separate bowl, mix 2 yolks, 2 eggs, lemon juice and vanilla essence. Make a well in the sugar-nut mixture, pour in the egg mixture and mix well. Transfer the resulting mass to a work surface sprinkled with powdered sugar and knead it until it is suitable for modeling. To prevent the marzipan from drying out, transfer the finished mass into a thick plastic bag. Roll out the marzipan using a roller and give it the desired shape - petals and details, as shown in the photo.

   

Use a toothpick to attach the succulents to the cupcakes.
Actually, that's all! The pots with succulents are ready, we can serve them to guests, along with real succulents!

 

Enjoy your meal!