Botanical cupcakes are so much fun to make! Succulent-themed cupcakes are a new twist on the classic floral beauties you may have grown accustomed to seeing in bakeries or at parties. So, how do you make beautiful succulent cupcakes? It may surprise you that many basic piping techniques you use to create flowers transfer over into the world of barrel cacti, haworthia succulents, and aloe plants!
If you love these succulent cupcakes, you might also like our beginner bee themed cake tutorial or these bear themed cupcakes!
In this article, we’ll learn how to make each type of succulent cupcake.
I made two different batches of these DIY succulent cupcakes using slightly different color palates. One is more vibrant and the other is more neutral and dark. Take a look for inspiration and try your own at home!
How to make succulent cupcakes
Bake cupcakes
For succulent cupcakes, I recommend using chocolate cake mix. You can use your favorite box cake mix or your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe.
Mix together 3 eggs, ½ a cup of oil and one cup of water with one box of chocolate cake mix in a bowl. Fill your cupcake baking tin with cupcake liners and then spoon the cake mix in until each liner is about ¾ full.
Bake your cupcakes for 16-20 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit depending on your cake mix instructions and oven. Allow your cupcakes to completely cool on a wire rack before you start decorating them.
Make frosting
Make your vanilla buttercream frosting with 1 cup of butter and about 4 cups of icing sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 2 tsp of cream or milk. Blend it with a hand mixer or stand mixer in a large bowl for two minutes or until it’s fully blended and no sugar crystals remain.
Take out 3-4 tablespoons of icing and add pink food coloring to it in a separate bowl. You’ll need this pink frosting for the cactus flowers; a bright coral color or red can also look great.
Divide the rest of your white icing into two bowls. I used ‘moss’ colored gel food coloring in one bowl and I mixed yellow and blue food coloring until I got my desired shade of green in another bowl. This gave me two different shades of green to work with.
If you’re interested in making white ‘spikes’ on your cactus cupcakes, you can set aside a tablespoon of white frosting or use white sprinkles.
If you are thinking of making succulents that look like a vine, set aside one tablespoon of icing and color it brown.
How to decorate succulent buttercream cupcakes
If you’ve ever attempted to make floral cupcakes before, you’ll find that making succulent cupcakes is quite similar.
If you have a flower nail, put a dot of icing on it to secure a square of parchment paper on top. This will allow you to transfer your succulents to a plate or tupperware and freeze them for a while before transferring them onto your cupcakes.
Alternatively, you can pipe directly onto your metal flower nail and then use flower scissors to set the buttercream succulent onto your cupcake while it’s still at room temperature.
Lastly, you can pipe directly onto your cupcakes instead of using a flower nail at all.
How to make desert rose buttercream succulents
To make desert rose buttercream succulents that look like green roses, use a medium-sized flat petal tip with a piping bag and green buttercream frosting. Start with a dollop in the centre, and add petals starting at the top and center then working your way to the outer edges and bottom.
How to make aeonium buttercream succulents
To make aeonium buttercream succulents that look like a green chrysanthemum, use a medium-sized flat petal tip or small petal tip with a piping bag and green buttercream frosting.
Start by making small loops or petals in a circle around the outer edge and work your way up and into the center.
How to make a buttercream cactus
To make a buttercream cactus, use a large open star tip with a piping bag and green buttercream frosting. Pipe these directly onto your cupcake simply by pressing down and squeezing. You’ll find that changing your pressure will change the look of your cacti.
It’s best to practice these until you like the way they look. Don’t be afraid to scrape them off and try again until you’re happy. Practice makes perfect.
Use a small open star tip to pipe a little flower on top of your cactus cupcake.
How to make buttercream string-of-pearls succulents
To make string-of-pearl buttercream succulents that look like a vine, use a very small round tip for a brown icing vine and a slightly larger round tip for the green dots. If you don’t have small round piping tips, you can carefully cut small holes in your piping bag tips for a similar effect.
Succulent cupcake sprinkles and decoration options
You can put your buttercream succulents directly on top of chocolate cupcakes and it will look like they’re sitting in the dirt.
You can also pipe a circle of icing around the edge of the cupcake and then roll it in ground graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, or crushed black Oreos to give it a more of a raised effect.
I don’t suggest covering the entire cupcake with crushed cookies or crackers because the buttercream succulents won’t stick to that part as well as they stick directly to the cake.
To make spikes on your cactus cupcakes, you can use white dots of icing or small white sprinkles.
For another variation, you can strip your bag of frosting with two different colors and get a dual-tone buttercream succulent. Try two shades of green, or get inspired by nature’s color palette.
Succulent cupcake ingredients
- One box chocolate cake mix
- Three eggs
- ½ cup oil
- One cup water
- Food coloring
- 1 cup Butter
- 4 cups Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 tsp Heavy cream or milk
Succulent cupcake materials and tools
- Piping tips (Large open star tip, small star tip, leaf tip, flat petal tip )
- Cupcake liners
- Piping bags
- Toothpicks
- Cupcake pans
- Bowls
- Electric mixer
- Scissors
- Flower scissors
- Flower nail
- Parchment paper
More succulent cupcake ideas
After you try out a few of these succulent cupcake ideas you’ll quickly get a grasp of how to make them and which styles are working for you. I spent some time at first practicing making the buttercream succulents on parchment paper, then scraping it back into my icing bowl and starting over.
You can store these cupcakes in an airtight container for a couple of days before they will start to dry out or go bad. For another beautiful summery dessert check out this lemon ricotta cake recipe or these decadent strawberry cream cheese muffins!
Just remember, nature is beautiful and imperfect and it’s fine if your cupcakes are too! The botanical garden I visited for inspiration had some amazing looking succulents and cacti (and some very weird ones too, check out the gumby plant, haha).
Amazing Buttercream Succulent Cupcakes
Equipment
- Piping tips (Large open star tip, small star tip, leaf tip, flat petal tip )
- cupcake liners
- piping bags
- Toothpicks
- Cupcake pans
- bowls
- Electric mixer
- Scissors
- Flower scissors
- Flower nail
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- One box chocolate cake mix
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Oil
- 1 cup Water
- Food coloring
- 1 cup Butter
- 4 cups Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 tsp Heavy cream or milk
Instructions
Bake cupcakes
- For succulent cupcakes, I recommend using chocolate cake mix. You can use your favorite box cake mix or your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe.
- Mix together 3 eggs, ½ a cup of oil and one cup of water with one box of chocolate cake mix in a bowl. Fill your cupcake baking tin with cupcake liners and then spoon the cake mix in until each liner is about ¾ full.
- Bake your cupcakes for 16-20 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit depending on your cake mix instructions and oven. Allow your cupcakes to completely cool on a wire rack before you start decorating them.
Make frosting
- Make your vanilla buttercream frosting with 1 cup of butter and about 4 cups of icing sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 2 tsp of cream or milk. Blend it with a hand mixer or stand mixer in a large bowl for two minutes or until it’s fully blended and no sugar crystals remain.
- Take out 3-4 tablespoons of icing and add pink food coloring to it in a separate bowl. You’ll need this pink frosting for the cactus flowers; a bright coral color or red can also look great.
- Divide the rest of your white icing into two bowls. I used ‘moss’ colored gel food coloring in one bowl and I mixed yellow and blue food coloring until I got my desired shade of green in another bowl. This gave me two different shades of green to work with.
- If you’re interested in making white ‘spikes’ on your cactus cupcakes, you can set aside a tablespoon of white frosting or use white sprinkles.
- If you are thinking of making succulents that look like a vine, set aside one tablespoon of icing and color it brown.
How to decorate succulent buttercream cupcakes
- If you’ve ever attempted to make floral cupcakes before, you’ll find that making succulent cupcakes is quite similar.
- If you have a flower nail, put a dot of icing on it to secure a square of parchment paper on top. This will allow you to transfer your succulents to a plate or tupperware and freeze them for a while before transferring them onto your cupcakes.
- Alternatively, you can pipe directly onto your metal flower nail and then use flower scissors to set the buttercream succulent onto your cupcake while it’s still at room temperature.
- Lastly, you can pipe directly onto your cupcakes instead of using a flower nail at all.
How to make desert rose buttercream succulents
- To make desert rose buttercream succulents that look like green roses, use a medium-sized flat petal tip with a piping bag and green buttercream frosting. Start with a dollop in the centre, and add petals starting at the top and center then working your way to the outer edges and bottom.
How to make aeonium buttercream succulents
- To make aeonium buttercream succulents that look like a green chrysanthemum, use a medium-sized flat petal tip or small petal tip with a piping bag and green buttercream frosting. Start by making small loops or petals in a circle around the outer edge and work your way up and into the center.
How to make a buttercream cactus
- To make a buttercream cactus, use a large open star tip with a piping bag and green buttercream frosting. Pipe these directly onto your cupcake simply by pressing down and squeezing. You’ll find that changing your pressure will change the look of your cacti.
- It’s best to practice these until you like the way they look. Don’t be afraid to scrape them off and try again until you’re happy. Practice makes perfect.
- Use a small open star tip to pipe a little flower on top of your cactus cupcake.
How to make buttercream string-of-pearls succulents
- To make string-of-pearl buttercream succulents that look like a vine, use a very small round tip for a brown icing vine and a slightly larger round tip for the green dots. If you don’t have small round piping tips, you can carefully cut small holes in your piping bag tips for a similar effect.
Succulent cupcake sprinkles and decoration options
- You can put your buttercream succulents directly on top of chocolate cupcakes and it will look like they’re sitting in the dirt.
- You can also pipe a circle of icing around the edge of the cupcake and then roll it in ground graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, or crushed black Oreos to give it a more of a raised effect.
- I don’t suggest covering the entire cupcake with crushed cookies or crackers because the buttercream succulents won’t stick to that part as well as they stick directly to the cake.
- To make spikes on your cactus cupcakes, you can use white dots of icing or small white sprinkles.
- For another variation, you can strip your bag of frosting with two different colors and get a dual-tone buttercream succulent. Try two shades of green, or get inspired by nature’s color palette.
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