FLOWER SHAPE RECIPES

Steps:

• For the dough: Sift the flour. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Next add approximately 1/2 of the egg yolk and the water. Mix well with your hands. Try to work quickly.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 10 -15 minutes.
• Now take the chilled dough and roll out into a large square that is about 1/8 inch thick, using a rolling pin. Cut it into 12 round shapes (diameter 2 inches) using a pastry cutter or cookie cutter.
• Next take 6 of the rounds and, using a sharp knife, make straight little cuts in towards the center of the circle (don’t cut all the way through the circle – you are cutting about a half inch in towards the center, kind of like bicycle wheel spokes). Then take each of the 6 cut circles and place one on top of each of the uncut dough rounds (so you have a solid round underneath, and a bicycle wheel cut round on top). You can brush a little water in the center of the plain round first, in order to help the two pieces stick together. If needed, you can also place a wooden round stick through the center of the spoke round and the bottom one, to make them stay together.
• After that deep fry them in hot oil (over medium heat), until they are golden brown . Remove them from the oil onto absorbent paper to drain for a minute or two. As it fries, the top round should puff up like flower petals.
• For the meringue: Place the egg white and sugar in a bowl and whip the mixture using an electric hand mixer. After 5 minutes of whipping, add food coloring. Continue to beat the mixture until stiff and standing in peaks.
• After that take the cooled flower shaped pastries and get them ready to fill. Next put the meringue in a pastry bag with a piping tip and pipe the filling into the center of the appetizer. Next sprinkle some colored candy on top, if desired. I’ve done this in the photo above.
• Serve and enjoy.

Steps:

• Place one cupcake in the center of a large platter; arrange six cupcakes around the center cupcake. Add an outer ring of remaining cupcakes, forming a flower shape., Tint frosting as desired; generously spread over tops of cupcakes. Pipe on additional frosting to define the flower petals and center. Decorate as desired.