Emily's Birthday Cupcakes

I was thrilled when Steph asked me to make Emily's birthday cake again this year! She suggested cupcakes because Emily is really in to them these days, isn't Em so trendy! But I wasn't expecting to get super sad making them with out my two baking companions from last year! Seriously, Carrie, Mom and I had the most fun staying up super late making Em's First Birthday Cake! If you haven't seen it already, you can check out our post from last year here.
Even though I missed Mom and Carrie very much, I still was so glad I got to make sweet Emily's Birthday Cupcakes.

I tried out a new recipe for cupcake batter that I found on Pinterest and it was so easy and the cupcakes turned out so moist and yummy! I highly recommend it!

Then I made some yummy Royal Frosting:
4 lbs Confectioners Sugar
3/4 c of Meringue Powder
Mix together until well blended.
Then mix together
1 1/3 c warm water
3 T Vanilla and
1 tsp Almond extract
Then slowly add liquid into powder mixture while beating at a med-high speed until soft peeks form. (About 8 minutes.)
Then mix in food coloring/dye until you reach the color you want.
I think the flavoring in this recipe is key and makes it extra yummy!
I forgot to take a picture before I colored it, but basically the key thing, is you want to icing to be real stiff so don't over mix and don't add anything containing oil!

Then I decided to try to frost them like this, which I also found on Pinterest. However, I couldn't really pull it off. I think maybe I didn't have the right tip? That's my story and I'm sticking to it. So on the rest of them I went with 2 other frosting methods I'm familiar with that also have a flower-y look.

All in all I was pleased with the result and I hope Em is too!

I'll update this post after the party!