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Cherry blossom season is in full swing! To celebrate the peaceful colors and changing weather of the season, enjoy a batch of mini cherry blossom cupcakes. White almond cupcakes with cherry blossom buttercream and a tiny buttercream flower are as beautiful as they are delicious.

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Mini Cherry Blossom Cupcakes

Last summer, I discovered cherry blossom powder and was so excited to bake with it! First I made some cherry blossom macarons and fell in love with the flavor. It tastes nearly identical to rose, and I just love floral flavors.

Cherry blossom powder does not taste like cherry, but my brain still thinks it should. This train of thought led me to opt for a small batch of mini white almond cupcakes to pair with some cherry blossom buttercream. Almond extract has a distinct flavor that is similar to cherry!

Mini White Almond Cupcakes

With mini cupcakes, a little goes a long way. I knew I didn’t want to be swimming in too many cupcakes, so I opted to pair down my white almond cake recipe for this batch. While it is a very small batch of batter, I still got 31 mini cupcakes from the batch.

Since it is such a small amount of batter, a little bit of extract has a big impact. I decided to go with a blend of vanilla and almond extract for a mellow, subtle flavor. If you want a stronger “cherry” flavor, go for a half teaspoon of the almond extract.

A nice thing about this small batch cupcake recipe is you don’t need to pull out the stand mixer. I’ve made these cupcakes several times with just a hand mixer and it’s super simple. You may need to scrape the bowl down more often, but it all works just about the same.

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Top Tips for Cupcakes

Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature. This will help everything blend nicely and give your cupcakes a nice texture.
Scrape down your bowl often. Butter and sugar can hide out at the bottom of your bowl. Make sure everything gets blended!
Do NOT over mix. Once you add the wet and dry ingredients, keep the speed on low and only mix to combine.
Place some dried rice (½ – 1 teaspoon) in the bottom of each cupcake cavity before adding your paper cases.
A 1M piping tip creates the perfect swirl and frosting to cupcake ratio for mini cupcakes.

Cherry Blossom Buttercream

The most surprising part of this recipe is how much cherry blossom buttercream you’ll actually need. And unlike the cupcake batter, I do recommend using a stand mixer to make the frosting. As always, feel free to adjust the color and flavor to suit your own personal preferences. If you’ll be piping buttercream cherry blossoms, remove a scoop of the buttercream before adding any color. You’ll use that as the main color for the petals.

I love the flavor of this cherry blossom buttercream. It is very light and floral. If you prefer a stronger flavor, add the cherry blossom powder 1/4 teaspoon at a time. With florals, it’s easy to add too much very quickly.

Related Reading: Introduction to Buttercream

Decorating the Mini Cherry Blossom Cupcakes

I love simple buttercream flowers, and what better decoration could there be for these mini cupcakes than a mini cherry blossom? These little flowers are one of the most basic designs you can make. However, the difficulty comes from using a very small petal tip, 101.

I used a 1M tip to pipe a simple rosette onto the mini cupcakes and a 101 petal tip to pipe the five petal flowers. To cover up the buttercream tail, I placed a frozen buttercream cherry blossom on top.

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Enjoy!

Take a bite of these mini cherry blossom cupcakes and you’ll notice the tender white almond cupcake immediately as it melts in your mouth. Then the soft floral flavor of the cherry blossom buttercream comes in and brings a taste of spring.

I hope you enjoy these simple, but delicious mini cupcakes! For more cupcake videos, be sure to watch my cupcake playlist on the Bakes & Blunders YouTube channel.

Mini Cherry Blossom Cupcakes

Mini white almond cupcakes topped with a swirl of floral cherry blossom buttercream.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword almond, Birthday, Cherry Blossom, Cupcakes, Frosting, Mini

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 12

Assembly Time 1

Total Time 1 57

Servings 31 mini cupcakes

Calories 124kcal

Author Colleen

Ingredients

Mini White Almond Cupcakes

2 oz all- purpose flour
2 oz cake flour
1 Tbsp dried buttermilk
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 oz sugar
2.5 oz unsalted butter room temperature
2 tsps cake enhancer optional
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 fl oz pasteurized egg whites room temperature
2.5 fl oz water room temperature
1 Tbsp canola oil

Cherry Blossom Hybrid Buttercream

1 oz pasteurized egg whites
12 oz powdered sugar sifted
8 oz unsalted butter softened
1/2 tsp cherry blossom powder
2 drops rose pink gel color

Instructions

Mini White Almond Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two mini cupcake pans with paper cases. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, buttermilk, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Beat the sugar, butter, and cake enhancer (if using) on a medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5- 8 minutes. Remember to scrape the bowl down once or twice during this step.
Add the almond and vanilla extracts to the butter mixture and beat until combined. Then add the egg whites in 2- 3 additions, mixing until combined after each. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
In a measuring glass with a spout, combine the water and oil. Set aside.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the mixer and beat until just combined. Add half of the liquids and beat on a low speed until just combined. Repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, the remainder of the liquids, and finally the remainder of the dry. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Place a level tablespoon of the batter into each paper case in the prepared pans. You will be able to get 30- 32 mini cupcakes. Bake for 12 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when touched.
Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Cherry Blossom Hybrid Buttercream

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the pasteurized egg whites, and 6- 8 ounces of the sifted powdered sugar and whip for 4- 5 minutes. If powdered sugar gets stuck above the egg whites, scrape it back down.
With the mixer on a medium speed, whip in the butter one tablespoon at a time. It will look a bit curdled. Once all of the butter has been combined, whip on a medium- high speed for 2- 4 minutes.
Switch to a paddle attachment and scrape the bowl down. Beat the mixture on a medium speed for another 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down and add half of the remaining powdered sugar. Beat on low to combine, then on a medium- low speed for a minute.
Scrape the bowl down and add the remaining powdered sugar. Beat on low to combine, then on a medium- low speed for 1- 2 minutes. If you'll be piping buttercream blossoms, remove a scoop of the buttercream, then add your gel color to the rest of the batch and combine. Taste and adjust flavors as necessary.

Assembly

Pipe buttercream blossoms onto small squares of parchment paper. Freeze for 30 minutes or overnight before using.
Use a 1M piping tip to pipe a swirl of buttercream onto each mini cupcake. Place a frozen blossom on each.
With the remaining buttercream, add an additional drop of color and mix to combine. Use this buttercream to pipe 5 small dots on the center of each blossom.

Notes

This recipe makes more than enough buttercream to frost all of the cupcakes and pipe over 30 simple blossoms.

Mini Cherry Blossom Cupcakes

Mini Cherry Blossom Cupcakes