ACOTAR Rose Cupcakes - Buttercream Recipe

This recipe is inspired by A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. ACOTAR, as it's also known, is a retelling of Beauty and The Beast. A major part of both ACOTAR and Beauty and the Beast are roses.

So for this Bookish Food recipe we'll show you how we made A Court of Thorns and Roses inspired cupcakes, specifically the buttercream recipe. The buttercream recipe is adapted from The Cake Blog's rose water buttercream cake recipe.

In this post we're focusing on the buttercream recipe and design. For the actual cupcakes you can use any recipe you want, or make it from the box. I'm not judging.

1 1/2 egg whites

1/2 cup of sugar

3/4 cups of unsalted butter - softened

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of lavender extract (optional)

red food coloring

Put the egg whites and the sugar in a heatproof bowl. Gently whisk to combine.

Place the bowl over a saucepan with water to create a double-boiler.

You should whisk the egg mixture until lit's hot to the touch or 160 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

DON'T STOP WHISKING.

Take the bowl off of the double boiler and beat on high with a hand mixer.

Continue to mix until the bowl is at room temperature.

With the mixer on medium-low add the vanilla and butter a few tablespoons at a time.

Keep mixing the buttercream until it's light and smooth.

Add in the lavender extract (Note: A little of this goes a long way) and the red food coloring until the butter cream is a light pink color or red (whatever floats your boat).

* The buttercream recipe is adapted from The Cake Blog's rose water buttercream cake recipe.

To create the rose design we used a Wilton 2110 pastry tip. You can also use a large star tip.

Start in the center of the cupcake in a circular motion and pipe until you reach the edges.

There are a number of other ways to create the rose design. You can always look up a video tutorial for whichever way is easier for you. This video is a good example.

We then topped it off with some crystal sprinkles. The rose might not come out looking just the right way the first time, but don't give up. It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Trust me, we had a few ugly looking cupcakes until we got the right ones.