Have you ever seen a more beautiful cupcake? They’re just mesmerizing. If you’re looking for a good use of edible spray paint, you’ve come to the right place. In reality, Painting the Roses Red Cupcakes are strawberry almond cupcakes with almond frosting. In Rose Table land, these are a dessert fit for The Queen of Hearts.

I came up with this recipe for Disney Dinners: Alice in Wonderland as an homage to one of my favorite scenes in the movie when we first meet The Queen of Hearts and see her minions painting her white roses red. I have long felt The Queen of Hearts was misunderstood: she’s just a pasta-loving lady who wants to enjoy croquet in her rose garden when some brat destroys her beloved roses. What gardener wouldn’t be upset? I’ve wanted to throw a Queen of Hearts party for years and this is not it, but these cupcakes will definitely make an appearance!

How to Pipe Cupcake Roses

All you need is a real pastry bag (though a Ziploc would do in a pinch) and a large Wilton 2D rose tip. (I’ve linked it below.) Cut the end of the pastry bag just enough to fit the tip in, fill up the bag with HALF the amount of frosting. (Don’t over fill or you won’t be able to get a good hold on it and you might ruin five cupcakes before conceding and taking half the frosting out, for instance.) Start in the middle of the cupcake and squeeze bag to get a nice center, then move your hand in a circle about twice around the cupcake without twisting your wrist.

Watch this video I made to see what I mean:

How to Paint The Roses Red

That’s it! So easy! You’ll get the hang of it. Once you’ve finished piping, use edible spray paint (you can find this at craft stores in the cake decorating aisle or your local grocery store in the baking aisle) to give the appearance that roses are mid-paint.

Here’s how you decorate them with edible food coloring spray paint:

Painting the Roses Red Cupcakes

Makes 2 dozen
For the cake:
2 cups sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft
1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature
½ Tbsp almond extract
4 large farm fresh eggs
1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, washed, dried, and chopped
Almond Frosting, recipe follow

To bake the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners and lightly spray with nonstick spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add butter to the mixer and beat until it looks sandy.
4. Combine the milk and almond extract and add to the mixer. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Don’t forget to scrape the bowl as you go!
5. Crack eggs into a bowl. This way, you won’t accidentally get egg shells in your cake batter. With the mixer running on low, add eggs one at a time. Make sure each is incorporated before adding the next.
6. Add chopped fresh strawberries to the batter and mix until incorporated. Don’t overmix!
7. Pour batter into your prepared cake pans. Softly bang the bottom of the pans against the countertop to help settle the batter evenly in the pan.
8. Bake for  23-25 minutes or until the a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake will come out clean.
9. Remove tins from the oven and place on racks. Cool five minutes, remove from pan, and cool completely before frosting.
10. Make almond frosting (recipe follows). Spoon half of frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton No. 2D Large Drop Flower Piping Tip (linked below). Squeeze air out of bag. Starting in the center of a cupcake, squeeze top of bag to pipe out frosting, moving your hand carefully around the cupcake about twice. Do not twist your wrist. Watch video below for a piping demonstration.
11. Next, use a red edible spray paint (available at most grocery stores in the baking aisle with food coloring) to “paint” the roses red. Leave some white, spray paint some all the way red, and leave most partially painted for the effect.

Almond Frosting

6 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp almond extract
4 Tbsp milk

1. Cream together powdered sugar and softened butter with an electric mixer. Start with two cups of powdered sugar and half a stick of butter, alternating additions.
2. Slowly incorporate almond extract and milk. Beat until smooth. Add additional milk or powdered sugar if needed for desired consistency.

Read more about Alice in Wonderland here. Watch the video here:

Make your own magic,

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