Flower Pot Cupcakes

I live in the state of Texas and the temperatures are already on the rise. We tend to have hot-burn-your-feet-on-the-pavement types of Summers. I don't really mind the heat so much right now because the crepe myrtles are in full bloom. They are not the state flower/tree of Texas but maybe they should be. They are all over our town and most are in the bright fuchsia color. (There is also white, light pink, purple, lavender and red.)

I thought this red and fuchsia tree looked great in front of the yellow smart car. Now you might wonder how my family of six can fit into a car this size. (Remember the clown cars at the circus?) Actually it's just a random car in the Target parking lot.


In honor of the crepe myrtles I wanted to do some sort of flower project. I came across a post for flower pot cupcakes from Stacy at Not Just a Housewife and decided that's what I wanted to do. Stacy has a great tutorial on her blog so it was easy to (copy) be inspired by her.

I bought ten mini terracotta pots at Home Depot for 89 cents a piece.

I washed them out really well.

Then I oiled the inside with vegetable oil. (Actually I think it was canola oil.)

And coated the inside with cocoa.

I added a little parchment square at the bottom to cover the hole and prevent the batter from spilling.

I made a chocolate cake mix and filled the pots about 3/4 full.

I baked them all at once on a baking sheet in a 350 degrees oven between 30- 35 mins. (I don't remember the exact time.)

When they were cooled, I frosted the top of the cake with chocolate frosting and added crushed Oreos on the top of the frosting.

I then took some Dollar Tree flowers and washed and trimmed the stems.

I "planted" one in each pot.

We gave them away to different friends. (It's a nice little surprise gift but would also be great for Mother's Day or a Teacher's gift.) They turned out well and our friends really enjoyed them.

A brief note behind the scenes:

1) I used crushed Oreos Double Stuf for the "potting soil" look. You could use regular Oreos if you wanted more of a "dirt" look.

2) I will confess that I used canned frosting. Normally I only make homemade frosting. My children get mad (seriously!) if I try to sneak in the canned frosting. I started making homemade some years ago and you can really taste the difference. Sometimes I want some canned frosting on hand for times when I (am lazy) have to make something for school or a last minute treat to give away. I guess my thought is that most people use canned frosting so they wouldn't (know the difference) care if I used it. If I buy it I have to hide it in the pantry so my daughter (the frosting police) won't find it and scold me. Okay, if you like canned frosting the best tasting one that I've found is the Betty Crocker Whipped brand. It's the only canned variety I'll buy. The whipped version in other brands isn't as good in my opinion.

(And yes, my daughter did gently scold me when she saw the can on the counter. She was really interested with the whole flower concept though so I was forgiven--this time!)

3) I think next time I would like to try different cake flavors since the frosting covers it and you can't see it anyway. Also a homemade tag that stuck in the "dirt" would be cute if the flower pot was to be a gift.

These turned out very well and I will definitely be making them again in the future. Thanks, Stacy, for the great idea!