Ladybug Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

For the frosting:

• 1 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Yellow and red food coloring

For the decoration:

• 12 (1 1/2-inch) lengths black licorice whips, cut in thin tapered strips
• 1 tube black icing (the supermarket kind with a small writing tip)
• 1 tube white icing (the supermarket kind with a small writing tip)
• 12 red candy coated chocolate candies

Directions

Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the sifted flour with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft, then add the sugar and mix. Add the eggs, and vanilla and whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer running at low speed, add a third of the flour mixture and mix. Then add half of the sour cream and mix. Add another third of the flour and mix. Add the remaining sour cream and mix, then the remaining flour. Give it one last mix to make sure everything is blended in.

Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. Bake until firm to the touch in the center, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack and let cool.

Meanwhile, make the frosting: Put the milk in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes, whisking often. Cover and let cool to room temperature. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and very fluffy. Add the cooled thickened milk and mix until smooth. Add yellow and red food coloring to make a light orange frosting.

When the cupcakes have cooled, make the ladybugs. Cut off the top rounded "cap" (like the cap of a mushroom or a muffin) of each cupcake. Spread the rounded tops of each cupcake with frosting. Cut the tops in half.

Spread frosting on the cut face of the cup cake. Place two "wings" on top of each cupcake, spreading them apart slightly. Use two pieces of black licorice to make the antennae. Pipe a black section for the head and dot it with white to make eyes. Use black to make the dots on the wings. Place a tiny ladybug on the wings of the big ones.

To make the tiny lady bug, pipe red candy coated chocolates with black frosting making a head section, a line down the back to define the wings and polka-dots on the wings