Monday, July 19, 2010

How to Make Hollyhock Dolls and Use Them to Decorate Cupcakes

My childhood was populated with hollyhock fairies. They are fast and easy to make and can be made without any tools. Hollyhocks are edible, so the hollyhock dolls make an elegant, but frugal decoration for cupcakes. You need to rinse the hollyhocks well, if you are going to use them to decorate cupcakes.July2010 183

You need:

1 hollyhock bud 

1 partially opened hollyhock flower

scissors (optional)

toothpick (optional)

Directions:

1. Pull off the sepal petals on the bud to expose the “eyes”:July2010 1842. Pull or cut off the stem to create the “mouth”:July2010 185 3. Insert the stem of the flower into one of the holes in the bud:July2010 186 Now stand your hollyhock doll up and she is ready for the party:July2010 189You can use a toothpick to make your doll more secure. Insert it through the middle of the hollyhock, leaving a bit of toothpick sticking out on top to attach the head, and a little on bottom to insert it into a cupcake:July2010 188  Once the head is attached you can stick the toothpick into a cupcake:July2010 178

You can also add rosemary or lavender twigs for arms if you choose. I doubt that most people will want to eat their hollyhock doll, but they can if they want to. The petals are slightly sweet, but the white portion of the bud is bitter and is avoided when used for culinary purposes.

N.B. I used this Honey Cake recipe to make the cupcakes and I frosted them with Butter Cream Frosting.

This post has been linked to Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Cupcake Tuesday.

13 comments:

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

THose are absolutely adorable! :D

Anonymous said...

that could not be any cuter! :-)

Felicia said...

Gorgeous!! I remember playing with Holly Hock Dolls!

KatiePerk said...

These are precious!

Melinda said...

Oh my! Those hollyhock dolls brought back memories! I made them as a child - but had forgotten how! I never knew you could eat them though - how sweet those cupcakes are!

Brenda said...

That is SO beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

HoosierHomemade said...

Those are just darling! I've never seen a hollyhock made in a little doll! Super idea!
Thanks so much for joining in the fun at Cupcake Tuesday! I hope you stop back next wk too!
Remember! The Cupcake Challenge starts August 3rd!
~Liz

Ott, A. said...

I actually used to make holly hock dolls to play with when I was a my grandmas house in the summertime growing up. I would use bobbie pins to hold them together. But they look really cute on top of your cupcake.

Anonymous said...

It looks so cute :)

Unknown said...

These are so cute. I always loved my Nonnie's holly hocks. Thanks for the reminder! I would love for you to join me for this week's edition of What's On the Menu Wednesday. Mister Linky is up and ready for you.

Jenn Erickson said...

Wow! How incredibly beautiful, magical, and original! I wish we had Hollyhocks around here!

Debmom4ca said...

I have had hollyhocks growing in my yard for 11 years and did not know about making dolls with them. I am so glad I saw this post.

Barbara Neubeck said...

Your Hollyhock dollies are beautiful and your tutorial easy to follow. I've never seen these before. Thanks for sharing this...my little g-g-children will love doing this.
Have a good week
Barb from Australia