Holiday Cupcakes |
These snowmen cupcakes, made of buttermilk cake and topped with marshmallow frosting, are an adorable addition to any festive platter.
Yield: Makes 12.
Ingredients
Sugar-Paste Snowflakes:
- confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
- 8 oz. white sugar paste
Cupcakes:
- 2/3 cup royal icing mix
- edible silver and white glitter and/or luster dust
- 1 quantity buttermilk cake (see below for ingredients/recipe) but with 2/3 cup chocolate chips stirred in at the end
- white sprinkles
- 1 quantity Marshmallow Frosting (see below)
- small snowflake-shaped cutter
- 1–2 muffin pans, lined with 12 paper cupcake cases
- small piping bag, fitted with a writing tip
For Snowmen:
- 21⁄2 oz. natural marzipan
- orange food coloring paste
- black food coloring paste
- 1 quantity Buttermilk Cake (see below)
- 1 quantity Marshmallow Frosting (see below for ingredients/recipe)
- 10 oz. desiccated coconut
- 16–20 colored sugar-coated candies
- 8–10 large chocolate buttons
- licorice sticks, cut into 8–10 x 1⁄2-inch lengths
- muffin pan, lined with 8–10 paper or silver cupcake liners
- mini-muffin pan, lined with 8–10 paper or silver liners in the coordinating size
- 8–10 toothpicks
- narrow festive ribbon, cut into 8–10 x 10-inch lengths
- makes 8–10
Buttermilk cake:
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 13/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Marshmallow frosting:
- 11/4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 4 egg whites
Directions
Sugar-Paste Snowflakes:
1. Make the sugar-paste snowflakes the day before the cupcakes. Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with confectioners’ sugar.
2. Roll the sugar paste out to a thickness of no more than 1/16 inch. Using the snowflake cutter, stamp out 12 snowflakes. Set aside on baking parchment to dry out overnight.
3. The next day, make the royal icing following the manufacturer’s instructions. Fill the piping bag with the icing and pipe little dots onto the sugar-paste snowflakes. Sprinkle with edible glitter and/or luster and let set.
Buttermilk Cake:
1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the side of the mixing bowl from time to time. Add the vanilla.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda and add to the mixture in alternate batches with the buttermilk. Mix until smooth.
Cupcakes:
1. When you are ready to make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚F.
2. Divide the buttermilk cake between the cupcake cases, filling them two-thirds full.
3. Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden, well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Marshmallow Frosting:
1. Put all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk slowly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is foamy. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches at least 140˚F on a candy thermometer.
2. Immediately pour the frosting into the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use an electric whisk and mixing bowl) and beat on medium speed until it will stand in stiff, glossy peaks—this will take about 3 minutes. Use immediately.
Decorating cupcakes:
1. Put the white sprinkles in a bowl. Spread the Marshmallow Frosting generously onto each cold cupcake. Finish with a little flourish at the top.
2. Dip the edges of the cupcakes into the sprinkles and dust with more glitter and/or lustre. Top with a sugar-paste snowflake.
Recipe courtesy of Holiday Cupcakes by Annie Rigg. Ryland Peters & Small, $15.95. Rylandpeters.com.Photography by Kate Whitaker.
Hot Topics
Who's Online
Become a Fan
Follow Us
Add a Comment