Print Page |
Email story |
Recipe Corner
Snowman Cupcakes
Recipe written by Anne Byrn December 17, 2008
Here’s another cupcake that’s almost too cute to eat. Honestly, with this adorable pudgy white marshmallow snowman perched atop a white cupcake, you might be tempted just to stare at it. But do take a bite, because the cake is moist and the vanilla comes through in the buttercream frosting. These cupcakes are a simple indulgence on snowy days and festive winter occasions. It’s an idea I adapted from a marshmallow snowman I saw on the Martha Stewart Web site. Any orange candy that can be shaped will do for the nose, and if you can’t find rolled fruit, use ribbon for a scarf.
Makes 22 to 24 cupcakes (2 1/2 inches each)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 16 to 20 minutes
Assembly time: 30 minutes
24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2 –inch size)
CUPCAKES AND FROSTING:
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Buttercream frosting (Cupcakes! From the Cake Mix Doctor, page 318, or see Note)
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
SNOWMEN:
48 large marshmallows
Chocolate sprinkles
3 orange gumdrops, cut into 24 slivers, or 24 pieces of candy corn
Red rolled fruit snack or ribbon for the scarves
72 green gumdrops
Note: Vary this recipe as you like, baking your favorite cupcake—even if it’s chocolate—but always top with white frosting. And look for white paper liners in the supermarket to complete the all-white look. The coconut can easily be omitted, if your children don’t like the texture.
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with white paper liners. Set the pans aside.
2. Place that cake mix, flour, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.
3. Bake the cupcakes until they are lightly golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 16 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.
5. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread it out with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Sprinkle the tops of the cupcakes with coconut.
6. Make the snowmen: For each body, moisten a toothpick or wooden skewer with water and poke 2 holes, one above the other, into each of the 24 marshmallows. Leave about 1/4-inch space between the holes. Insert a chocolate sprinkle into each hole to look like buttons.
7. For each head, poke 2 holes for eyes near the top of each of the remaining marshmallows. Poke 1 hole, beneath the eyes and centered, for the nose. And finally, poke 5 holes for the mouth in a smile shape. Insert a sprinkle into each of the eye and mouth holes, and an orange gumdrop sliver into the nose hole.
8. For the hat, cut a strip about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch wide from the rolled fruit. Use your thumb to mash together 2 green gumdrops into a flat round shape. Cut a thin slice off the wide end of a gumdrop and press it onto the gumdrop round. Wrap the fruit strip as a hatband, damping the ends to secure it. Repeat with the rolled fruit and remaining gumdrops.
9. For the scarf, cut 48 pieces of rolled fruit about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Cut a notch out of one end of each strip about 1/2 inch deep.
10. To assemble a snowman, place a marshmallow body in the center of each cupcake, pressing it slightly into the frosting to adhere. Place 2 scarf strips on top of the marshmallow, notched ends out, and place a marshmallow head on top of the scarf, pressing down to secure all in place. If the snowman feels wobbly, dampen the scarf ends or dab a bit of frosting on them to help secure all in place. Add another dab of frosting on the top of the snowman’s head and place his gumdrop hat. Continue assembling the snowmen until all the cupcakes are used up. The snowmen are ready to be served.
Store these cupcakes, in a cake server or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
|
