| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 27 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 7 min |
| Yield: | 1 cupcake |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 27 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 7 min |
| Yield: | 1 cupcake |
Ingredients
- 1 Vanilla Cupcake, recipe follows
- Basic Glaze Icing, tinted Deep Yellow, or color of choice, recipe follows
- 2 Jordan almonds, color of choice
- 2 pink dots
- 1 jujube, color of choice
- 6 (1/2-inch) pieces red string licorice
- 2 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups cake flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 3 (1 pound boxes) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup water
- 5 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Food coloring, as desired (see suggested colors below)
Instructions
- Dip the surface of the cupcake into the Deep Yellow Icing to cover top completely, allowing excess to drip into the bowl. Clean any excess from the sides. Alternately, use a knife or a spreader to apply. Whisk as needed to keep icing glossy and smooth while using.
- Place Jordan almonds on cupcake to make ears. Place 2 pink dots below almonds to make eyes. Place 1 mini jujube below eyes to make the nose. Cut pieces of red string licorice and place 3 on each side of the nose to make whiskers.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners. (To avoid cupcakes sticking if they overflow slightly, lightly spray the tops of the pans.) Put tins on a baking sheet. Set aside.
- Process sugar and butter in a food processor until very creamy, scraping sides as needed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs and yolks, one at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add the milk, water, and vanilla and process to blend.
- Whisk both flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients, in 3 batches to the wet, pulsing, and then scraping batter off the sides of the processor as needed after each addition. Process until the batter is very smooth and pourable like pancake batter, about 2 minutes.
- Evenly pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling them 3/4 of the way full. Bake until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and the tops are golden, 18 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly in tin, and turn out of tin when cool enough to handle. Cool cupcakes completely on a rack before frosting.
- Put the sugar in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on the lowest speed, slowly add the water, the corn syrup and vanilla extract. When the sugar is sufficiently moistened (so it won’t fly out of the mixer), raise the speed to high, and beat for 2 minutes until completely smooth and glossy.
- Divide and color, as desired. Store at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the icing, to prevent forming a skin.
- For Light Blue Icing: In a small bowl, combine 2 to 3 drops of blue food coloring to 1 cup of Basic Glaze Icing.
- For Deep Yellow Icing: In a small bowl, combine 4 to 5 drops of yellow food coloring to 1 cup of Basic Glaze Icing.
- For Purple Icing: In a small bowl, combine 4 drops of red and 5 drops of blue food coloring to 1 cup of Basic Glaze Icing.
Reviews
cute with jelly beans not almonds
Easy to make, but has a strange flavor. The almonds don’t go well with the rest of the recipe. This is an okay dessert, it is fun to make with the family, especially for children.