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Ingredients
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- Buttercream Frosting
- 9 cups
- Material
- 4 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
- 1 piece (10 inches) black licorice lace, cut into 40 (1/3-inch) pieces
- 20 whole almonds
- 140 red candy-coated licorice pastels (about 1/3 cup), or pieces of snipped red licorice laces
Details
Servings 20
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated; scrape down sides of bowl, and beat in vanilla.
Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed.
When turned upside-down, each cupcake becomes the body of a chick. Spread buttercream frosting on a cupcake to anchor it to the serving plate while you are working. Use a small offset spatula to coat the sides thickly with frosting, and then mound more on top to create a dome shape.
Press toasted shredded coconut into the frosting, it stands in for fuzzy feathers. Hold the plate at an angle while applying the coconut so the excess falls back into the bowl.
Place eyes (made from snipped black licorice laces) on chicks using tweezers. Use a whole almond for the beak and red licorice for the feet and comb; both can be pushed into the frosting by hand.
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