My friend Alexa's niece had her third birthday party last weekend complete with a petting zoo, so Alexa was determined to make some farm animal cupcakes rather than have the cupcakes catered. As you can see, we were pretty successful - we thought so, anyway!
They may look like a lot of work, but we had 5 of us in a decorating assembly line, so it really was not that bad! The great part is that Alexa just found some decorating inspiration on Pinterest, so the recipes that we used were completely up to us. You can use different ones, too, it you decide to replicate these!
For the pigs, we made yellow butter cupcakes with strawberry frosting, and for the bunnies we made chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.
First, the pigs:
Vanilla Cupcakes
from the one and only Martha Stewart (my idol, if you weren't aware)
MAKES 36 CUPCAKES
Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour, (not self-rising), sifted
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
9 ounces (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) butter, softened
2¼ cups sugar
5 large eggs plus 3 large yolks, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake tins. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs. Add the rest of the wet ingredients, alternating with the flour and other dry ingredients (didn't I tell you I don't like to follow the rules? Just make sure everything gets in the bowl!)
Divide batter among the cupcakes and bake for about 20 minutes.
Strawberry Frosting
MAKES ENOUGH TO LIGHTLY FROST 36 CUPCAKES
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 (16-ounce) packages powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
Strawberry extract, if you have it
Directions:
Cream the butter, then add powdered sugar and strawberries. We had strawberry extract on hand from past recipes, so threw some in to give it an extra burst of strawberry flavor.
Assembling the pigs
Decorating idea from Gourmet Mom on the Go
Ingredients:
Pink decorating sugar
Large pink marshmallows (Alexa ordered online)
White frosting tube (we used store bought - GASP)
Mini chocolate chips
Directions:
Once the cupcakes are cool, use a knife to apply a thin, neat layer of strawberry frosting to each vanilla cupcake. Pour decorating sugar into a pie or cake pan. Gently dip and cover half of the frosted cupcakes with sugar.
I might not explain this well but...hold each marshmallow on its rolly side (rather than standing it up like a cylinder) and cut each pink marshmallow in half once to get two circles for noses. Turn one circle flat and cut in half once more to get half circles for ears.
Stick a nose and two ears on each pig. If you're working on a cupcake covered in sprinkles, you'll probably need a dab of frosting to stick the nose and ears on.
Decorating assembly line
Use a tube of white frosting to draw two eyes above the years and two small dots on the nose to stick the nostrils on. Drop a mini chocolate chip on each eye and nostril for the final result:
Now, onto the bunnies.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Filling
From Brown Eyed Baker (one of my go-to bloggers - you may also recognize this recipe from my Death By Chocolate Cupcakes)
MAKES 24 CUPCAKES
Ingredients (Ganache)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Ingredients (Cupcakes)
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1½ cup hot coffee
1½ cup bread flour
1½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
4 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
To make the ganache filling, place the chopped chocolate, heavy cream and powdered sugar in a small microwaveable bowl. Zap in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, whisking in between, until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until just barely chilled, no longer than 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake tins. Place the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Pour the hot coffee over the mixture and whisk until smooth. This is a great secret for super rich brownies and cupcakes - any recipe with this extra step is guaranteed to be delicious!
Refrigerate mixture for 20 minutes, or freeze for less if you’re short on time - but don’t forget it’s in there!
Once the chocolate/coffee mixture is ready, add the rest of the ingredients (again, I just wing it here, so do whatever makes sense to you - it’ll turn out just fine). Divide the batter between the tins and place a spoonful of ganache filling on top of each cupcake. Bake for around 17-19 minutes.
Usually, these decadent chocolate cupcakes are topped with a rich chocolate frosting, but we opted for a classic vanilla buttercream for the bunnies. If you don't know this (or a similar) basic vanilla frosting recipe off the top of your head, LEARN IT.
Vanilla Frosting
MAKES ENOUGH TO LIGHTLY FROST 24 CUPCAKES
Ingredients:
6 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 teaspoons vanilla
a few drops of milk, if needed
Directions:
I honestly never measure vanilla frosting but felt like I had to give you something to work with. Basically, cream the butter, add enough confectioners sugar to give it a good firm frosting texture, add enough vanilla for it to taste vanilla-y and a few drops of milk if it gets too firm.
Assembling the bunnies
Decorating idea from Aunt B's Sweet Treats
Ingredients:
Mini chocolate chips
M&Ms
Black frosting (used store bought again, oops!)
Large Marshmallows
Pink decorating sugar
Directions:
Once the cupcakes are cool, apply a thin layer of frosting to each one with a knife.
Cut the marshmallows in half the long way, then half again the long way, to get long, oval shaped bunny ears. Dip the sticky side in the decorating sugar.
Place an orange M&M on each bunny for the nose, and two chocolate chips for the eyes. Stick on the ears and draw thin whiskers with the black frosting tube.
Both turned out to be so cute and great tasting! Alexa did an excellent job of combining a bunch of different recipes and finding easy but adorable designs. I loved the idea of using marshmallows for ears and noses and I'm sure this technique can be used for other animals, especially since now we know that you can find these colored mallows online.
Here they are on display at her niece's party!
