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St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes
by Amanda Formaro
One of the easiest treats to dress up
for holidays and birthdays is the cupcake. All you need is food coloring,
cake decorator gel and frosting, and a little imagination.
You will need
your favorite box cake, any flavor
chocolate icing (recipe below)
green decorator gel
green decorator frosting
green & white sprinkles
green sugar
cupcake liners
Prepare cake mix as directed. If desired, you can make green cupcakes by
adding a few drops of green food coloring to a prepared white mix. Put
cupcake liners into muffin tin and fill liners as directed on box cake mix.
Bake as directed and allow to cool thoroughly before frosting and
decorating.
Prepare the chocolate icing by following the recipe below.
Chocolate Icing
6 tbsp butter or margarine
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 2/3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
Cream butter and vanilla in a small bowl with mixer and medium-low speed.
Mix until completely creamed together. Alternating, add cocoa and confectioner's
sugar, beating at medium speed until creamy. Add some of the milk with the
remaining sugar and cocoa until you reach desired consistency. You will use
all the cocoa and sugar, but may not use all the milk, depending on your
desired consistency. Set aside.
Decorate
That's really not much to decorating cupcakes, especially in the eyes of
your admiring children. Just a dollop of frosting is artistic enough for
them! Here are a few simple tips that will help you decorate your holiday
cupcakes.
Sprinkles - Open the container, hold frosted cupcake upside down and
dip into the sprinkles. Another option is to roll the outer edge of the cupcake
in the sprinkles.
Sugar - Using decorator sugar, follow the same instructions as
the sprinkles. The green sugar creates a sparkling blanket effect that is
very eye catching! It almost appears to be velvety.
Decorator Gel - Use gel to draw on a shamrock. Shamrocks are simple,
think of them as three heart shapes, all three meeting in the middle with
their bottom tips. Then simply add a stem.
Combinations - Roll the edges
in sprinkles and dip the center in sugar, or vice versa. Or dip edge and
decorate center with gel.
Variations
Another option is to make white icing and tint it green. Try our homemade
buttercream frosting and decorator tips from our
Valentine cupcake feature
here.
Be sure to store your cupcakes in a tightly covered container so they do
not harden or go stale. That is, if they last that long!
About the Author
Amanda Formaro is the
entrepreneurial mother of four children. She is also the owner of
FamilyCorner.com Magazine.
Subscribe to her free weekly kid's craft newsletter,
Busy Little Hands
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