How to Make Mermaid-Themed Cupcakes with Edible Mermaid Tails
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Lately, my desert making has been focused on unicorn-themed sweets, so it is understandable that I’m tired of making cookies, cakes, and cupcakes that are unicorn themed. While I still enjoy making various desserts, I decided to do something different for my normal cupcake recipe, and make it mermaid-themed. The cupcakes are regular vanilla cupcakes with a bright blue buttercream frosting and topped with candy tails and starfish, and of course, lots of sprinkles.
This recipe is very easy to do, but it allowed me to be a bit more creative in the presentation of the cupcakes. I’ve tried my hand at lots of different cupcake presentations, and this one was very involved and came out the best. I recommend using metallic cupcake liners, as they are much sturdier than regular cupcake liners, and look much better as they don’t lose their color during the baking process. Also, I heavily recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe, along with all other recipes that require mixing lots of ingredients. I use mine on a daily basis, and it cuts down lots of time and effort spent on mixing ingredients. For making the buttercream frosting, I’d say the stand mixer is almost a must-have. While it makes the process of baking easier, you don’t always have to use one, and most things can be mixed with a hand mixer. To decorate the cupcakes, I had three different colors of mermaid tails covered with food glitter dust to decorate the various candies to top the cupcakes and, of course, lots of sprinkles to put on the icing.
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Mermaid Theme
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Vanilla Mermaid Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Butter Room Temperature
- ¾ Cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 Eggs
- 1 ½ Cups All-purpose flour
- 1 Tsp Baking Powder
- ½ Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Sour Cream
- ½ Cup Milk
Buttercream Frosting
- 1 Cup Butter Room Temperature
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 tbsp Milk
Mermaid Tails and Shells
Garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Whisk together the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl.
- In another medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and pale with a stand mixer or by hand.
- Add the dry ingredients ⅓ at a time into the stand mixer bowl, alternating with ⅓ of the milk, mixing between each addition, along with the sour cream.
- Mix the batter together until combined.
- Using a large batter scoop, scoop the cupcake batter into 12 cupcake liners.
- Bake cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven. . Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
Frosting
- Add the butter to a mixing bowl, and beat it for 5 minutes or until it is light and doubled in size with a stand mixer or by hand.
- Add the vanilla, and gradually add the powdered sugar and milk, ½ cup at a time, beating well between each addition.
- Add food coloring.
- Beat the mixture for another 8-10 minutes.
- With a spatula or large serving spoon, scoop buttercream into large piping bags.
- Use the round and french jumbo metal tips to frost the cupcakes with the buttercream frosting.
Mermaid Tails and Shells
- Put the candy melts into a medium squeeze bottle, and put on the cap.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to medium heat, but not boiling, and place the squeeze bottle into the water.
- Cover with a lid, and let simmer on medium-low heat.
- After the candy melts have melted, take the bottles out and put them upside-down in a cup so that the melts flow to the nozzle, and let cool until cool to the touch.
- Fill in the plastic molds of the mermaid tails with the candy melt, taking off the excess candy with an icing spatula, and put in fridge for 10 minutes on a cookie tray.
- When set, peel off the mold from the candy.
- Place the tails on a cookie sheet, and apply the glitter dust with a brush.
- Decorate the finished cupcakes with mermad tails.
Notes
- To thin out the icing, add in the milk slowly and gradually.
- When done with the candy melt, place the bottle on its side in the freezer for 5 minutes. When solid, just squeeze to bottle to break up all of the solidified candy, and empty all of the candy into a plastic bag.
- You can make the chocolate tails ahead of the cupcakes, and store them in a plastic bag in the fridge.
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