Prepare your eyes for mass cuteness. Ok, my friend Jessica made the cutest cupcakes the other day and I absolutely had to share with you!
Jessica is so adorable – she and her finance don’t get see each other everyday (she’s a flight attendant like me) and so when she IS home – she makes fun cupcake for him and his co-workers. It is her creative and cute way for him to remember her while she is away and she shares the fun with his military co-workers.
Are these not the cutest cupcakes you have ever set your eyes on? Jessica got the recipe out of the book, “What’s up, Cupcake?” and she makes these fun desserts on a regular basis, so if we’re lucky she’ll be sharing more pictures and recipes later on for us to enjoy!!
KOI POND CUPCAKES
Makes 1 pond with 24 goldfish cupcakes
Koi goldfish made from circus peanut candies transform a simple platter of cupcakes into a golden pond. The fish float on overlapping blue and white paper bubbles for a coy look.
24 vanilla cupcakes baked in blue paper liners
1 can (16 ounces) plus ½ cup vanilla frosting
Blue food coloring
48 orange circus peanuts
48 orange peanut butter-filled candy-coated chocolates (Peanut Butter M&Ms)
24 orange cereal O’s (Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks)
48 brown mini candy-coated chocolates (M&Ms Minis)
White and blue paper circles (optional)
White and light blue candy-coated chocolates for serving (custom-ordered through M&Ms website; optional)
1. Spoon ½ cup of the vanilla frosting into a small plastic zip lock bag, press out the excess air, seal and set aside. Tint the remaining can of vanilla frosting pale blue with a few drops of the blue food coloring. Cover and set aside.
2. For the fins, place 24 of the circus peanuts on their sides and cut lengthwise into 2 slices, to make 48 slices. Lay each slice cut side down and cut each in half on the diagonal to make 96 pieces. For the bodies, place the remaining 24 circus peanuts flat side down and make a diagonal cut from one end, removing no more than ¼ inch.
3. Spread the tops of the cupcakes with the light blue frosting and smooth. Place 1 of the circus peanut bodies on top of each frosted cupcake. Arrange fins, cut side up and pointed ends out, 2 at the uncut end of each circus peanut body and 2 on either side in the middle.
4. Snip a small (⅛-inch) corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe a large dot of frosting at the cut end of the circus peanut body. Press 2 orange candies into the dot of frosting for the eyes and 1 cereal O for the mouth. Pipe small dots of vanilla frosting on the orange candies and add the brown candies for the pupils. Repeat on all of the koi bodies with the remaining frosting and candies.
5. If you like, arrange the cupcakes on a surface with circles cut from white and blue papers and sprinkle the platter with white and light blue candies.