Winsome Wren

SIMPLY CREATIVE {RECIPE}: “March of the Penguins” CUPCAKES

There was going to be a party at school, and I was asked to bring cupcakes. “Of course!” I said. Always a good opportunity to try something fun with cupcakes, right? So, I took out the “Hello Cupcake” cookbook (by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson), full of adorable ideas for kids cupcakes. I read through the directions for the penguins and decided it looked easy enough to try. It was easy...BUT time consuming, especially when making 24 of them! Then, the issue of transportation...let’s just say that my 9 year old, who is clearly smarter than me, said “next time, maybe you should make these for a party at home, so we won’t have to take them in the car.” Good advice. I survived, and so did most the penguins; the delight on the kiddos faces was worth all the effort. I will close saying this: this is a fun, easy, slightly time consuming project; if you make about 8 of them for a party at your house, you’ll be glad you did. Perfect for January!

For 8 penguins:
8 white cake cupcakes in white liners
4 plain or chocolate mini donuts, sliced in half like a bagel
8 glazed or plain donut holes
16 oz vanilla frosting
16 oz dark chocolate frosting
black food coloring (Michael’s has it)
4 marshmallows
8 thin chocolate cookies (I used Oreos pulled apart, but Famous Chocolate Wafers are better)
4 yellow Starburst candy squares
16 mini chocolate chips
gummy fish or small colored fish candies

Use vanilla frosting as GLUE to hold this together:

Place in freezer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, tint the chocolate frosting black, microwave approximately 30 seconds, stir frequently.

Hold cupcake liner and dip frozen cupcake in black, warm frosting, coated to the edge of the liner. Set back upright. This gives the penguin the black shiny glaze.

To decorate the penguin, see diagram. It is easiest to do this in an assembly line.