Fluffy cupcakes decorated with fluffy buttercream and a mermaid tail. Beautiful and easier than they look!
Preparation:
To cook:
Level: Difficult
Ingredients
- FOR THE MERMAID TAILS AND SHELLS:
- 1 cup Cornstarch
- 1 pound pink fondant
- 1 pound lilac fondant
- 1 box (approx. 1/3 oz. size) Silver Cake Spray
- FOR THE CUPCAKES:
- 1 box (approx. 15 oz. size) Triple Chocolate Cake Mix
- 3 whole Eggs
- ½ cups Butter
- 1 cup Whole milk
- FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING AND DECORATIONS:
- 1 cup Softened butter
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2-½ cups Granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons Heavy whipped cream
- 2 drops Teal Gel Food Coloring
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 bag (Size 8 oz) White Jumbo Nonpareils
Preparation
Note: You will also need silicone molds for the tails and the shells.
For the mermaid tails and shells:
Lightly dust your hands with cornstarch and work the fondant until it becomes soft. Using a food safe brush, coat the silicone molds with cornstarch.
Tear up a tablespoon of fondant and place it in the tail pan. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before inverting pan and carefully removing tails. Spray with silver cake spray. Leave to dry for 1 hour.
Repeat the steps for the seashells.
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350ºF and line cupcake pan with paper cups.
In a medium bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, butter and milk and mix until well blended. Using a medium ice cream scoop, scoop batter into cupcake liners until about 3/4 full. Bake for about 21 minutes. Cool completely.
For the buttercream frosting and decorations:
In a large bowl, cream the butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar little by little. Add heavy cream as needed to achieve desired consistency.
Reserve 1 cup of frosting and add a few drops of teal food coloring. Place the teal frosting in a piping bag fitted with the star tip.
Drizzle some of the white frosting over the cupcake and smooth with an angled spatula. Dip the cupcake in the brown sugar to make a sandy effect. Pipe a dollop of teal frosting into the center of the sand. Place the tail in the teal frosting. Place seashells around the tail. Randomly place the nonpareils around the tail and the shells.
