Y'all will need the following items:
1 box cake mix (Yellow or White)
1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup 2% or whole milk and 1 tbsp lemon juice
vegetable oil (as marked on box)
4 large eggs (instead of eggs on box)
aluminum muffin cups
aluminum muffin trays
white chocolate (Wilton's Candy Melts)
wax paper
plain or glazed doughnut holes (number depends on how many "chicken legs" you make)
1 cup cornflake crumbs
caramel sauce
orange and yellow starbursts
green round candy (m&m's or runts)
chocolate or rainbow jimmies
chocolate frosting
white frosting
green food coloring
To make the cupcakes, you're going to follow the instructions on your box except you will use the buttermilk instead of water and the 4 eggs instead of whatever is on the box. Then you will pour the cupcake mix into the freestanding aluminum cupcake tins. I prefer to use a ziplock baggie with a cut corner to put the mix into the tin simple because it's easier to control and less messy than pouring it. You want the tins to be about 2/3 of the way full, but don't over do it because these puff up quite nicely. Mine baked for about 18 minutes and were done.
While those are baking we are going to set everything up for decorating. You will need to cut up the orange starbursts into four pieces, sort the green candies out of the rest of the colors, color 1/4 of the white frosting green, crush the frosted flakes, and make the white chocolate bones. NOTE: I used the green pretzel m&m's but they were kind of big, so unless you really like them (like me!) use regular sized ones or runts...
To make the bones, first, either print the template provided below, or draw out a similar shape on wax paper. Then melt the chocolate according to your package's instructions. Move to a ziplock bag if you didn't melt it in the bag. Cut a small piece of the corner off and pipe the outline of the bone on the wax paper and then fill it in. The wax paper should be on a sheet pan, so that after you are done piping all the bones, you can lightly tap the pan against the counter to smooth out the chocolate. Refrigerate until we use them.
Once your cupcakes are cooled, decide how many of each serving you want to make. I put one of each in every tray; however, you can have two chicken legs per tray or maybe not... It's really up to you and how big your trays are.
To make the chicken legs, you will frost your cupcake with the vanilla frosting. You really want to use a fair amount to mound it up on top. Then lightly press a doughnut hole onto the frosting mound, slightly off center on the cupcake. Get some more frosting and spread it from the cupcake up onto the doughnut hole until it's completely covered. It's okay if the frosting isn't completely smooth because now we are going to coat the frosting in those cornflake crumbs. Roll your cupcakes really well in the crumbs.
Using a really sharp knife, gently cut a slice into the top part of the doughnut hole. You want the slice to be angled slightly so the white chocolate bone slides in at about 45*. The last picture shows the worst "chicken leg"... You really want the bone to be more on top of the doughnut hole and more cornflake crumbs. Be careful when cutting the doughnut hole because they will smoosh into the cupcake, roll if you push down to the side and be an all around a pain in the butt...
Repeat this process for all your cupcake chicken legs.
The mashed potatoes are pretty simple. Spread the vanilla frosting onto the top of your cupcake, mounding it the same way as we did on the chicken leg, although not quit as high. Then using a spoon, scoop out the top to make a well in the the center of the frosting. Place the yellow starburst "butter" into the well at an angle. Place the cupcake into the tin prior to drizzling caramel in the well!! The sauce I used was naturally runny, but if you use the thicker brands, just heat it up for 2-4 seconds at a time in the microwave prior to adding it to the cupcake.
The peas and carrots are also really easy. Spread the green frosting onto your cupcake, and try to make it smooth---no need to mound the frosting. Then gently press the orange starburst "carrot" pieces and m&m peas onto the top of your cupcake. Place it in your tin with the other cupcakes.
For the pudding, you can either frost the cupcake with a knife, or put the chocolate frosting into a ziplock bag and pipe it into a spiral. I used a knife, but next time I would probably use a baggie. Then sprinkle it with your jimmies and add it to your tray.
And voila! You have a yummy Cupcake TV Dinner!
No comments:
Post a Comment