Cupcake with Emoji, I made these colorful and fun cupcakes to celebrate Flavio’s First Communion, for which we have already seen the cake and the decorated cookies also with Emoji.
The cupcakes are very simple to prepare based on whipped butter that adapts well to being filled on the surface even a couple of days beforehand because they will remain soft; However, my advice is to bake them in baking cups that you then cover at the last minute with the ones you want to present on the tables because being a rich butter dough, the baking ones will tend to be oily.
Cupcakes are usually topped with a cream based on mascarpone and cream that does not deflate and is well suited to be colored with food coloring.
When I talk about food coloring, I always remember not to overdo the doses because they could alter the final taste of your desserts. I don’t advise against using food coloring because they make your preparations cheerful and are very popular with children. Among the food colors I have tried over the years, I prefer the paste ones because they are more concentrated, the colors are brighter, and they allow you to use little and not alter the taste and consistency of doughs and creams.
I suggest other delicious creams to pair with the cupcakes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Energy 410.37 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 47.91 (g) of which sugars 36.86 (g)
- Proteins 3.97 (g)
- Fat 23.56 (g) of which saturated 8.52 (g)of which unsaturated 3.55 (g)
- Fibers 0.23 (g)
- Sodium 53.70 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 108 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
The ingredients to prepare these cupcakes are easy to find, even fondant for decorations can be found in the supermarket, but you can always make it at home
- 9 tbsp butter (room temperature)
- 9 tbsp sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- to taste vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp baking powder (about 1 teaspoon)
- 4.5 oz cream cheese
- 4.5 oz mascarpone
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- to taste food coloring
- 9 oz fondant (depends on how many faces and the size)
Tools
To prepare the cupcakes, you certainly need baking cups and clean cups for plating: to decorate, I use a piping bag for the cream and various small cookie cutters to make the faces in fondant, but you can also work it simply with your hands like modeling clay.
- 24 Baking cups
- 1 Cookie cutters
- 1 Piping bag
Preparation
The preparation of the cupcakes is very simple but obviously is divided between preparing the base and decorating
The process to make the cupcakes is very easy, just beat the butter with the sugar well, then add one egg at a time, continue by adding the flour, vanilla extract, milk, and finally the baking powder. Fill cupcake/muffin suitable paper liners with a heaping tablespoon of batter and bake at 356°F for about 20 minutes, always check the browning on the surface; remember that the liners in which you bake them will get moist during baking, so keep new liners, where you will place your cupcakes once cooled, to serve them!!!
Preparing the frosting is even simpler, just put the cream cheese, mascarpone, and powdered sugar in a large bowl. With the help of a mixer, mix everything well until the cheeses write again; because initially, you will see them become more liquid, but by continuing to blend, they will become more compact. Finally, fold in the already whipped cream by hand with circular movements from bottom to top. This way you’ll get a great neutral-colored frosting that you can use naturally or color it according to your imagination.
The last step is to make the Emoji with fondant, but I assure you it’s one of the simplest decorations to make. You can prepare the fondant decorations even days in advance; in fact, it would be better because if you let them dry in the air, they will become rigid so that they can be placed vertically on the cupcakes.
Start with yellow fondant if you bought it or add paste coloring to the white base. After creating all the circles you need, you can decide the expressions to make on top and you can always use fondant, coloring it from time to time, or purchasing it already colored.
NOTES
When I talk about food coloring, I always remember not to overdo the doses because they could alter the final taste of your desserts. I don’t advise against using food coloring because they make your preparations cheerful and are very popular with children. Among the food colors I have tried over the years, I prefer the paste ones because they are more concentrated, the colors are brighter, and they allow you to use little and not alter the taste and consistency of doughs and creams.
To color the fondant, I recommend starting with a small part and making it very intense, then adding more white paste, mixing, and letting it rest covered with plastic wrap for half an hour; after resting, you will find it more intense without having to add too much coloring.
The tools that can help you work on the decorations are the same ones used for modeling clay and can be easily purchased in any household goods store.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use gel food coloring?
There are different types of gel food coloring; you need to look for the paste ones for better performance, but if you only find the more liquid ones, don’t worry, help yourself with cornstarch to bring both the frosting and fondant back to the right consistency, but don’t expect vibrant and dark colors because it is not possible to achieve them.
Can I substitute the cream cheese?
You can use the cheese you prefer, as long as it has a consistency that does not deflate the cream. You can also use lactose-free cheeses.
