Turkey Cupcakes
These festive turkey cupcakes will charm your guests at first sight but the best part is they're moist, rich and delicious chocolate cake on the inside.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 18 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- ¼ cup sour cream (57g, room temperature)
- ½ cup buttermilk (118mL, room temperature)
- 2 medium eggs
- ¼ cup hot coffee (60mL)
- ⅓ cup veggie oil (79mL)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (10mL)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
- 1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar (265g)
- ¼ cup cocoa powder (20g, nice)
- 1 tsp baking soda (6g)
- ½ tsp kosher salt (2.5g)
- 1 2/3 lbs confectioners sugar 700g (900g)
- 1 lb butter (450g, unsalted, room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (5mL)
- 1 tbsp whole milk (15mL)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (2g)
- food coloring
Instructions
- 1
For the cupcakes:
- 2
Preheat to 350F. Add papers to a cupcake tin.
- 3
Sift the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
- 4
Add the wet ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.
- 5
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- 6
Whisk until smooth and combined.
- 7
Distribute batter evenly into the cupcake papers and bake for about 15 -20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- 8
Allow time to cool.
- 9
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
- 10
In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy.
- 11
Sift the confectioners' sugar into the creamed butter.
- 12
Add 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt, and milk a tablespoon at a time until the desired smooth consistency is reached.
- 13
Separate into buttercream into multiple bowls. A very small batch for the white and a larger batch for the red and chocolate.
- 14
Add food coloring to create yellow, orange and red the turkey colors. Use cocoa to get the brown base color.
- 15
Transfer each color to piping bags fitted with wilton 103 piping tips. Transfer the brown to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
- 16
For the Assembly:
- 17
Start with a red ruffle around the perimeter of the cupcake. Leave a gap open for the body. Just move your hand back and forth to make the ruffle.
- 18
Pipe an orange ruffle, then a yellow ruffle making sure to leave a void in the middle where the body and head will go.
- 19
Pipe one continuous body and head. Make sure to use more pressure for the body so it's fatter than the neck/head
- 20
Add a a dot of white buttercream for the eye and press an upside-down mini chocolate chip into the center
- 21
Pipe a beak on the side of the turkey head with the yellow buttercream then add the waddle with a bit of red buttercream.