Reindeer Cupcakes

Unpopular opinion: Fondant is totally overrated.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot you can do with fondant that's hard to achieve with other sugar art mediums. BUT when was the last time you actually ate the fondant on the cake or thought "Oh, fondant, my favorite!" as you popped a piece of the flavorless, Laffy Taffy wannabe into your mouth?

Apparently I have some strong feelings about eating fondant.

But you know what I also feel strongly about? The fact that you can never go wrong with more frosting.

Whether it's multi-flavored, straight out of a container or piled so high you'll have to unhinge your jaw just to get that bite, I say yes, yes and that's a medical bill I'm willing to take.

So if you're ready to hop on the Christmas train to frosting town, first stop cuteness overload, keep reading to learn how to make these reindeer cupcakes.

Here's how to make these reindeer cupcakes

First, make or buy a dozen cupcakes.

If you plan to make your own cupcakes and are looking for something decadently delicious, I highly recommend my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe.

But if you need to save some time, there's no shame in purchasing cupcakes (most grocery store bakeries will sell them to you sans-frosting) or using a box mix. You can make a box mix taste nearly homemade with these boxed cake mix hacks.

Second, make your frosting.

For these cupcakes, we'll be using two kinds of frosting: A chocolate buttercream and a vanilla buttercream.

A note on store bought vs. homemade frosting: Although you can use store bought frosting for this tutorial, I don't recommend it. The frosting we'll be making is a crusting buttercream, which means we'll be able to do things with it that won't work as well on store bought frosting, which doesn't crust in the same way.

Since the chocolate buttercream will create the first layer of frosting on the cupcakes, you'll want to start with that.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter on high. Add the baking cocoa, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium until smooth.

Repeat the same steps with the ingredients for the vanilla buttercream, adding a little brown food coloring so the frosting is a beige/light brown color, reserving a few tablespoons of the white frosting.

Third, make the antlers.

Melt a few ounces of dark chocolate and spoon it into a piping bag. Snip a small hole in the end and pipe antler shaped pieces of chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper. Be sure to make extras in case any break.

Finally, frost the cupcakes.

Spoon the chocolate buttercream into a piping bag with a large, round tip (I used an Ateco 809). Pipe a large dollop of frosting that fills up approximately half of the surface of the middle of the cupcake.

Try to keep the tip of the piping bag about ½" from the surface of the cupcake so the frosting doesn't get too thick.

Once all of the cupcakes are frosted, place a sheet of parchment paper onto a baking sheet.

Press the cupcakes frosting side down onto the parchment paper, gently pressing and rolling ever so slightly until the frosting presses its way out to the edge of the cupcakes. Refrigerate for approximately 5-10 minutes.

Peel the cupcakes off of the parchment paper.

Fill another piping bag with the light brown frosting and clip the tip to create a medium-size, round opening. Either free-handing or using a heart shaped cookie cutter to create a guide on the chocolate frosting, pipe a heart shape on the lower half of the cupcakes.

Once all of the cupcakes are frosted, use the same parchment paper technique to gently smooth and fill out the heart. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes.

Using a warm offset spatula or butter knife, create a cut in the light brown frosting down the middle of the heart, leaving about ¼" of uncut frosting at the end.

Tint some of the remaining frosting black.

Use the black frosting to create eyes and the nose. With the leftover white frosting, create spots and reflections on the open eyes and nose.

With the remaining light brown frosting, use a leaf frosting tip (like a Wilton 366) to pipe ears onto the tops of the cupcake.

Add the chocolate antlers.

Expert tips

• The secret to smooth, air-bubble free frosting: Once the frosting has come together, turn your stand mixer down to low and continue beating for about 5 minutes. This should work out most of the air bubbles.
• Using a different kind of frosting: This recipe makes a traditional American buttercream frosting. If you'd like something a little less sweet, feel free to swap it for a Swiss meringue or Italian meringue buttercream at a one to one ratio. I don't recommend using pre-fab, store bought frosting for these cupcakes.
• Fill that piping bag like a pro: Spoon your frosting onto a large piece of plastic wrap, roll and twist the ends. Trim one end so there’s about ½” in length, drop your frosting into the piping bag (short end first) with the tip already on and pipe!
• Using a cookie cutter to create a guide for piping the nose/mouth area: A heart shaped cookie cutter creates a great guide for where the light frosting should go. For these cupcakes, I used a cookie cutter that was 2.75" across at the widest point.
• Getting the perfect dots of frosting as reflections in the eyes: Sometimes it can be difficult to get the dots of white frosting small enough. An easy trick: Use a toothpick to pick up a little bit of frosting and gently swirl it into the black frosting.
• Storing frosted cupcakes: While cupcakes are always best when eaten the same day they’re made, these can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for 1-2 days.