Reindeer Cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate buttercream swirl, pretzel antlers, candy eyes and a shiny red nose.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
Pretzel antlers, big candy eyes and a shiny red nose turn a chocolate cupcake into a little reindeer in seconds. These are the easiest holiday cupcakes to decorate, with one swirl of frosting and no fancy piping, so they are perfect for a class party, a cookie swap or an afternoon of decorating with the kids.
The Thermomix® TM7™ mixes the chocolate batter in under a minute, and the oven bakes it. After a quick wash, the butterfly whisk whips butter, cocoa and powdered sugar into a smooth chocolate buttercream, soft enough to pipe and firm enough to hold the antlers. Set out the candy and let everyone build a reindeer.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Reindeer Cupcakes
Makes: 12 cupcakes
- Prep1 h 15 min
- Cook20 min
- Total1 h 35 min
- Serves12
Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes
For the chocolate buttercream
To decorate
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- For the cupcakes, place the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in the mixing bowl and mix 10 sec/speed 4.
- Add the egg, milk, oil and vanilla and mix 15 sec/speed 4. Add the hot water and mix 10 sec/speed 3, scrape down the sides with the spatula and mix 5 sec/speed 3 more. The batter will be thin.
- Pour the batter into the liners, about 2/3 full, and bake in the oven 18-20 min, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 min in the pan, then completely on a rack, about 45 min.
- Wash and dry the mixing bowl. For the buttercream, insert the butterfly whisk, add the butter and whip 1 min/speed 3.5. Add the cocoa and half the powdered sugar, put the measuring cup in place and whip 1 min/speed 3.5.
- Add the rest of the powdered sugar, the cream, vanilla and salt and whip 1 min/speed 3.5. Scrape down the sides and whip 30 sec/speed 3.5 more, until smooth and fluffy.
- Put the buttercream in a piping bag with a large open star tip and pipe a swirl on each cupcake.
- While the frosting is still soft, press 2 pretzels into the top of each swirl for antlers, then add 2 candy eyes and a red candy nose just below them.
Tips
- Pretzels go soft in the fridge, so add the antlers the day you serve the cupcakes, up to 4 hours ahead.
- Decorating with kids? Pipe the swirls yourself and set the pretzels, eyes and noses out in small bowls so each child builds a reindeer.
- Bake the cupcakes a day ahead and keep them covered at room temperature. Frosted cupcakes keep 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge; take them out 20 minutes before serving.
