Fat Penguin Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 quantity Buttermilk Cake(see below)
1 quantity Vanilla Buttercream (see below)
Black food coloring paste
Tiny white chocolate drops
4 oz. white, ready-to-roll fondant icing
Yellow food coloring paste
Red food coloring paste
Muffin pan, lined with 8-10 paper cupcake liners
Mini-muffin pan, lined with 8-10 paper liners in the coordinating size

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Divide the Buttermilk Cake between the paper liners, filling them two-thirds full. Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 12-25 minutes, depending on the size of the cakes – take them out when they are well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

2. Put two-thirds of the Vanilla Buttercream in a bowl and tint it black using the food coloring paste. Remove the paper liners from all the cold cakes and trim the top off each cake to make it level. Lay the larger cupcakes upside down and dab a little buttercream on the top. Lay a mini-muffin upside down on top of each larger cupcake. Spread black buttercream all over the penguins, leaving the area for the tummy unfrosted. Spread untinted buttercream into the tummy area. Press 2 white chocolate drops onto each penguin’s face for the eyes. Dab a little black food coloring onto the middle of each eye.

3. Take 2 tablespoons of the fondant icing and tint it yellow. Break off small nuggets of the icing and shape into triangles for the beaks. Stick one onto each penguin. Color half of the remaining icing black. Pinch off hazelnut-size pieces and shape and flatten into wings. Press one wing onto either side of each penguin. Use the remaining icing to make the ski caps. Tint three-quarters of it red and leave the remainder white. Roll and pinch the red icing into cones and bend the ends so that they droop. Roll the white icing into small balls and stick to the end of each cap. Carefully place a cap on top of each penguin

Source: yummyrecipe