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Olympic Rings Cupcakes

These vanilla Olympic Rings cupcakes with buttercream frosting have a printable template for making Olympic Rings out of white chocolate.

Chocolate Olympic Rings

I wanted to make Olympic-inspired food with the Olympic rings to serve at a viewing party. But, I soon discovered that it is difficult to make the round rings…well, round! There are not many molds for making tiny fondant rings, but I will show you an easy way to draw small circles.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Make Chocolate Rings for Olympic Rings Cupcakes

There are five Olympic rings–blue, yellow, black, green, and red. All of the rings, except black, are made with white chocolate. The black ones are made from dark chocolate. When making the first color of Olympic rings, use 1/2 cup of chocolate as listed in the recipe. This will give you plenty of chocolate to practice making the rings. Then, adjust the chocolate amount for all the other ring colors. Be sure to make more rings than cupcakes–in case you break some.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Use Gel Food Coloring for Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Be sure to use gel food coloring instead of liquid, or the chocolate might seize and become hard. If it does, add a teaspoon (or two) of vegetable oil to the seized chocolate and stir. Oil can sometimes save it and make the chocolate smooth again. Also, it is best to add the gel food coloring to the chocolate before you heat it in the microwave.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Use a Tip Coupler

A piping coupler (the white tip holder shown in the above photo) makes it easier to hold the piping bag when doing detailed work. However, you can omit the coupler, place the tip straight into the bag and start piping. The recipe notes have a link that shows how to use a coupler and insert it into a piping bag. There is also a buying source for it.

Piping Bags for Olympic Rings Cupcakes

You can purchase piping bags online. You can also buy them locally at craft shops (in the cake decorating section) and specialty bakery shops. However, there are alternatives to piping bags.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Use Sandwich Bags to Pipe Chocolate

If you don’t have piping bags, you can use reclosable sandwich bags to pipe the chocolate, as shown above. Cut off one corner of the plastic bag to make a hole to insert the tip. Be careful because it is easy to cut the hole too big. If you don’t use the coupler, place the piping tip inside the bag and slide it through the hole in the corner of the sandwich bag. Then, spoon in the melted chocolate. Close the bag and start piping.

Use Gallon-Sized Bags to Pipe Frosting

You can also use reclosable bags for piping frosting onto the cupcakes. However, you will need a large bag to pipe frosting, so I recommend using a gallon-sized freezer bag because they are thicker and can take more pressure when you pipe. Use a large star tip to pipe the frosting (see Recipe Notes below for a buying source). If the frosting is difficult to pipe onto the cupcakes, add more cream to soften it. If it is too runny, add more powdered sugar to stiffen it.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Trace a Template to Make Rings

Use the provided template (shown in the above photo) to make the Olympic Rings. Download and print the template using the button below. It has two ring sizes–2 inches and 2.5 inches. The Olympic rings in these photos used the 2.5-inch size template rings.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

How to Use the Template for Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Print the template and place it on a flat cookie sheet. Place a sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper over the template. Use the piping bag with melted chocolate and a round piping tip. Draw the circles by squeezing the piping bag and tracing the template circles (as shown in the photo above). Do not try to overlap the rings; draw individual ones instead. Move the template sheet under the parchment paper and draw more circles. When finished, place the cookie sheet with the parchment sheet and chocolate circles into the refrigerator. Keep the template sheet to pipe another color.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Inserting the Rings into the Cupcakes

When you pipe a circle, the starting and stopping points overlap, making the ring thicker in one spot. Do not worry about making perfect rings because it is easy to hide the thickened section by inserting that spot into the cupcake frosting (shown above.)

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Order of the Olympic Rings

When you insert the chocolate rings into the cupcakes, start on the back row and place a blue, black, and red Olympic ring–in this order. Then, insert a yellow ring in front of the blue and black ones. Insert a green one in front of the black and red rings. This will make the rings look like they overlap. You can place the Olympic rings as close as you like. However, set the back row higher than the front row. The frosting is very forgiving if you need to adjust the rings.

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Make Extra Rings

If you host an Olympics viewing party, make plenty of chocolate rings. They can be used to decorate and garnish other foods. Enjoy!

Olympic Rings Cupcakes

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Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes decorated with colored chocolate Olympic rings
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Anytime, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 24
Calories 284 kcal

Equipment

  • 24 white cupcake liners
  • 1 large piping bag
  • 1 large star tip
  • parchment or wax paper
  • 1 printout template of rings (see note below for template)
  • 1 small decorating tip coupler (optional) (see note below)
  • 1 number 5 round cake decorating tip
  • 5 piping bags or sandwich reclosable bags
  • Baking Sheet

Ingredients
  

Vanilla Cupcakes
  • cup sour cream, room temperature
  • ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 4 large egg whites, room temperature
  • cup vegetable oil
  • 1 box Duncan Hines White Cake Mix
Vanilla Buttercream
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon clear butter flavoring
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 4 cups powdered (icing) sugar (see note below on measuring sugar)
Chocolate Rings
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate wafers
  • 2 cups white chocolate wafers
  • 5 gel food coloring colors: black, blue, red, yellow, and green

Instructions
 

Vanilla Cupcakes
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Place the sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and vegetable oil into a large mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth. Then sift in the cake mix and stir until smooth–but not overmixed. Do not skip sifting the cake mix, or the batter will be lumpy.
  • Using a cookie scoop, place the cake batter into the cupcake liners. Fill them about 2/3 full.
  • Bake for 20-23 minutes or until the cupcakes are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean or with crumbs. Do not overbake. After 5 minutes of cooling time, move the cupcakes to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream
  • Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt until creamy. Add the cream and stir. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and beat between each addition. If the frosting is too stiff, add more cream. If too soft, add more sugar.
  • Add the vanilla frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe the frosting, starting at the outside of the cupcake. Circle around the cupcake, moving closer to the middle with each revolution. This will make the frosting taller in the center of the cupcake.
Chocolate Rings
  • Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet. Print out the rings template–see the note below for the template. Choose the size of the rings you want to make and cut the paper to only use that ring size. Slide the template underneath the parchment paper. (I used the 2 1/2-inch template for the rings on the cupcakes shown in the photos.)
  • Add the semi-sweet chocolate and black gel food coloring to a microwave-safe bowl. It will take a lot of black gel coloring, so add several drops and then add more until the desired shade is achieved. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate for 30 seconds. Stir. Melt for 30 more seconds. Stir until all the chips are melted.
  • Gather 1 sandwich bag, the round piping tip, and the tip coupler. Insert the coupler into the bag corner, snip off the corner of the bag, and then attach the piping tip and screw. (See the notes below for a link to see how to put together a coupler and piping bag.) You can also omit the coupler and place the tip into the bag. Cut the bag hole small enough that only half of the piping tip can fit through the bag corner. The coupler is not necessary but might provide more control for drawing circles.
  • Spoon the melted chocolate into the piping bag. Carefully “draw” chocolate over the end rings on the template. Slide the parchment paper over the template so you can make several rings. Each cupcake will take 1 black Olympics ring. When drawing a ring, the overlap where you start and stop will be a little thicker than the rest of the ring. When the black circles are all “drawn,” place the cookie sheet into the refrigerator for 3-5 minutes to let them harden.
  • Wash the tip and coupler. Then melt 1/2 cup of white chocolate and add blue gel coloring. Repeat the process to make blue rings. Refrigerate them to harden the chocolate. Continue this process until all 5 ring colors are made and chilled.
  • Place 3 Olympic rings side-by-side into a frosted cupcake in the following order: blue, black, and red. Stick the thicker part of the ring where the chocolate overlapped into the frosting so it doesn’t show. Place a yellow Olympic ring in front of the blue and black rings. Then place the green ring in front of the black and red rings. (Refer to the photos to see the rings.) This placement will give the appearance of overlapping rings.

Notes

Template

Click here and then download and print the Olympic Rings template.  It is your tracing guide for drawing the rings.

Work Ahead

  • For this recipe to take the least amount of time, work on the chocolate circles while the cake cooks and then cools.  You can also make them a day ahead of time.
  • The frosting can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator; however, you will need to beat the frosting again before using it.

How to Use a Coupler with a Decorating Tip

Click here to see photos and instructions for using a decorating tip with a coupler. You can also buy from this source.

Supplies

Click here to buy a Number 5 round decorating tip.
Click here to buy large star tips.
Click here to buy piping bags and here to buy a stainless-steel cake decorating tool. 

Olympic Rings

There are 5 Olympic rings in the following colors:  blue, black, red, yellow, and green.  Use enough food coloring gel to make primary rather than pastel colors.

Amount of Chocolate Needed

The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of chocolate for each ring color. This is plenty of chocolate to practice with and make extra circles. However, once you make the first color set, you can adjust the chocolate amount for the other colors.

Measuring Powdered (Icing) Sugar

Use these tips to prevent adding too much sugar to the frosting:
  • Use a spoon to fluff the sugar before measuring it for the buttercream.
  • Do not pack the sugar in the measuring cup.
  • Use a knife to level the top of the sugar in the measuring cup.

Yield

This recipe makes between 20 and 24 regular-sized cupcakes.

Nutrition

Calories: 284kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 2gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 278mgPotassium: 47mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 29gVitamin A: 324IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 67mgIron: 0.5mg
Keyword Cupcakes, Vanilla Cupcakes
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