Olympic Rings Cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes decorated with colored chocolate Olympic rings
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
- ⅔ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- ⅓ 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°F.
- 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
- To minimize the time needed for this recipe, work on the chocolate circles while the cake is cooking and then cools. You can also make them a day ahead of time.
- The frosting can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator; however, it will need to be beaten 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, each in the following colors: blue, black, red, yellow, and green. Use enough food coloring gel to create primary colors 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
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!