Turkey Cupcakes
Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes decorated with chocolate to make turkey cupcakes
Equipment
- parchment or waxed paper
- baking sheet pans
- 10 dark brown or black cupcake liners
- 10 white cupcake liners
- 2 large piping bags
- 1 large star piping tip (1M or similar)
- coupler for a piping tip
Ingredients
Chocolate Tail Feathers and Turkey Head Ingredients
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate wafers or chips
- 1 cup white chocolate wafers or chips
Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients
- 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) 15.25-ounce box white cake mix (Duncan Hines used)
Buttercream Frosting (Vanilla & Chocolate) Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 4-5 cups powdered (icing) sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder, set aside (do not add until the second part of the recipe)
Instructions
Instructions for Chocolate Tail Feathers and Turkey Heads
- Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet. Make all the chocolate tail feathers first.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, start with 1/2 cup of the semi-sweet chocolate and melt it in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval. This will take approximately 1 to 1.5 minutes.
- When the chocolate is melted and stirred to a smooth consistency, drop a 1/2 to 1-inch chocolate dot onto the parchment paper. Using a food-safe paintbrush (or the back of a spoon), place the brush in the chocolate dot and pull it toward you to make a 3-inch straight line. Continue making tail feathers until you have 50 dark chocolate tail feathers.
- Once the tail feathers are made, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate while you make the turkey heads. Heat the remaining semi-sweet chocolate wafers in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval. Stir until smooth.
- Make 10 turkey heads by drizzling chocolate with a spoon onto parchment paper in the shape of a 2 1/2 to 3-inch candy cane. Repeat until you have 10 heads for half of the cupcakes. (Make a few extras in case you break them.) Place the heads in the refrigerator to chill for approximately 10 minutes, or until they are hardened.
- Make the white chocolate turkey tail feathers and turkey heads by melting the white chocolate in a clean, microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals. Repeat the process above with the dark chocolate, making 50 white chocolate tail feathers and 10 turkey heads. Chill the white feathers and heads in the refrigerator until they are hardened.
Instructions for the Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and vegetable oil until smooth and well combined. Then sift in the cake mix and stir until smooth but not overmixed. Do not skip sifting the cake mix; otherwise, the batter will be lumpy.
- Using a cookie scoop, place the cake batter into 10 brown cupcake liners and 10 white cupcake liners. If you have any leftover batter, fill a few extra cupcake liners.
- Bake for 23 minutes or until 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, move the cupcakes to a cooling rack.
Instructions for Chocolate and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy. Add the cream and stir. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, beating between each addition. If the frosting is too stiff, add more cream. If too soft, add more sugar.
- Divide the frosting in half: place 1/2 in a separate bowl and leave 1/2 in the mixing bowl. Add the frosting from the separate bowl to a large piping bag fitted with a coupler and a large star tip. Pipe vanilla frosting on all the cupcakes with white liners to make the turkeys' bodies. Start by creating a circle of frosting around the outside of a cupcake top, and then continue circling, moving in closer to the center with each subsequent circle. This will make the frosting taller in the middle of the cupcake. Repeat this process until all 10 cupcakes with white liners are frosted. Remove the star tip and wash it.
- Add 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder to the remaining frosting in the mixer bowl. Stir, then beat with the mixer until well mixed. Add a splash of cream if the frosting is too stiff.
- Add the chocolate frosting to a clean piping bag, then use the star tip and coupler to pipe it onto the remaining 10 cupcakes with brown liners. Use the same technique of circling around the cupcake from outside to inside to make a tall dome.
- Insert 5 white chocolate tail feathers into "the back" of each vanilla-frosted cupcake. Add a white chocolate turkey head to each of these cupcakes. Then add the dark chocolate tail feathers and turkey heads to the chocolate-frosted cupcakes.
Notes
Time-Saving Tip
Make the chocolate tail feathers and turkey heads a day or two beforehand.Frosting
The frosting can be made ahead of time and refrigerated; however, it will need to be brought to room temperature and beaten again before use.Variations
You can make all the cupcakes white by omitting the cocoa powder from the frosting. If you want all chocolate-frosted cupcakes, add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder to all the frosting and 1 extra tablespoon of heavy cream.Multi-Colored Tail Feathers
To make five different-colored tail feathers, divide 2 cups of white chocolate chips among 5 small bowls. Heat the chocolate in the first container in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, stirring until smooth. Stir in a few drops of food coloring until the desired color is reached. Paint the colored tail feathers onto parchment paper. Then, go to the next container and add a different color. Paint and repeat until you make all the colors you want to use.Nutrition
Calories: 427kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 4gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 314mgPotassium: 147mgFiber: 1gSugar: 42gVitamin A: 396IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 1mg
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