Recipe courtesy of Heather Baird
Recipe courtesy of Heather Baird
Watch how to make this recipe.
Eggnog-and-Chocolate Reindeer Cupcakes
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- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 1 hr 30 min (includes cooling)
- Active: 1 hr
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 12 servings
- Calories
- 1399
- Total Fat
- 71 g
- Saturated Fat
- 36 g
- Carbohydrates
- 184 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 9 g
- Sugar
- 118 g
- Protein
- 17 g
- Cholesterol
- 140 mg
- Sodium
- 705 mg
Get ready to “sleigh” your holiday dessert game with these festive reindeer cupcakes. A marbled eggnog-and-chocolate cupcake base is the delicious beginning to these treats. The whimsical reindeer topper is crafted from two stacked mini chocolate doughnuts and a wafer cookie, then adorned with rich chocolate buttercream, candies, peanuts and mini pretzel twists for adorable antlers. If you want to make assembling them a festive project for a holiday get-together, you can even prepare the cupcakes and buttercream a day or two ahead (see Cook’s Note for details).
- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 1 hr 30 min (includes cooling)
- Active: 1 hr
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 12 servings
- Calories
- 1399
- Total Fat
- 71 g
- Saturated Fat
- 36 g
- Carbohydrates
- 184 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 9 g
- Sugar
- 118 g
- Protein
- 17 g
- Cholesterol
- 140 mg
- Sodium
- 705 mg
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
Buttercream:
Decorations:
Directions
Special equipment:
a small (1/2-ounce) cookie scoop; 3 disposable piping bags or resealable plastic bags; a 1/2-inch plain piping tip (optional); a 1/4-inch plain piping tip (optional)- For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
- Combine the cocoa powder and hot water in a medium bowl and whisk to form a paste. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until very fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is pale and smooth, about 2 more minutes.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture on low speed in three additions, alternating with the eggnog and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Remove about 3/4 cup of the batter and add it to the bowl with the chocolate paste mixture. Beat on medium speed until combined and no streaks of white batter remain.
- Use a small 1-tablespoon (1/2-ounce) cookie scoop to place two scoops of plain eggnog cake batter into each paper liner. Top each with 1 scoop of the chocolate eggnog batter. (If you don’t have a cookie scoop, just spoon 2 tablespoons eggnog batter and 1 tablespoon chocolate into the liners.) Swirl the two batters together using a butter knife or skewer to make a marbled batter.
- Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the buttercream: Cream the butter and confectioners’ sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low speed. Beat in the vanilla. Add milk or cream a little at a time until the mixture is smooth yet firm; the frosting should be thick enough to stick to a rubber spatula even when you turn it upside down.
- Transfer one-third of the buttercream to a disposable piping bag and snip off a 1/2-inch opening or fit the bag with a 1/2-inch plain piping tip. Or transfer it to a resealable plastic bag and snip a 1/2-inch off one corner.
- Add the cocoa powder to the remaining buttercream in the bowl and beat again. Add milk or cream to thin the frosting to piping consistency but keep it firm enough to hold firmly on a spatula even when you turn it upside down. Transfer half the buttercream to a large disposable piping bag and snip a 3/4-inch opening in the end or transfer it to a resealable plastic bag and snip 3/4 inch off one corner. Transfer the other half to a disposable piping bag and snip a 1/4-inch opening in the end or fit it with a 1/4-inch plain piping tip; you can also transfer it to a resealable plastic bag and snip a 1/4 inch off one corner.
- For decorating: Place the sanding sugar in a small bowl. Pipe a ring of the white buttercream around the top edge of a cupcake and immediately dip into the sanding sugar; shake off excess.
- Using the chocolate buttercream bag with the 1/4-inch opening, pipe a small amount of chocolate buttercream in the center of the white ring and top with a mini chocolate donut; add a dot of buttercream to the center of the donut and stack a second donut on top. Pipe a dime-sized dot of chocolate buttercream on the line where the two donuts meet. Press the flat side of a mini vanilla wafer into the frosting.
- Use the chocolate buttercream bag with the 3/4-inch opening to pipe a 2-inch mound of chocolate frosting in the top center of the top donut to create the reindeer’s head. Use the chocolate buttercream bag with the 1/4-inch opening to pipe two small dots of chocolate buttercream at the bottom edge of the cupcake on either side of the mini vanilla wafer to create feet. Pipe two dots on both sides of the top donut to create arms.
- Cut each sour belt in two lengthwise, so that you have 12 long strands each about 1/4-inch wide. Wrap a belt around the base of the head, overlapping it to one side to form a scarf for the reindeer; trim the ends if needed.
- Use the bag of white frosting to pipe a 1/2-inch white round muzzle on the head just above the candy belt. Add two candy eyes just above the muzzle on the head. Press a peanut upright to the left and right of the eyeballs into the chocolate frosting head to create ears.
- Just behind the ears, add two pretzel twists to each side of the head for antlers. Finally, press a red candy pearl into the white buttercream muzzle portion of the face to create a nose.
- Repeat the decorating process with the remaining cupcakes. As an optional touch, sift a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar over the reindeer for a wintry feel.
- Store the decorated cupcakes at room temperature in an airtight cupcake keeper for up to 3 days.
Cook’s Note
You can bake the cupcakes and make the buttercream up to 2 days before decorating. Keep the cupcakes in an airtight container or cupcake keeper. Refrigerate the types of buttercream (chocolate and white) separately in covered containers; when ready to use, whip each one until smooth with an electric mixer and then transfer them to the pastry bags. We recommend you use your favorite commercially prepared eggnog for this recipe; store-bought is more consistent in thickness and is also pasteurized. The buttercream for these cupcakes needs to be thick so it holds its shape well. As you pipe, the warmth of your hands may cause the frosting to become softer. If this happens, put the frosting bags in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up.
