Sunday, May 31, 2015

Unicorn & Mermaid Cupcakes ♥

 It's official, I've been bitten by the baking bug again! I've been browsing on Pinterest and pinning things like a mad woman to make at sometime in the future - it's a long list at this stage! I came across some unicorn cupcakes and thought they looked amazing, but as always I wanted to put my own spin on them, making my own Unicorn & Mermaid Cupcakes. These cupcakes are a swirl of colours with a five colour sponge and five colour icing on top too with a hidden surprise in the middle. 

 They're called Unicorn & Mermaid Cupcakes because half the swirls came out light and pretty like unicorns and the others came out in a mixture of colours which reminded me of mermaids - it really is as simple as that! Plus, who doesn't like unicorns and mermaids?! It's funny because they came out like this exactly half and half - just like magic! Plus the swirls are like the swirls of the sea and the swirls of a unicorn horn - okay now I really am thinking about this too much!

 To make these glittering, magical, rainbow inspired cupcakes of gorgeousness you will need -

282g self raising flour
113g of softened butter
2 egg whites
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Nerds - Rainbow drops would be amazing too! 
Any food colours you want, I used pink, blue, violet, leaf green and golden yellow.
Edible glitter, I used gold and pink for the unicorn cupcakes and silver and blue for the mermaid cupcakes.
Gold and silver ball sprinkles.

How to make these colourful, swirly unicorn & mermaid cupcakes -

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line cupcake tins with cases, this recipe makes 16 cupcakes.
2. Sieve the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together in another bowl, an electric mixer would have been so handy for this but as I don't have one I had to use my hands and then a spoon to mix it all together.
4. Add the vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture.
5. Add the egg whites to the butter, sugar and vanilla mixture one at a time, beating with a whisk.
6. Add in the eggs to this mixture one at a time, beat again.
7. Gradually add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla mixture, alternating the two as you add to get the best texture from your batter.
8. Divide your batter into five bowls (or however many bowls of colours you want).
9. Add in a tiny drop of each food colouring if you want a pastel look and a bit more if you want a more vivid look that I went for with the sponge.
10. Spoon your batter into the cupcake cases, adding each colour where you want it in the case. I put pink on the bottom, purple and blue on the sides and then green and yellow on top of each other and I love how they turned out.
11. When fully baked (around 20 minutes later) leave your cupcakes to cool on a wire rack. Top tip: Cover with a tea-towel to keep your cupcakes moist.
12. When completely cool use a cupcake scooper (I have just invested in one of these!) and fill the hole with the Nerds, Rainbow Drops or whatever other sweets you'd like. (Try to resist eating the Nerds, I couldn't!).

 For the delicious, creamy, swirly icing -

227g of unsalted, softened butter
404g of icing sugar
4 tbls of double cream
The food colourings you used for the sponge

1. Cream the butter until it's light and fluffy in texture.
2. Add the icing sugar and continue to beat the mixture until it becomes creamy in texture.
3. Add in the double cream and continue to beat.
4. Place your icing into five bowls.
5. Add the tiniest hint of food colouring (I wanted my icing to be pastel coloured so I used the smallest drop I could).
6. Add a spoon of each colour icing to a piping bag and push down with a spoon.
7. Ice your cupcakes in swirly, pastel coloured loveliness.
8. Sprinkle generously with glitter (or magic unicorn dust as I told my toddler it was!).
9. Add a gold and silver ball to the top of the cupcakes. I added the gold to my lighter/unicorn cupcakes and the silver to the blue/green/purple/mermaid cupcakes.

These were most definitely the yummiest cupcakes I've made and tasted in ages. The sponge was perfect, the icing was just right and creamy and the Nerds really do give the best addition to the taste. I need to make more magical food, it really is the most amazing you could eat and the various colours just add to the illusion of magic.

 To do list: Play with fairies, ride a unicorn, swim with mermaids, fly to the moon...

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59 comments

  1. The cupcakes are so dreamy and look delicious!

    bjorkiagadzotica.blogspot.com

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  2. How beyond talented are you with these wonderful cupcakes that brightened my day!
    I almost would not want to eat them as they are too pretty!

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  3. They look delicious! I'll have to try this recipe sometime - my daughter would absolutely love these!

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  4. These look absolutely gorgeous to me and how talented are you! These are almost too good to eat!

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  5. Wow! Awesome looking cupcakes and not to mention very colorful and sparkly! Love it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  6. I am glad to know I am not the only one who does not own a mixer (of any kind in my case). I don't know if I could actually make these but I would sure like to try--they are so pretty and sound delicious!!

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  7. Oh my goodness do these look YUMMY!! Wow! The photos are AMAZING too! I want one now. This is such a great birthday party theme for a young one. My niece would love these! I will have to make these for her next birthday and do a whole mermaid theme. :D Thanks so much for sharing and for the recipe!! I'm definitely going to try them.

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  8. Is there a way I came jump through the screen and eat these cupcakes?! They look AMAZING! These would be great for a birthday party (or just about any day because it's never not a good day for cupcakes!) <3

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  9. You have a true talent for cupcake decorating. I think you should sell these because you'd make a small fortune!!

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  10. Oh my goodness, how gorgeous and yummy are these? I would feel bad biting into them, they're so pretty!

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  11. Well those are sure some colorful cupcakes. I bet my Grandkids would eat them as fast as I made them.

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  12. Holy moly! These are the perfect cupcakes for me! They're stuffed with candy, and they have a ton of frosting. Sugar coma, here I come!

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  13. They look so beautiful that I don't want to eat them lol, thank you so much for the great recipe :D

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  14. Those cupcakes are out of this world. Too pretty to eat. Oh my gosh! Love em!

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  15. They look like they're straight from the pages of a magazine! My daughter would absolutely love having these at her birthday party, and her friends would love the surprise inside!

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  16. Oh my goodness! These cupcakes look so cute. I love the colors and the themes. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. Those are so pretty! I love the name too :) What is better than a unicorn? A mermaid! Well okay, they are equal :) I bet they are super yummy too!

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  18. We experimented with tie dye cakes and cupcakes this Spring..so fun! Too bad my icing wasn't as beautiful as yours. Thanks for sharing!

    Amanda
    www.queenofthelandoftwigsnberries.com

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  19. Omg these might be the coolest cupcakes of all times! Wish I had some baking skills to try and recreat these!

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  20. There are really so many inspiring items to be found on Pinterest. The colorful and vibrant the pictures are, the tempting to also try them. It's not so hard to fall in love with baking. I love the rainbow colors of your cupcakes. :)

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  21. These look really beautiful! This looks like a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.

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  22. My daughter would have just died in awe! These are almost magical looking- completely inedible as they are just tooo pretty to eat! SOOO TALENTED!

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  23. these look incredible!! mine would never look that nice!

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  24. Your baking abilities amaze me!! These cupcakes are so full of character; I know my girls would love these. I have never been able to make cupcakes like this, or decorate them so nicely. Great job on them!

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  25. I just love the iridescent color of the frosting. These are such pretty cupcakes, and they're almost too pretty to eat!

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  26. These looks so delish!
    I need to give this recipe a try!
    Thanks for sharing!

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  27. My daughter would love this cute cupcakes, because this cupcakes are colorful and amazing looks like yummy and very sweet. I want to try it out for party theme too that is perfect fo

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  28. Those cupcakes look so amazing, can you come over and deliver me some :) I am sure mine won't look nearly as good as yours!

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  29. They are too cute for just any occasion. You would definitely need a special occasion like when my grandchildren come over! I'm definitely going to have to try this, and see what kind of mess I can get into... fingers crossed!!!! hehehe Thanks for sharing.

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  30. Wow! You always make the most amazingly pretty cupcakes. And they look delicious, too! Yum!

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  31. The colors of the frosting are beautiful and then when the cupcake is opened, there's another burst of colors and the hidden surprise. What's not to love about these cupcakes? Beautiful!!

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  32. Your cupcakes are too pretty to eat lol. I wouldn't mind having one of those even on a diet just because they look delicious!

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  33. Wow, those are so beautiful and look amazing. Those would certainly hit someones sweet tooth. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

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  34. They are way too pretty to eat. LOL. I just love the colors and I bet they're delicious. Now I want to have one. Can I have one? ;)

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  35. My daughter would love these cupcakes for her birthday! Thank you for sharing

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  36. These cupcakes are beautiful. I'll have to show them to my daughter. She does a great job at decorating. I don't do so well. :)

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  37. These are the best cupcakes I have ever seen! I'm definitely going to try and recreate these. Thanks for sharing.

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  38. Oh my! These looks like so much fun! I absolutely LOVE them! Pinning!

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  39. I really want to try this. I know the kids would love this. I want to eat it off the page. lol

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  40. Oh gosh I just love these Unicorn & Mermaid Cupcakes. Kiddo would love these as she would tell me the glitter in the frosting is fairy dust.

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  41. These look so yummy! They are almost too pretty to eat. I say almost because I can't resist a cute little cupcake like that!

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  42. These look so good. I love the colors and the glitter. These would be perfect for my daughter's birthday party. She would go nuts for them!

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  43. Those are almost too cute to eat, I love what you did with them so creative.

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  44. Those cupcakes are amazing. My kids would absolutely love them!

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  45. I don't know if I would like the nerds in the cupcake, but they're gorgeous and I know my little girl (and I!) would LOVE the rainbow cupcakes!!

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  46. Those cupcakes are almost too beautiful to eat. How wildly creative and beautiful!

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  47. Lovely cupcakes! KIDS will be amazed upon seeing this. They are too beautiful to consume! :)

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  48. These are totally unicorn cupcakes... so colorful and whimsical! I love the colors and the glitter and if my stepson was a stepdaughter, I know what he'd be bringing to school for his birthday this year : -)

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  49. It doesn't matter if you call these unicorn or mermaid or even just plain rainbow cupcakes, they certainly are eye catching. I love that you combined them with one of my favorite candies, Nerds. You really do need to make more magical food because these look and sound amazing!

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  50. I love how sparkly you made these with edible glitter. I would love to do the same thing to my cupcakes but I can never find it around here. Also, I just love how you incorporated Nerds into the cupcakes. What do you think about using Skittles in place of them though for an even bigger rainbow effect?

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  51. These look so amazing. I have to try making some this weekend. My kids are going to love them.

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  52. These look like a lot of fun and delicious! My daughter will love them before she tastes them when I tell her what they are called lol.

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  53. These look almost too good to eat... almost... I wish I was this crafty and could bake!

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  54. Interesting! I don't think I've ever seen a cupcake like that. Will definitely check it out.

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  55. You always make the prettiest cupcakes!! I love that these are colorful both inside and out. Great job!!

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  56. This is such a great use of the edible glitter and I just love how you filled the cupcakes with Nerds. My sone would LOVE these!

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  57. These are so adorable. Great way you have used glitter and decoration is cute. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  58. This is so whimsical and fun! I bet my girls would love these. I can see this at a child's tea party and certainly a birthday party. I just love the colors and the fun surprises inside!

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