Penguin Cupcakes

My nephew is obsessed with penguins. He’s been a huge penguin fan for as long as I can remember. And it just happens to be his birthday this month. So I made him some penguin cupcakes! They are much easier than they look but I will warn you they are time-consuming.  But the cuteness totally makes up for all the time you’ll spend on details.

To make these adorable penguin cupcakes you will need the following –

7 cupcakes
4 plain mini donuts
1 can vanilla frosting
7 plain donut holes
1 can dark chocolate frosting
black food coloring
4 marshmallows
7 thin Chocolate Cookies
4 Yellow Starburst
14 mini chocolate chips

You’ll want to make sure your cupcakes are completely cool before you start creating your penguins.  I used vanilla cupcakes for my base but you could also use chocolate if you wanted to.

This also goes so much smoother if you set up your ingredients like an assembly line all ready to go.

First, cut the mini donuts in half crosswise. So you have 8 circles.

Next, break the chocolate cookies in half. These are your wings so try to do them as evenly as possible

Cut your yellow starbursts in half, these are your beaks.

Take the vanilla frosting and lightly frost the tops of each cupcake.

Place the mini donut half on to of the cupcake with the cut side down. Spread a little more vanilla frosting over the donut to cover.

Next, place the donut hole on top of the donut. Frost with vanilla frosting.  You want to cover it with enough vanilla frosting so it’s a smooth frosting covered donut. Place in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to set.

Now it’s time to color the chocolate frosting. Add black food coloring, stirring until mixed well until your icing turns black. Food coloring gel works best because it does not change the consistency of the frosting. Once you have the desired black color it’s time to microwave the frosting. Yes, I know this sounds crazy but you want to microwave the black frosting for about 35 seconds. You don’t want to do this in the plastic container the frosting comes in but you also need it to be in a deep container. A glass measuring cup works best for this. I’d suggest using a 2 cup glass measuring cup. It will give you the depth you need for the next step.

Once the black frosting has a whipped appearance it’s time to take the cupcakes out of the freezer and dip them in the black frosting. You want to make sure the cupcakes have set up and are frozen, a good way to check is to turn the cupcake upside down. If the donuts stay attached it’s frozen, if not let it sit a little while longer in the freezer. To dip the cupcakes, turn them upside down and dip them up to the cupcake liner. Pull them up and let the excess frosting drip off, then gently turn them right side and let them set up.

Next, take a scissors and cut the marshmallow in half so you have 2. Then trim a little bit off the bottom of the circle so it’s flat.  Press the marshmallow so it’s flat and then place on the penguin’s stomach. The flat bottom will be down at the cupcake liner. If you do not flatten your marshmallow it will stick out.

Now, gently push the chocolate wafers into each side of the penguin, these are his wings. You may need to add a little frosting to get them to stick.

It’s time to add the beak, take the starburst that you cut in half earlier and press it around your finger so the sides curve in a little. Then place on the penguin’s face.

Next, place a little bit of the vanilla frosting in a baggie and snip the corner off. Pipe 2 white dots for the eyes. Then place the mini chocolate chips in the center of the white, make sure the point of the chocolate chip goes into the white frosting so the flat bottom is what you see. Add a little dot of white to the chocolate chip.

Now you’re done! You have adorable penguin cupcakes to enjoy. These are perfect for birthday parties or penguin-themed events.

Be sure to check out our chick cupcakes too.