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Nicole Simeone
Popcorn Cupcakes
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Looks complicated and out of your wheelhouse doesn't it? Trust me. It's not.
Who doesn’t love a bucket of popcorn?
My Dad.
I’d say something along the lines of no one is perfect, but his apathy toward popcorn is convenient. One less person competing to get control of the tub. He’s so considerate.
This isn’t going to be a post about the greatness of the buttery goodness of movie theater popcorn. I could go on about that, seeing as it can be a divisive topic. Either you love it hate the butter topping they smother popcorn with at the movies. Instead, I am turning my attention to cupcakes.
Popcorn and cupcakes? Yes.
Recently, I was asked to make cupcakes for Film Club. And what’s a baking request without keeping in theme? If you’re going to show up with cupcakes to an hour and a half of movies, they absolutely should be dressed accordingly. After a bit of deliberation and a restriction of deciding supplies readily on hand, I thought it would be fun to turn one treat into another.
Popcorn Bucket cupcakes.
This might look complicated to you and out of your skillset, but looks can be deceiving. And it’s undoubtedly an applicable adage here. Everyone has what it takes to wow a crowd with this concept. Sure, you may not have everything ready to be used in your kitchen. What you don’t have is easy enough to come by.
For the cake and frosting parts of this equation, it’s baker’s choice. I went a little above what was needed. These are “S’more” cupcakes underneath the packaging. A chocolate cake from a mix and canned frosting would do the job just as nicely.
I would absolutely love to tell you I sat down In front of my computer with my Cricut linked and cut out these charming cups. But, the reality was, I had zero patience and time to Duke it out with sizing and endless recuts. I went to Amazon had them solve half of the aesthetic for me.
The other half of the look couldn’t be purchased, though. So, I went to the pantry and pulled out my decorating tools. Here’s what you’ll need to replicate these beauties:
Aforementioned cupcakes and frosting
Aforementioned Paper cups
Piping bag and tip (I used 1M)
Large bag of mini marshmallows
Yellow food gel
Toothpick
Clear Vanilla extract
Food paint Brush
Small dish or cup
Paper plates
Use the paintbrush to mix the liquid and gel together. I mix a little at a time, so I don’t have to keep getting more gel. Dab the mixture onto your palette and set the brush down.
Grab another plate and set it down close by. Now, open the marshmallows, if you haven’t already, and pull out your first subject.
I brushed on a thin streak of color before squishing the marshmallow, which naturally spreads the color over the surface and creates the crackled popcorn texture.
Occasionally, I opted to smush two minis together to form a larger kernel.
As the “paint” gets on your finger, you can opt not to use the brush to transfer color to the marshmallows. This gives a variety and depth of color to your popcorn.
I smushed and colored about half of the bag. The rest of the marshmallows, I smushed in my fingers but left mostly uncolored. I wanted to have a wide variety of options for assembly. Then, I slid the paper plates with my kernels into freezer bags, sealing them in for later.
Once work had wrapped up, I unwrapped the cupcakes and readied them for transformation. Put the cupcakes into the paper cups unfrosted and set aside. After marrying the piping bag and tip, scoop in your frosting. You don’t need to do anything fancy for the frosting process. Just enough to act as a foundation for the marshmallows. I went over each cupcake, making a flat swirl on each. Once done, remove marshmallows from freezer bags, sprinkling them over the top of the cupcakes, so that the majority of the frosting is covered.
And voila! Popcorn cupcakes! The kind of popcorn my Dad wouldn’t be apathetic to.
Take them to a kid’s birthday party. An Oscar viewing party. Or to the office. Doesn’t matter, you’re sure to get all of the “Oohs and ahhs.”
Till next time Nerd Girls!