These Thanksgiving cupcakes are a simple way to create unique table settings for the holiday. There are a number of turkey-inspired cupcakes floating around Pinterest, but I think these are the cutest. And they make four-year-olds to 60-year-olds smile, so they have that going for them.
Start with basic chocolate cupcakes and chocolate buttercream (my go-to recipes are below). You'll also need the following:
- Candy corn (for the feathers)
- Nutter Butter cookies (for the head)
- Reese's Pieces or Skittles (for the nose); orange only
- Wilton Candy Eyes (for the...eyes)
- Red licorice (for the snood)
- White icing (to adhere the candy pieces to the cookie)
After you've frosted your cupcakes, insert six (6) pieces of candy corn around the rim. You'll want to insert them enough that the white portion of the candy corn is no longer visible.
Then it's time to work on the turkey face. Start with the eyes, then the nose, and finish with the snood. I found it was a lot easier to get the candy to adhere to the Nutter Butter (never thought that'd be a phrase I'd use) if I could avoid the seams as much as possible. I piped the icing onto the cookie, then pushed the candy into it. The nose is the hardest, simply because you have to get it to stay on it's edge. Just hold it in place for a few seconds to ensure it's adhered.
I let the cookies sit for about 30 minutes before inserting them into the cupcakes. To keep the cupcakes from tumbling over, insert the cookie just shy of halfway. This height also provides plenty of clearance for most cupcake holders (in case you need to travel with these).
I made these cupcakes using my ENHANCED CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX and FAVORITE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM recipes.