Chick Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Place coconut in resealable food-storage plastic bag. Add about 8 drops yellow food color; seal bag and shake to mix. Frost cupcakes with frosting. Top with yellow coconut. For eyes, add brown baking bits. Cut orange gumdrops to look like beaks; place on cupcakes. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• Frost a cupcake with fluff frosting. Press a circle of coconut grass on top. Nestle the malted eggs on top of the grass. Gently press the peep onto the center of the grass. Cut the white Airhead into a 1/2 oval shape; trim one side so it has a cracked egg jagged edge. Place egg next to chick.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners. (To avoid cupcakes sticking if they overflow slightly, lightly spray the tops of the pans.) Put tins on a baking sheet. Set aside.
• Process sugar and butter in a food processor until very creamy, scraping sides as needed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs and yolks, one at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add the milk, water, and vanilla and process to blend.
• Whisk both flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients, in 3 batches to the wet, pulsing, and then scraping batter off the sides of the processor as needed after each addition. Process until the batter is very smooth and pourable like pancake batter, about 2 minutes.
• Evenly pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling them 3/4 of the way full. Bake until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and the tops are golden, 18 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly in tin, and turn out of tin when cool enough to handle. Cool cupcakes completely on a rack before frosting.
• Whisk the milk and vanilla extract together in a small bowl.
• Slowly beat the butter and sugar, in another medium bowl, with an electric mixer until incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.) Add the fluff and salt and reduce the speed to low. Add the milk and vanilla mixture, scrape the bowl down, and mix until fully incorporated. Raise the mixer to high and beat briefly until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Frost cupcake immediately.
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a mesh rack on top, if available.
• Put coconut in a shallow bowl. While tossing with a large spoon, add food coloring drop by drop until the desired color is reached. A little more green than yellow makes a pretty grass color. Add a few tablespoons water to moisten the mixture and help disperse the color evenly. If the color is too dark, add additional water, as needed, to dilute to the desired color. Drain the coconut in a sieve or strainer.
• Spread the coconut in an even layer on the rack, or directly on the lined baking sheet. Place in the oven until dry, about 10 to 15 minutes. Use immediately, or store in covered container for up to 3 days.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Frost cupcakes with 1 container of frosting.
• Stir a few drops yellow food color into other container of frosting. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoonful yellow frosting on center of each cupcake. To make beak, cut orange jelly bean lengthwise to within 1/8 inch of end; spread apart slightly. Press into yellow frosting as shown. Add orange candies for eyes. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven, stirring often, until golden, about 15 minutes. Line 20 cups of 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Coat liners with cooking spray.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Put butter, sugar, vanilla seeds, and zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of buttermilk. Beat in extract.
• Scoop batter into lined muffin tins, filling each cup 3/4 full. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks 10 minutes. Unmold; let cool completely.
• Peel off liners. Spread buttercream on the top of 1 cupcake; invert onto a small plate. Frost sides of cupcake, then mound more on top to create a dome shape. Put coconut in a bowl. Holding plate at an angle over the bowl, press coconut into frosted top and sides of each cupcake; let excess fall back into bowl. Press in 2 pieces of licorice for eyes and 1 almond for a beak. Place 3 red licorice pastels on top for a comb and 4 at the base for feet. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.

Steps:

• Reserve 1/4 cup frosting for eyes; tint remaining frosting yellow. Place yellow frosting in a pastry bag fitted with #17 open star tip; pipe stars covering top of cupcakes. Pipe circular mounds for head; pipe wings on each side., Using plain frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a #2 round tip, pipe dots for eyes; top with M&M's. Pipe small lines on M&M's to resemble reflections. Flatten gum drops and cut into small triangles; attach to heads for beaks.

Steps:

• For the eyes: Arrange the white sprinkles on the work surface. Attach a mini chocolate chip as a pupil to each sprinkle by gluing with a little buttercream. Set aside.
• For the wings and tails: Cut each yellow gumdrop fruit slice in half horizontally to make 2 thinner slices. Take 4 of these slices and cut each into 3 triangles to make the tails. Set aside.
• For the feet: Cut each orange gumdrop fruit slice in half horizontally to make 2 thinner slices, and then cut each slice in half crosswise. Using scissors, snip and remove 2 triangles from each foot to form the toes.
• For the beaks: Place the small orange gumdrops on the work surface standing upright. Snip each gumdrop with scissors straight down three-quarters of the way through the candy to make the open mouth. Snip either side of the gumdrop to narrow the overall size and shape into a tapered beak.
• To assemble: Frost each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons buttercream. Place the yellow sanding sugar in a small bowl. Invert each cupcake and press gently into the sugar to adhere.
• Attach the eyes by pressing gently into position. Insert the beak just below eye level. Push the wings and feet into the sides of the cupcake and the tail into the back. Repeat steps for all cupcakes.

Steps:

• Heat a smoker to 300˚F.
• Using poultry shears, remove the knuckle on each end of each chicken thigh bone. Then trim the excess fat off the skin and meat of each thigh until the pieces are 3 to 4 inches wide, leaving about 1/4 inch of excess skin at the edges of the meat. Apply the chicken rub evenly to both sides of the thighs.
• In the cupcake mold, place each thigh, skin side down, in an individual cup. Sit the mold in the baking pan, and pour the chicken broth into the pan, being careful not to pour it directly on top of the chicken. Place the pan in the smoker and cook, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove the baking pan from the smoker. Gently flip the thighs onto the baking sheet. Season the tops of the thighs with salt and pepper. Return the thighs to the mold cups, skin side up, and put the baking pan back in the smoker. Cook for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: Put all the sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until thoroughly combined. In a medium pan over medium heat, warm the sauce until it is hot but not boiling. Set aside.
• Remove the pan from the smoker, and unmold the chicken thighs onto the baking sheet, skin side up. Brush the thighs lightly with the warm sauce. Place the baking sheet in the smoker and cook for 30 minutes to allow the sauce to caramelize into the chicken skin.
• Remove the baking sheet from the smoker, and serve the cupcake chicken immediately.