Alex & Arwen’s Leprechaun Cupcakes
Have some fun on St. Patrick’s Day this Friday with these easy-to-make, fun-to-decorate and delicious-to-eat leprechaun buns! Why not give them a go and sign up for your very own Great Irish Bake event on 7th April!
Ingredients
(Makes 15 – 18)
Cupcake Mix
- 200g self-raising flour
- 200g butter – room temperature
- 200 caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
Buttercream Icing
- 100g unsalted butter, softened
- 200g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Splash of milk (if needed)
- Green and orange food colouring
Decorations
- Chocolate chips
- Green and orange cupcake cases
- Light pink roll-out icing
Method
Sponge
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix
- Sieve flour and baking powder into a bowl and gradually add to wet ingredients
- Add milk if your batter is too thick
- Put cupcake cases in a bun tray and fill each case 1/3 full with the batter
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees fan for 20 min or until a skewer comes out clean
- Allow cakes to cool completely on a wire rack
- Buttercream Icing
- Beat the butter until soft and fluffy and add the icing sugar and vanilla extract
To complete:
- Roll out the light pink icing and cut into circles to top each bun
- Roll a little ball for your leprechaun’s nose and attach in the middle of the bun with a dab of water on the bottom
- Push in two chocolate chips above for his eyes
- Sparingly add green colouring to half your butter icing and pipe a green rectangle with a wider brim for your leprechaun’s hat to the top third of each cupcake
- Add orange food colouring to the other half your butter icing and pipe your leprechaun’s hair and beard in a ring around the edge of the cupcakes up as far as his hat brim on both sides
- Finish with a thin line of orange icing above each chocolate chip for bushy eyebrows!