How to make Disney Princess Cupcakes
Delicious chocolate Princess Cupcakes topped with swiss meringue buttercream 'dresses' and beautiful Disney figures. Perfect for a Disney party theme or special birthday.
Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes
- 225 g plain flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 300 g caster sugar
- 2 tsps baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 80 g unsalted butter
- 240 ml whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the swiss meringue buttercream frosting
- 200 g egg whites (about 6 large eggs)
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 500 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- gel food colouring various colours
Instructions
For the chocolate cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 160ºC Fan / Gas 4 / 350ºF
- Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter into a mixing bowl. Beat on a low speed using a handheld electric or stand mixer until combined.
- In a separate jug, whisk the milk, eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, beating well.
- Fill the cupcake cases about half full and bake in the centre of the oven for 20 mins or until the cupcake feels springy to the touch. Leave to cool completely while you make the frosting.
For the swiss meringue buttercream
- Put the egg whites and sugar into a metal or heatproof mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Fill a large saucepan with a couple of inches of water and put the saucepan on the stove over a low heat. Put the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan (double boiler method) but don’t let the mixing bowl touch the water. Use a handheld whisk and stir continuously for about 4 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. You can test it by rubbing the mixture with your fingers. When it feels smooth the sugar has dissolved.
- When the sugar has dissolved, transfer the mixing bowl to a stand mixer (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat on high for 5 minutes. The egg whites will turn into a bright white thick and glossy meringue that forms stiff peaks.
- Add the butter a tablespoon at a time, once all the butter has been added your mixture will have changed from glossy white and will probably look like it’s split. Keep beating until the butter and egg whites come together.
- Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Split the swiss meringue buttercream into four bowls, add a drop of different food colouring gel to each bowl and mix well.
For the decoration
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 2D piping nozzle.
- Pipe the swiss meringue buttercream on top of the cupcakes. To get frilly frosting, slowly pipe a swirl on to the cupcake and swirl upwards and inwards.
- Push a Disney figure into the top of each cupcake!
Video
Notes
- You can use either a free standing mixer or a handheld electric whisk. Beating time will be a couple of minutes longer if using the latter.
- The chocolate cupcake recipe is for 16 cupcakes. If you want very tall swiss meringue buttercream for a number of cupcakes, you will need to double the ingredients quantity for the frosting.
- The frosting quantities given will ice 6 cupcakes with very tall icing. It's brilliant for decorative purposes but not practical to eat that much frosting - so bear that in mind!
- When you add the butter to the egg whites the mixture will split. Don't panic, give it a few minutes and the butter and egg whites will come together.
- I made one bowl of frosting and coloured it pale blue to match Alice in Wonderland's dress. I used half of the frosting for Alice and then added more blue gel to make it darker for Cinderella. Depending on your Disney figures you can stretch the frosting further by making a light colour and darker colour from one gel.