Alien Cupcakes
Ingredients
16 ozs marzipan (yellow)
green food coloring
2 strips liquorice (black)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
⅔ cup sugar
1 medium eggs
1 cup milk
⅓ cup sunflower oil
1 lemon zest (and juice)
1 ¾ powdered sugar (plus extra for dusting)
12 ozs cream cheese
Directions
Make the decorations a day ahead by kneading a little green food coloring into 15.5 oz of marzipan. Divide and shape into about 30 thin curved tentacles 2-3 inches long. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roll the rest of the marzipan out on a surface dusted with powdered sugar. Use a 1 inch round cutter to stamp out 12 circles and place on the baking sheet. Cut 12 diamond shapes from the liquorice and attach to the circles with a dab of water to resemble alien eyes. Leave in a cool, dry place overnight.
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-hole cupcake pan with paper cups. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Whisk together the egg, milk, oil, lemon zest, and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice then beat into the flour mixture. Divide between the paper cups. Bake for 20-25 mins or until risen, golden, and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and prick the cupcakes with a skewer.
Place 1/4 cup powdered sugar into a bowl and stir in the rest of the lemon juice. Brush the lemon syrup over the hot cupcakes. Leave to cool completely.
To make the frosting, place the cream cheese in a bowl and sift in rest of the powdered sugar until smooth (don’t overbeat or the icing will go runny). Beat in a little green food coloring. Spread the green frosting over the top of each cupcake and chill until frosting is set. Just before serving arrange five of the marzipan tentacles and a single eye on each muffin.
More about this recipe
This recipe is from a food site called Yummly that was launched in 2010. The food site allows you to look for recipes, upload your own, share your favorite recipes and organise them into collections. Up to date the site has had 15 million monthly visitors and is one of the fastest growing food sites in the world.
The founder of the Yummly food site is Dave Feller who got the idea of creating a food site with new and exciting recipes because of his own need to find something else to cook. “I couldn’t find a way to search for recipes and exclude anything with mustard.”
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