Children In Need Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes decorated with dessicated coconut and fondant to look like Pudsey the bear

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cupcake

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 25

Total Time 1 25

Servings

Calories 459kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

175 g Baking spread softened
175 g Caster sugar
3 Eggs large
1 tsp Vanilla extract
175 g Self raising flour

For decoration

75 g Dessicated coconut
Yellow food colouring I use Pro Gel or Sugarflair
100 g Yellow fondant
100 g Red fondant
250 g White fondant
100 g Black fondant
100 g Blue fondant
100 g Green fondant

For the buttercream

100 g Butter softened, unsalted
200 g Icing sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

For the fondant decorations

If you're not familiar with fondant, here are a few tips: make sure to roll the fondant out using plenty of icing sugar underneath it and on a silicone mat with a silicone rolling pin. Try not to let too much icing sugar get on top of the fondant as this can effect the colour. You can use a small dry brush to brush any excess icing sugar off the fondant shapes once they've dried out
To make the bandages, use a piece of paper or card measured against a cupcake to create a template shape. Roll the fondant out and use the template to cut out 12 bandage shapes. Then roll out green fondant and cut out 12 10mm circles using a round fondant plunger. Repeat with the yellow, blue and red fondant. Use a little water applied with a small brush to stick the red, yellow, blue and green circles on top of the white bandages. Leave to dry
To make the eyes, roll out some white fondant and cut out 12 circles using a 16mm round fondant plunger. Then roll out black fondant and cut out 12 circles using a 10mm round fondant plunger. Use a little water applied with a small brush to stick the black circles on top of the white circles. Leave to dry
To make the ears, roll out some yellow fondant and cut out 24 circles using a 16mm round fondant plunger. Pinch one side of the circles together with your fingers to create the ear shape, then leave to dry
To make the nose and mouth, roll out some black fondant and cut out 12 circles using a 16mm round fondant plunger. Then use a 12mm round fondant plunger to cut out a section of the black circles so you create a mouth shape. The cut out section will be the nose. Leave to dry

For the cupcakes

Pre-heat your oven to 140C Fan/325F/Gas Mark 3 and line a cupcake tin with yellow cupcake cases
For the cupcakes, mix the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl, ideally with an hand held electric mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, for exactly 5 minutes
Add the eggs and vanilla, and whisk them in
Then gently fold or whisk in the self raising flour
Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake for 25-30 minutes until risen, golden or until a thin skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, then remove from the cupcake tin and put them on a rack to cool fully
To colour the desiccated coconut, put it into a mixing bolwl. Then mix two or three blobs/drops of food colouring (depending on strength) with 1 ½ tbsp water in a small cup, then pour it into the coconut and mix in. Add more if it doesn't go as yellow as you want
To make the buttercream, mix together the butter and icing sugar, ideally with an electric mixer, when it starts to come together, add the vanilla and mix until smooth. If the buttercream is too stiff then you can add some milk to it
Using a palette knife, spread some of the buttercream out onto the top of one of the fully cooled cupcakes
Dip the frosted side of the cake into the bowl of yellow coconut flakes, and press firmly until fully coated. Add extra with a spoon if needed, pressing the coconut into the buttercream, and shake off any excess
Then add the fondant decorations, using a little buttercream spread thinly on the back of them, to glue them down
Keep in a cool place, and eat leftovers within 3 days

Notes

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
For the best flavour, make sure to use a good quality vanilla extract and not an essence.
I used a baking spread for the cupcakes and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
To dye the desiccated coconut use a good quality professional food colouring. My favourite brands are Sugarflair and Pro Gel - you can get them both online.
If you don't want to buy all the different colours of fondant for Pudsey's polka dot bandage, you can also use food colouring and paint it directly onto the white fondant.
If you're not familiar with fondant, here are a few tips: knead the fondant in your hands first to warm it up and soften it. Roll the fondant out using plenty of icing sugar underneath it and on a silicone mat with a silicone rolling pin - this will stop it from sticking. Try not to let too much icing sugar get on top of the fondant as this can effect the colour. You can use a small dry brush to brush any excess icing sugar off the fondant shapes once they've dried out.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition