Polar Bear Cupcakes
These adorable Polar Bear Cupcakes are a really fun and easy festive treat. A vanilla cupcake is topped with a white chocolate buttercream and a white chocolate shell before being decorated with marshmallows to create the polar bear face.
Servings: 12
Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes
- 100 g plain flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 200 g golden caster sugar
- 80 ml vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 ml buttermilk or sour cream
For the White Chocolate Buttercream
- 250 g icing sugar
- 400 g butter softened
- 50 g white chocolate melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
To decorate
- 200 g White Chocolate melted
- 12 marshmallows halved
- Chocolate piping pen
- 12 chocolate chips
Instructions
For the chocolate cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with cupcake cases
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until well combined then leave to one side.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar with the eggs, vanilla and oil and mix until combined well.
- Add half the dry mixture into the wet mixture and fold it together. Add the buttermilk then add the remaining dry mixture and fold through again until just combined. Be careful not to over mix, you only want to mix until you can no longer see any flour bits.
- Spoon or pour the mixture to fill the cupcake cases half way. Be careful not to over fill the cases as this could cause them to rise too high and over flow.
- Give the cupcake tin a tap on the work surface to remove any big air bubbles then bake in the centre of the oven for 19-21 minutes until well risen and springy to touch. When baked leave the cupcakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, the remove and leave them to cool on a wire rack.
For the white chocolate buttercream
- In a medium bowl, add the butter and beat it to soften a little
- Add the icing sugar gradually until it all comes together. Keep beating until its light and creamy then add the white chocolate and mix through. Add a splash of milk or hot boiled water if you think it feels too stiff and beat that through well.
To decorate
- Fit a piping bag with a open star piping nozzle and fill it with the white chocolate buttercream. Pipe small swirls on top of each cupcake then top with a white chocolate sphere.
- My Kitchen Tip: For an additional festive surprise fill hide some sweets or a small treat under the sphere for the recipient.
- For each cupcake, cut two marshmallows in half then use two halves for the ears and stick them sticky side down either side of the sphere. Follow this with another half for the polar bear snout.
- Finish the polar bear face off with some chocolate icing or melted dark chocolate for the eyes then stick on a chocolate button for the nose and pipe on the mouth.
- Leave in the fridge before serving to avoid the white chocolate melting.
Notes
Freezing and Storing
You can make the cupcake sponge ahead of time and they will keep well for 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
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