Elmo Cupcakes

For Alex's "almost 2 playdate", I made him Elmo cupcakes. I think every kid born post-1999 has probably been obsessed with Elmo, so I figured they would be a hit. Sugar and Elmo...in kid-world, I don't think it gets much better than that.

I didn't really have a clue on I was going to make them and I knew that I wasn't going to buy all sorts of fancy-schmancy equipment. Enter the fabulous world of Pinterest. If you're not Pinteresting, you have absolutely no idea what you're missing. It's like sugar & Elmo for grown-ups. :) Anyway, I searched Pinterest for "Elmo Cupcakes" and found this DIY post as my inspiration...and then promptly decided not to do it anything like that. Okay, not really. But I basically saw how she did it and then made up my own version.

I ended up making 16 cupcakes and used the leftover batter to make a mini cake for Aaron. I haven't been keeping much dessert in the house lately, so I start to feel bad for him after a while. I made the Delicious Chocolate Cake {yes, that's really what it's called!} from one of the best cookbooks ever, the Mennonite Country Style Recipes cookbook and a powdered sugar frosting from the same cookbook. With a few modifications, of course. {like using coconut oil and dark cocoa}

I should have thought to do what all the professionals do and take a picture of all the ingredients used, but alas, I am no professional. However, this is what you need:

cupcakes {any type you choose}
frosting
oreo cookies
unholy amounts of red dye
large marshmallows
chocolate chips
orange jelly beans

While your cupcakes are cooling, this is a good time to prepare the eyes & mouth. Cut your marshmallows in half, each Elmo will need a total of one marshmallow. Next, I separated the oreos, then used a knife to try to cut them in half. The ones that came out fairly well got used, the broken pieces got eaten. :) There's got to be an easier way to do it than that, but it worked.

Once the cupcakes cool, spread a thin layer of frosting over the cakes. Not a lot, just enough so things will "stick". It doesn't even have to be red at this point. Next, take 2 halves of a marshmallow and place cut-side down on the frosting to create the eyes.  Then add an orange jelly bean for the nose, then pick a piece of cookie that looks good size-wise and add it for the mouth.

Once I attached the facial parts, I needed to dye the rest of the frosting. My mom said you can purchasee a red dye paste that works well, because with red liquid dye, things often come out more pinkish. Well, these came out pretty red...so you can imagine the amount of red dye I added. And with every guilt-ridden drop {or squeeze!!} I tried not to think about this. At this point, you could have gotten all fancy schmancy and bought a bag & tip to make the "fur", but if you're cheap like me, a sandwich bag will work just fine. I loaded in the frosting and snipped off a tiny piece of one corner. Then start squeezing & dabbing the frosting all around the cupcakes and the pre-attached eyes, nose, & mouth. You can make it look fur-ish without having a special tip.

Once all the cupcakes had fur, then I needed to put on the eyes. I melted some chocolate chips with a little bit of milk, then loaded into a sandwich bag the same way I did with the frosting. I placed a dab of chocolate on each marshmallow then added a regular chocolate chip. The dab of melted chocolate was just to make the chocolate chip eyeball stick.

Voila! Elmo cupcakes! It had been warm here, so I stored them in the fridge overnight on cooling racks. It worked perfect to do it that way since I was leaving the house fairly early to run an errand go to a consignment sale before heading to the park. Since I'd put them in the fridge, and packaged them in some Tupperware in a cooler, they didn't melt all over the place before we got to eat them.

It was so much fun to do a "mommy thing" for Alex. He's finally at that point where I think he will start to appreciate these kinds of things. And it was extremely rewarding that when I showed him the cupcakes, he said, "ELMO!" :) {instead of, "huh?!"}