These delicious chocolate cupcakes are frosted with a rich vanilla frosting and decorated with fondant to create darling, be-flowered penguins! Perfect for birthday parties. Recipe and photo by Samantha Chiu.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease with butter and lightly dust with flour.
Melt butter and add eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar and salt and add flour mixture with milk to the butter mixture.
Fill cupcake cups half full and bake for 15–17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
Combine butter and sugar and beat with electric mixer until blended. Add milk, vanilla and beat for 5 minutes, or until it reaches a smooth and creamy consistency. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting on top of each cupcake making it as smooth as possible.
Decorations
Cut black fondant for the head of the penguin and place directly on top of cupcake. Roll out a small oval ball of orange fondant and use a knife to make an indent in the middle. Place in the middle of the cupcake. Roll out two tiny rounds of black fondant for the eyes.
Flowers
Cut out five small circles of red fondant and place them side by side on top of each other in a straight line from left to right. Roll the line of circles from left to right and cut directly in the middle. Fan out the petals slightly and place on top of cupcake using water as glue. Repeat with pink fondant.