Polar Opposites

Who doesn't love a good cupcake? Especially one of these adorable polar-bear disguised confections! Though complex, I was able to finish these bad boys up thanks to the book "What's New, Cupcake?" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson; a cookbook which holds complex recipes I hope to conquer throughout this quarter.

To begin, these "Polar Opposites" need:

• 12 vanilla cupcakes baked in white paper liners.
• 1 can of vanilla frosting.
• 1/2 can of chocolate frosting.
• 12 plan doughnut holes.
• 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut.
• 60 white spice drops (substituted with mini marshmallows).
• Cheerios.

After baking the cupcakes, they were frosted with vanilla icing and adorned with a doughnut hole which was later frosted itself. After being dusted heavily with finely cut coconut, marshmallows were decorated with thinly piped accents of chocolate frosting and placed on the polar bears body along with two cheerios semi-covered with coconut on top of the doughnut. Lastly, two eyes and a button nose were added to these sweets as final touches (Tack and Richardson 206). 

All of the steps within this recipe were a little overwhelming at first, however, through detailed instruction by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson (as well as help from a couple of friends), I was able to conquer these cupcakes. An example of in-depth instruction by the authors include the details of how to pipe accents on the cupcake using the right technique, "Touch the tip of the bag to the surface, squeeze, and anchor the frosting. Release the pressure before lifting. Pull away to make peak" (Tack and Richardson 13). As I said before, the intricate detail by these authors may seem a little extra, but I've learned that while creating complex cupcakes, detail is your best friend. Another example of small steps that made a difference while constructing these cupcakes would be that after placing the doughnut hole close to one edge of the frosted cupcake to create the bears body, you were to put the cupcakes in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to create a stable base to work on (Tack and Richardson 206). It's little tips and tricks like this which created an easier time decorating, and less room for errors, which is great.

Not as great as the book, but come on, they're pretty cute.

While skimming through the numerous wild cupcake recipes within this book, I've wondered about not only how the authors came up with each concept and ingredient list, but also how many more recipes were out there. So I ask you;

What would you like to see as a cupcake?

Tack, Karen and Alan Richardson. What's New, Cupcake?. New York, New York. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Boston 2010.