Make Cupcakes And Cookies For The Best Mermaid Party - Part 2

Mini Cupcakes

Memphis loves Mermaids. When she requested a Mermaid birthday party, I was not surprised. Pinterest featured some Mermaid tail cupcakes and they are all regular-size cupcakes. If you’ve read many of my posts, you might think that mini desserts are my favorites.

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Back when the kids were in school and we were actually allowed to send homemade treats to school, I noticed half of the cupcakes ended up in the trash. The kids would take one or two bites and the remainder would be left on their plates. That’s when I started making mini cupcakes.

It made a huge difference. Aside from looking diminutive and absolutely adorable, a mini cupcake is a one or two-bite treat. Almost none of the mini treats ended up in the trash can.

Mermaid Tail and Seashell Molds for Mini Mermaid Tail Cupcakes - Desserts For A Mermaid Party — Mermaid Tail and Seashell Molds

Mini Mermaid Cupcakes

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So, my plan to make mini Mermaid cupcakes was born. Who can resist these? Searching for a mold for making candy melt Mermaid tales on Amazon, I came across the Mermaid and seashell molds in the picture and ordered them a few weeks, ago. The exact same set is not available on Amazon right now but you can find similar Mermaid and seashell molds ◄here on Amazon. The Mermaid tails using this mold measure 1-3/4″ x 2-1/4″.

Mermaid Tail Mold and Candy Melts - Make cookies and Cupcakes for The Best Mermaid Party — Candy Melts and Mermaid Tale Mold

It is a good idea to go ahead and make the Mermaid tails in advance if you can. Then, store them in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper until time to place them on the cupcakes.

How To Make Mermaid Tails

Candy Melts are so easy to use and they set up pretty quickly. To melt the candy wafers for the Mermaid tails, just place 1/2 cup in a glass measuring cup. Microwave on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir. Return to the microwave and heat at 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval until the wafers are completely melted and smooth. (This amount is easy for me to use without having the melted candy seize up and lose its fluidity. If you can handle more and fill the molds, more power to you!)

Mermaid Tale Cupcakes - Make cookies and Cupcakes for The Best Mermaid Party — Candy Melts

Spoon the melted candy wafers into the tail molds and use a toothpick to push the candy into the ends of the tail if necessary. Gently tap the mold on the countertop to release any air bubbles. Gently, is the keyword. The only Mermaid tail that I broke was tapped a little too roughly. The molds worked perfectly, although, I only filled about 4 of them each time. They set up in the fridge in a few minutes and by slightly pressing on the silicone around the hardened candy, the tails simply release.

One-half cup of the candy melts makes fifteen of the mermaid tales. Make as many as you need.

Since I had the shell molds, too, I made some shells and used them on a few of the cupcake tops. Melt the candy melts and pour into one corner of a Ziploc freezer bag, snip off a small piece of the corner, and pipe into the tiny molds. Spooning into these tiny molds would be too difficult. I love these molds! The tails and shells came out with so much detail!

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Just before placing these on the cupcakes, brush some Wilton Silver Pearl Dust on the tails. This little step really sets off the details and puts the finishing touch on the tails!

The Cupcakes

Often, people think that I make homemade cake batter for these mini cupcakes. Don’t tell but I don’t. I usually use a Betty Crocker Cake Mix. Everyone praises the cupcakes because they aren’t dry and assume they are made from a homemade recipe. They aren’t dry because they aren’t overbaked! That is key to making a good cupcake.

A Betty Crocker white cake mix, which is what I used, makes about 78 mini cupcakes. (The baking cups are from Sweet Tooth Fairy.) Follow the directions on the cake box. (I used the egg whites, not the whole egg.) Watch the first one or two tins of cupcakes when they are placed in the oven. Set the timer for 8 minutes and begin to check if the cupcakes are done. Note the total time it takes to bake them and then set the timer for that time for the remaining tins.

In my oven, they took 9 minutes. The tops should not look dry and definitely not begin to brown! I like to take them out when the tops still look slightly moist. But, if you press down on the tops slightly with your finger, they should be set.

Quickly, take them out of the oven. Baked goods continue to bake for several seconds or even minutes after removing from the oven. If they are brown in the oven, they are probably going to be dry. Try to get them out of the pan to cool on a wire rack as quickly as you can. Let the cupcakes cool while you prepare the frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)*
4-1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 – 4 Tbsp heavy cream
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use clear if desired)

Click here ► for complete instructions and the secret to perfect buttercream.

Add blue gel food coloring in the last 5 minutes of beating the frosting so it is completely blended into the frosting.

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Use the 1M Wilton Open Star Cake Decorating Tip or your choice of a tip to frost the cupcakes.

Just before placing these on the cupcakes, brush some Wilton Silver Pearl Dust on the tails. Then, gently push the pearlized tails down into the frosting.

Sprinkle a few white nonpareils sprinkles around the perimeter of the frosting for an added touch.

Mini Mermaid Tail Cupcakes - Desserts For A Mermaid Party — Mini Mermaid Tail Cupcakes

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