niner bakes
There it went, August is almost over…time flies by so fast, doesn’t it?
This is why we should enjoy every bit of sunshine we are getting blessed with and create summery desserts, how does that sound?
I am in vacation mood, totally!! That’s because I will be flying to Cape Verde islands very soon and I can’t wait to be honest.
This is going to be SO wonderful. I just want to rest and enjoy myself, and meet Cape Verde’s people!
Because I am in such a summery mood, I have summery cupcakes for you today!
What do you think about beaches, the ocean and sharks all on a cupcake? Well yes, let’s do this today!
On top you will get a yummy chocolate cupcake recipe, my favourite + a buttercream frosting.
Oh shoot, almost forgot: Happy belated Shark Week!!
Let’s start with the recipes and tutorials:
- Prep Time 10 minutes
- Baking Time 20-25 minutes
- Difficulty Easy
- Servings 24 – 27 Cupcakes
For the Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup (unsweetened) cocoa
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup of hot/boiling water
- 1. Line your cupcake baking pan with your desired baking cups . I used blue ones so they fit the ocean theme, and orange/pink ones, perfect for summer! Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- 2. In a large bowl:
Stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk – you can sift it all, but usually using a wire whisk is enough. - 3. Add the two eggs, milk, oil and the pure vanilla extract. Beat in your stand mixer or with a handmixer on medium speed for 45 seconds.
- 4. Now the hot/boiling water comes into play. Make sure to put kitchenroll on top of your bowl, because it can get messy.
Mix for a good minute. - 5. Now pour the thin batter in your pitcher. I love thin batters, they are so easy to pour in the cupcake liners. Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full.
- 6. Now bake your cupcakes in your preheated oven, for about 20 – 25 minutes. Do not overbake.
- 7. Let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack.
For the Buttercream Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 2 cups of powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 package of cream cheese (Philadelphia for example)
- 2 tbsp. milk
- blue food coloring
For the Beach & Ocean Decorations:
Info: My goal was to use things that I had on hand. I did not want to make any beach balls or towels using fondant or gumpaste. I did not even have these tiny sun umbrellas so instead I used these cute pompom toppers! Just look around for what you have in your house and see, the result is still cute and beachy!
- shredded coconut
- Palette knife or spatula
- cookie crumbs for the beachy look
- any type of candy: Candy stars, image candy, sour strips for the towel look, pompom toppers and any other candy you have.
- How to make the frosting and beachy decorations:
- 1. In an electric mixer, or with a handmixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Mix for a good 8-10 minutes. This makes it really really pale and fluffy!
- 2.Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- 3. Add the cream cheese and milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed.
- 4. Tint your frosting with blue food coloring in three different bowls. I went for three different shades of blue. Make sure to keep some of the white frosting because we need to spread that on the cupcakes first.
- 5. Now spread your cupcakes with the white vanilla frosting (see photo below) and, above a big bowl, pour the shredded coconut on top of the cupcake. I chose to make 2 sorts of looks: Coconut = West Indies, preferably the Bahamas and its super white beaches! :)
The regular cookie crumbs can be any kind of beach in the world. What about the Mediterranean Sea…ohmy, crazy me. - 6. Now add your candy on top of the sand :)
- 7. The “Mediterranean Sea” cupcakes are topped with cookie crumbs instead of coconut.
- 8. Now add your three shades of blue frosting to your cupcakes to imitate the ocean. I used a spoon and later, for the waves, I used a toothpick. Just go crazy with it and spike up these waves :)
- 9. At the end I cut out shark fins and stuck them in the cupcakes. There you have it. Your tiny little island on a cupcake!
Wish I could hop on a plane right now!
These beachy cupcakes are such wonderful home decor as well, especially in the bathroom :)
I can’t wait for my vacation!
I’ll be laying on this colorful, sour strip towel haha..
Please let me know when you make these, simply add your photos to my Facebook Page wall, would LOVE to see your outcome and put the photos in my blogreader’s album, ladies and gents!
Please enjoy the rest of your summer!
This is for all of you:
Love,
niner
sooo cute!!!
Thanks miss :)
Crazy adorable! I love the blended colors and shaping you did to create the look of the ocean!
Thanks so much Janine <3
Have a wonderful start of the new week.
Much love,
niner
– These beauties could not look more delicious! Love them.
Es ist so bezuckernd, hier bei Dir zu stöbern! Du steckst voller nützlicher Informationen, lieben Menschen mit Süßen Dingen eine besondere Freude zu machen!
Danke!!!!!
Liebe Nora, es freut mich sehr dass du meine Arbeit zu schätzen weißt. Danke für solch ein liebes Feedback :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to teach us how to make these adorable cupcakes!! I just made the shark ones but with dolphins on top of the water for a project I had to do on dolphins. They turned out so cute!! The only thing I did differently was, instead of separating the icing into 3 separate bowls of different shades of blue, I added the blue food coloring to the white buttercream and didn’t mix it all the way. It worked great :) I had streaks of white and several shades of blue :)
Hi Ashley,
thanks so much for your comment.
SO happy your cupcakes turned out great. Did you post them somewhere?
Thanks for stopping by, have a blessed day :)
Those shark week cup cakes are awesome! What did you use for the fins?
Hi Tamra, I simply used paper and cut out fin shapes :)
What did you use for the shark fins? They look amazing!!!!