Pikachu Lemon Cupcakes
Pikachu Lemon Cupcakes
Happy Pokémon25! Celebrate Pokémon's 25th anniversary with these Pikachu Lemonade Cupcakes!
These cupcakes have a lemon cake base, lemon buttercream, and (of course) a lemon Oreo hidden at the bottom! They're topped with fondant decorations to mimic the iconic Pokéball and trademark Pikachu ears!
Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Prep Time: 1.5 Hours
Total Time: 3 Hours
Ingredients
Lemonade Cupcakes
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup milk, room temperature
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 tablespoon lemon extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 + 1/4 cups cake flour
1 lemon (zest)
Lemonade Oreos
Lemon Buttercream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
4 cups powdered sugar
Yellow food coloring
Red food coloring
Decorations
Black fondant
White fondant
Yellow fondant
Black decorating gel
Instructions
Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Prep a cupcake tin with 12 liners and place Lemon Oreos at the bottom of each.
Cupcakes: In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the lemon zest. Set aside.
Cupcakes: In another medium sized bowl, whisk together milk, vegetable oil, and lemon juice. Set aside.
Cupcakes: In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter and granulated sugar until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating until well-incorporated between additions.
Cupcakes: Alternate additions of the milk and flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Mix until well-combined. You can dye the batter yellow if you would like.
Cake: Pour the batter into the cupcake liners; only fill 2/3 full or the batter will overflow. Bake the cupcakes for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
Fondant: This step is best done the day before to allow the fondant letters some time to harden. However, it can be done while the cupcakes are cooling and then placed in the fridge to firm up.
Fondant: For the Pokeballs, cut out small circles from the white fondant using a small piping tip. Using a larger piping tip, cut out slightly larger circles from the black fondant. Use a small paintbrush to tab a little bit of water on top of the black circle and press the white circle on top. Set aside.
Fondant: Roll a small amount of yellow fondant in your palm until it becomes cylinder in shape. Roll a very small amount of black fondant in your palm until it also becomes a cylinder shape and pinch the top into a point. Press the black fondant on top of the yellow fondant and roll the entire shape in your palm until holds together well. Carefully thread a toothpick up from the bottom to the top to provide support.
Buttercream: In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy (3-5 minutes).
Buttercream: Add lemon juice, lemon extract, and heavy whipping cream. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar in 2 cup increments. Beat well in between additions.
Buttercream: Divide the buttercream into three bowls. Leave one white and dye the other two red and yellow.
Assembly: Pipe a swirl of white buttercream on top of each cupcake. Place in the freezer for 15-30 minutes to firm up.
Assembly: Pipe a swirl of red buttercream on top of the white layer. Place in the freezer for 15-30 minutes to firm up.
Assembly: Using a decorator gel pen or a piping bag filled with royal icing, pipe a line of black icing in between the red and white buttercream layers. Pipe a small dot of icing on the back of each of the Pokeball fondant decorations and place onto the black gel layer. Place in the freezer for 15-30 minutes.
Assembly: Pipe a dollop of yellow buttercream onto the top of the Pokeball buttercream. Press the Pikachu ears into either side.
Enjoy!
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