Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes

It's Thanksgiving! That means lots of food, family, and football :) My grandmother asked me to make some cupcakes for our late lunch tomorrow, and I thought that cupcakes decorated like turkeys would be perfect!

Cake Ingredients:

1 French vanilla box cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) package of Pumpkin Spice Jello pudding

1 1/4 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 35o degrees. Line a muffin tin with 24 cupcake papers. Blend all ingredients with a mixer for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then allow to fully cool on a cooling rack.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing: (I doubled the recipe for 24 cupcakes, but that was really too much. Maybe one and a half batches next time)

1 cup vegetable shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, or 3 (1 oz) squares of melted unsweetened chocolate

4 cups confectioners' sugar

3-5 Tablespoons milk or heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Cream the shortening for about 2 minutes. Add chocolate or cocoa and blend thoroughly. Add vanilla. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, pausing occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add milk or heavy whipping cream and continue beating for about 30 seconds. If you want a more spreadable consistency, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time.

After the cupcakes have cooled and the icing had been made, you are ready to decorate. You will need a pastry bag, candy corn, and pearl white dragees. Using the pastry bag, swirl a layer of frosting on top of each cupcake. On the outer edge of each cupcake, make a small mound of frosting.

Stick 5 candy corn, white end down, on the opposite edge of the cupcake, and place one on the front of the mounds of frosting for the turkey's beak. Place two of the white dragees above the candy corn beak, and voila! Turkey time!

I hope the kids will love these. I know my daddy will ;) Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! God Bless!