Moulin Rouge Cupcakes

FOR THE CUPCAKES:
To make cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard size muffin tin with paper or foil liners.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk briefly to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the 1 stick butter on medium speed until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla and beat lightly until combined. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and beat just until combined.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full with batter. Bake for 18-22 minutes (rotating pan halfway through) or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes for 15 minutes in tins. Take out of tins and cool completely.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
To make buttercream, sift powdered sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat it together with the butter until creamy. Add vanilla and a few dashes of milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, beating until just combined. (If icing is too stiff – add a tad more milk until desired consistency is reached. If too thin – add a tad more powdered sugar.) Tint with any color food coloring of your choosing. Beat until color is consistent and well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

FOR DECORATING:
To decorate, lay out a sheet of wax paper. On a piece of plain paper draw an outline of legs (see photo). Place the stencil under a sheet of wax paper.

Melt white candy melts in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water with a drop each of red and yellow food coloring plus 1/4 teaspoon of cocoa powder. Stir until melted – add additional color until it looks like desired skin color.

When melted ladle the chocolate into a plastic squeeze bottle. Working fast, fill the outline of legs with white chocolate. Move paper stencil under the sheet of wax paper and repeat until 12 sets of legs have been made.

Melt the chocolate candy melts in double boiler as instructed above and transfer to a separate squeeze bottle. Outline the feet for shoes and draw garter on one leg for each pair. Immediately place these on the dragees, if desired.

Set aside to set (or place in freezer to speed up process if desired). Ladle buttercream into a plastic decorator’s bag with a large petal tip in it. With the small side of the icing tip facing outward go around the outside rim of each cupcake with a back and forth motion. Continue for the middle as well with a layer of frosting desired. Continue until cupcake is completely covered. If you don’t like how it looks, just scrape it off and try again. It took me a few tries to get the look I was going for. It helps if the buttercream is cold. Immediately top with firmed chocolate legs. Enjoy!