The Grinch might not like Christmas, but Christmas sure loves him.
The latest Grinch-themed hit at your holiday table could be these ultra-cute Grinch cupcakes. The recipe, by Tastemade, decorates regular-old vanilla cupcakes — dyed green, of course — with a Santa-hatted Grinch peeping over the top of the cup. There’s a lot of frosting, but it’s worth it!
A sweet surprise awaits inside each cupcake, too: a Lindor truffle baked right into the middle. Is your mouth watering yet?
Pro bakery The Cupcakery Las Vegas makes a similar cupcake, shown below on their Instagram account:
As you can see, they’re quite decoration-heavy. But with a few pastry bags and an unhurried approach, the same look is achievable in your own kitchen.
The vanilla cupcake batter is standard — butter, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla extract, baking soda. Things get fancy with the addition of the Lindor truffle (or whatever small, round chocolatey treat you have on hand). You simply poke a truffle into each cupcake after the batter’s been poured into the cupcake tin, just before baking.
The frosting’s a basic buttercream, but here’s where things get tricky: The buttercream needs to get dyed four different colors in four different amounts. You’ll need a different-size piping tip on each color’s pastry bag.
Ms. T’s Sweet Treats has the right idea, as you can see on her Instagram post below:
She’s a pro, too, to be fair. But I think almost anyone could pull this off with enough patience. The pile of green Grinch frosting gets topped with a pile of red frosting for a hat, then white frosting creates the hat’s trim. It gets a little fiddly with the yellow eyes and grumpy eyebrows, but it’s really just a few dots and lines.
The Frosted Cupcake shop in Canada used chocolate cake batter for a delicious variation:
They’re almost too adorable to eat! Almost. Their good looks would not protect them in my house.
For the full recipe, including a video that demonstrates the decoration techniques, visit Tastemade here.
Will you add some Grinch-style sweets to your holiday spread this week?
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
