Chocolate 'Christmas Pudding' Cupcake Tutorial

OK I seem to have a bit of a fake pudding thing going on here. Obsessed much?

Seeings as I don't actually like pudding so I don't know where it's coming from.

I do however like these chocolate cupcakes, they're a bit of a reworked version of the sundae cupcakes I make which were inspired by the super talented Hello Naomi.

 

Sundae cupcakes.....change the colours and they become Christmas Pudding cupcakes

I did make one change which I am really happy with that I've been thinking about ever since I made the last batch. Instead of a rolled red ball of fondant on the top I have dipped a Tim Tam Truffle in red chocolate. It's like a cakepop topper....sooo much yummier.
I also did a version with some coffee flavoured ganache I had sitting around and I'm loving it as well. Of course you could just use a jaffa which would be tasty as well.
Oh and how lovely are the petite little mini stands. My wonderful friend Jo gave them to me as a gift, and she bought them for me from Mon Tresor.

Of course the cupcake wrappers are from The Cupcake Wrapper Co. I was lucky enough to win this packet of Christmas wrappers on their blog a while back.

I also tried out a version of the 'pudding' using Chocolate Modeling paste instead of fondant. It worked but the fondant is easier to work with, maybe chocolate fondant would be a good middle ground next time I make them.

Modeling Chocolate used instead of brown fondant in this one

Christmas Pudding Cupcake Tutorial

Ingredients and Equipment

Un-iced Cupcakes
Frosting - buttercream or ganache your choice
Rolled Fondant
Brown and Green Gel type food colour
Mini Cake or Cookie pops dipped in red chocolate or jaffas
Cake smoother
Small offset spatula
Mini rolling pin
Round cutter size of cupcake (I used a cup as I didn't have a cutter quite the right size)
Ikea cutters

This is the set of Ikea cutters available from their kitchen wear section

When making your cupcakes only fill the paper cups about half full as pictured so that the end cupcake is even and flat.

Using the small offset spatula, cover the cupcake with frosting in a smooth dome shape.


Colour some fondant brown, roll out and cut out circle shape.
Place on top of frosted cupcake and using a cake smoother gently smooth the fondant out towards the edge.




If you have a lot of overlap you can carefully cut along the edge with a sharp knife.

Roll out white fondant (not too thin as you will be rolling the cut out further) and using the small 'splatter' shape from the Ikea plastic cutter set cut out white fondant.
Using the small rolling pin roll out the splatter shape to make it larger and even more misshapen. Attach to brown fondant using a little water if necessary.
Pop a little buttercream on top to adhere the round 'cherry' I have used red chocolate dipped tim tam cookie truffles for this lot. You could just roll a ball of red fondant or use a jaffa.
Colour a small amount of fondant green and shape some leaves and attach to the 'pudding' using a tiny amount of water.

Once again, wishing I had one of those holly ejector sets, but these hand shaped ones will do in a pinch.

Voila faux Christmas Pudding Cupcakes.