TV Dinner Cupcakes

I shamelessly copied these cupcakes from Karen Tack & Alan Richardson’s “Hello, Cupcake!” book. Just look at how cuuuuuute they are! You can get REALLY detailed instructions on how to make these if you purchase Hello, Cupcake – but I’ll do my best to tell you how I made them.

TV Dinner Cupcakes
Recipe Source: Hello, Cupcake!
Print Recipe

1 box vanilla cake mix
1/4 cup white chocolate melting wafers
1 or 2 tubs of vanilla frosting
1 cup chocolate frosting
Donut holes (amount will depend on how many “drumsticks” you want to make)
1 cup cornflake crumbs
Yellow Starbursts (amount will depend on how many “mashed potatoes” you want to make)
Caramel sauce (again, amount depends)
Assorted orange and green Runts (or other orange and green candies)
Green food coloring
Colored sprinkles

“Drumsticks”
1. Draw a bone on a piece of wax paper. Place the white chocolate wafers in a plastic bag or piping bag – do not seal. Microwave for about 10-15 seconds to soften – repeating if needed until chocolate is completely melted. Snip a small corner from the bag and following the bone template that you drew, pipe an outline onto the wax paper. Fill in the bone with more white chocolate. Repeat to make as many bones as you need. Refrigerate until firm (about 5 minutes) — or you can leave them out on your counter top and they will solidify.
2. Frost each cupcake with vanilla frosting – forming a small mound. Place one donut hole on top of each cupcake. Spread frosting over the donut hole until it is covered.
3. Crush the cornflakes until they form crumbs (you could use a food processor for this). Coat the cupcake in the cornflake crumbs.
4. Using a knife, cut a slit in the top of each crumb-covered donut hole. Carefully place one of the white chocolate bones into the slit.

“Mashed Potatoes”
1. Frost cupcakes with vanilla frosting – mounding it slightly. Use a spoon to form a small well in the center of each cupcake.
2. Drip the caramel sauce over the cupcake to look like gravy. You may have to microwave the sauce for a few seconds if it’s not runny enough.
3. Microwave the yellow Starbursts until they soften slightly – I did this so I could soften the edges and make it look more like a pad of butter and less like a lemon Starburst. Place the softened Starburst on top of the “gravy”.

“Peas and Carrots”
1. Dye some of your vanilla frosting green. Frost the cupcakes with the green frosting.
2. Arrange the orange and green Runts on top of each cupcake to look like little peas and carrots.

“Chocolate Pudding”
1. Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting and decorate with rainbow sprinkles.