Pus, Wound and Maggot Cupcakes
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 12 Cupcakes
For Cupcakes
- 100g/3.5ozs. butter, softened
- 3/4 cup caster or superfine sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 200g/7ozs. self raising flour
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup mixed berries (frozen is fine)
Buttercream
- 250g/8.8ozs. butter, at room temperature
- 125g/4.4 ozs caster or superfine suagar
- 75mls/2.7 fl ozs. room temperature water, test with wrist
- Amaretto flavouring (or use any clear flavouring that you like)
- Green and yellow food colouring
For Skin
- 300g/10.6ozs. fondant
- Skin tone colours
- Red edible gel
Step 1 - Line a muffin tray with 12 liners and preheat oven to 180C/350F. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy-around 3 minutes or so. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition and then add vanilla. Using a spatula fold in the flour and milk in two lots alternating and add the berries. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop into the muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely.
Step 2 - Make the buttercream. Beat butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until as white as possible on a low speed of about 3 out of 10 where 10 is the fastest. Do this for about 5 minutes. Beat in sugar, water, flavouring and green and yellow colouring in two batches. Beat and scrape for about 10 minutes until the buttercream no longer feels grainy (test it between your fingers). Set aside until ready to use. This buttercream does not crust. Pipe on top of the cupcakes.
Step 3 - Colour most of the fondant (reserve a small walnut size to keep as white) to a rough skin tone colour (mine was too pink so go gently with the colouring) and roll out and cut rounds out that will fit above the amount of buttercream. I put these on cupcake fondant domes to get the rounder shape as the buttercream won't have a rounded shape.
Cut out a circle in the centre with a large straw and draw a little red gel "blood" around the edge. Shape little "maggots" using the remaining white fondant.Place on top of the buttercream and serve within a couple of days.