When I was 7, I was a timid girl who always cry on my way to school... LOL! Yet, my son is different! He is tough, confident and brave. At 6 plus, he said that the Disneyland at Anaheim is too kiddish for him! ... and mentioned that the only things that he likes were the extremely thrilling rides like the California Screamin' and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. After hearing this, I was like... YOU wasted my money for bringing you to Disneyland!!! LOL!
Now being 7, he is even tougher than before. Just two weeks before, he took me to the doctor when I had a severe injured toe nail and he watched the doctor removing my entire toe nail even without blinking his eyes!!! Where is my husband? Hiding somewhere! LOL!
Although my son is tough and pretty sensible, he can be still juvenile sometimes. I know because he is still a kid. His current favorite is the Om Nom-s from the game, Cut the Rope especially the magic version and he has been reminding me to bake Om Nom cupcakes for him. And of course, I baked these...
Happy Birthday Sweetie!
Hoping that you will like the Cut the Rope Om Nom chocolate mint cupcakes that I baked for you :)
Cut the Rope? For those who don't know, Cut the Rope is a series of puzzle games that can be played on ipad, iphone or any tablet computers and smart phones. The aim is to feed candy to a little green creature named Om Nom while collecting stars.
My son wanted me to bake chocolate mint cupcakes for his birthday and so I had chosen this highly rated recipe at Epicurious to bake these Cut the Rope Om Nom chocolate mint cupcakes...
For the cupcakes:
First, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Then I did this.
Use a spatula at this folding step. And it is important not to over-mix the batter.
Divide batter among muffin cups and bake. Easy peasy!
Instead of using the same mint whipped cream at Epicurious, I need to make a buttercream that is sturdy enough to hold the Om Nom fondant characters and had to use my firmer buttercream recipe that is adapted from here eventually.
For the buttercream:
Beat butter until as white as possible.
Beat in icing sugar and also these.
Then the buttercream will become firm, green and minty just like this!
To assemble:
When the cupcakes are cooled completely, I did these.
Adhere the fondant Om Nom and candy onto the cupcakes.
Ta dah! My son love these cupcakes!
And he was making the sound of Om Nom opening his mouth when he was admiring these cupcakes. So cute :)
While I was shaping the fondant Om Nom, my son wanted to make some too and so we made the Om Nom together. And this is what he had made...
My son's first fondant Om Nom
"I think my Om Nom has been punched in his eyes!" Then we laughed.
This is his second.
Not bad huh? He has learned to clean his shaping tool whenever he needs to use a different coloured fondant and has made this Om Nom more 3D :)
"Look mum, my second Om Nom is so much better!"
Dear Sweetie, I know... Being 7 is not easy! There are so many things to learn and explore and the world is so big! I know that you have been trying your best and I want to tell you that Mummy is so proud of you! Happy 7th Birthday!
P.S. Ask Daddy stop singing the 7 years song by Lukas Graham! LOL!---It's time again that I need a break from my usual baking and blogging as we are going to Hong Kong and Singapore for our April holiday. Sadly, our holiday won't be long as I will back to blog soon in mid April. If you wish to "come along" with us to see what we will eat and do at Hong Kong and Singapore, please follow me at my Instagram @zoebakeforhappykids Ciao!Here's the recipe for making the Om Nom chocolate mint cupcakes.Makes 8 standard 1/3 cup-size cupcakesFor the cupcakes that is mostly adapted from highly rated recipe at Epicurious:I have to say this chocolate cupcake recipe is awesome! Although each cupcake contains 7.5g of butter, it can stay moist even they are stored in room temperature (uncovered but decorated with fondant) for up to 2 days.85g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) cake flour with 8% protein
25g (1/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder, natural or Dutch-process (I used Valrhona)1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
60g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk or plain yogurt (I used regular plain yogurt with 4% fat)
For the mint buttercream* that is adapted from here:
75g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
180g (1 1/2 cup) icing sugar**1/4 tsp peppermint extractgreen colouring1 tbsp hot water, optional*Please note that there will be 1/3 of this buttercream left after assembling these cupcakes. Although I don't need this much buttercream to frost my cupcakes, I still have to make this amount because it is the minimal amount of buttercream that I need to make in order to whip the cream effectively.
** I have used more icing sugar so that the buttercream will be firmer than usual and more suitable for cake decorating.To bake the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line standard muffin pan with baking paper cups.Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Using electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. While beating, add egg gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla until well incorporated.
Stop beating. Using a spatula, fold in 1/3 portion of the flour mixture alternately with 3 portions of buttermilk. Mix well after each addition but do not over mix. It's ok that the batter is thick and lumpy.Divide batter among muffin cups and bake for 15 mins or until a tester inserted comes out with some moist crumbs still attached.Allow the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray for about 10 mins and transfer them onto a wire rack to cool completely.To make the mint buttercream:Beat butter with electric mixer until as white as possible. Gradually beat in half the sifted icing sugar, pepper extract, colouring then the remaining icing sugar.
To minimise the gritty icing sugar taste in the buttercream, add droplets of hot water gradually into the buttercream while beating the buttercream. The hot water will help to melt the icing sugar into the buttercream giving you a smoother tasting buttercream.
To decorate the cupcakes with Om Nom:Planning - Each cupcake design is sketched with the design of the Om Nom that you like to create. For me, I have made 3 regular Om Nom, 1 bird Om Nom from Cut the Rope: Magic, 2 Om Nom babies from Cut the Rope: Magic, 3 large yellow stars and Om Nom's favourite, Candy!
Using Wilton colouring gels, color white rolled fondant into the amount required for these colours; red, black, yellow, green and orange. Use these fondant to create the Om Nom that you have sketched.
Assembling the cupcakes:
Spread a smooth layer of butter cream on the top of each cupcake.
Roll out the fondant (I used the yellow and green) with a non-stick rolling pin with spacing rods to maintain a uniform thickness of about 4mm. Cut the rolled fondant into 8 cm diameter circles and carefully place each circle on top each cupcake.
Using a fine brush, apply small amount of water onto the bottom of each Om Nom figures and adhere the shapes onto the fondant surface on the cupcake.
Decorate the cupcakes with lollies (like jelly beans) and colourful sprinkles and the cupcakes are ready to serve!
If you need more details, please refer to my pictures or any Om Nom pictures for your planning and decoration. I must apologize that I can't provide any fine details further in term of writing as there is really too much to include. I reckon following the details with the help of these pictures will be easier than following the words in the form of lengthy instructions.
Happy Baking
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