Create: Happymeal Cupcakes

(with thanks to Bakerella)















These are the cutest cuppy-cakes I've seen.

Ever.

Not only do they look amazing, they taste pretty darn fantastic too!

















I've wanted to attempt these Burger Cupcakes and Cookie Fries for ages..

With a friend's birthday coming up, I had the perfect reason.

So very excited with how these turned out!


Here's how to make them:

Step 1: Sugar Cookie Fries

Ingredients:
170 g Unsalted Butter, softened
200 g White Sugar
2 Eggs
2 1/2 ml Vanilla Extract
315g Plain Flour
4 1/2 g Baking Powder
3 g Salt
Extra sugar for dusting

Method:
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

The dough will be sticky, but don't worry! Pop it in the fridge and let it harden for several hours.

TIP: Your life will be much easier if you roll out thin sheets of dough before you refrigerate it. How, you ask? Roll smaller sections of the dough to 3mm thick between two sheets of greaseproof paper and then stack them under a sturdy base.

AND DON'T USE FLOUR!! It will wreck the french fry effect.

Preheat oven to 160-180 degrees celsius.

Remove one rolled layer of dough from the fridge.

Using a sharp knife, cut into thin french-fry shapes while the dough is still cold, otherwise it becomes too difficult to work with.

The dough doesn't spread much, so the fries almost remain just as you cut them.

Roll through sugar to give each a "salted" effect.
Bake for 5-6 minutes or until golden. Repeat for each sheet of cookie dough.

Step 2: Make Burger Patties

You will need:
One Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie packet mix
(or bake your own if you're feeling extra virtuous)


So at this stage I decided to save time and *gasp* baked a packet mix of Chocolate Fudge Brownies. Don't judge.
Split the mixture across two lamington tins so that the brownies aren't too thick for patties.
Once completely cooled, use a serrated cookie cutter to cut rounds of brownie roughly 3cm in diameter.



Step 3: Bake Burger-Buns

You will need:
One packet of Betty Crocker Vanilla Cupcakes
Patty Tins
Yellow food colouring
Splash of Milk
Sesame seeds

Make cupcakes according to packet directions. Add yellow food colouring to tint the batter yellow.
TIP: bake in patty tins, otherwise they become too brown. Only half-fill each patty tin otherwise they rise too high.

Once completely cooled, remove patty tins and cut each cupcake in half. Brush a little milk on the top and sprinkle lightly with sesame seeds.


Step 4: Prepare Frosting

You will need:
One tub of Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting
Green, Yellow and Red Food Colouring
Three Zip-lock bags (Piping Nozzles optional)

Split the frosting across three bowls, with more in the green one. Tint for Ketchup, Mustard and Lettuce.



At this stage, I got all MacGyver-like with my icing strategy.
Bakerella had the awesome idea of filling a small zip-lock bag with frosting, snipping one corner, and using it as a piping bag.

I had a few icing nozzles so, taking her idea on-board and modifying slightly, I improvised a bag.

Patent pending, lol. Works a treat!!!



Step 5: Assemble Burgers

Place brownie pattie on bottom half of cupcake.
Pipe "ketchup" and "mustard" around the edges of the pattie, including some "drips".
Pipe a generous amount of "lettuce" in a squiggly pattern over the top.
Replace top of burger bun.





































Step 6: Make a HappyMeal Tray

Bakerella also has a template you can print-out and assemble. Being a povo-student, I went the easy option and found gorgeous-patterned disposable cardboard baking trays and partitioned them.

Place burger in the small compartment and fill the bigger side with lots of tasty french-fry cookies!!!!



















Om nom nom nom....