These Reese's Cup-topped Sea Otter Cupcakes could not be cuter even if they popped right off the movie screen. Inspired by the adorable otters in the Finding Dory movie, these sweet desserts will make perfect Finding Dory party treats.
If you are looking for a fun Finding Dory party idea, you've got to make these cute Sea Otter Cupcakes. Aren't they just adorable?
As soon as I saw the cute otters pop up on the screen in the Finding Dory movie, I just knew I had to make them into Reese's Cup-topped chocolate cupcakes. I am so excited to share my cupcake version of Finding Dory Otters with you!
I've been making a lot of cupcakes topped with Reese's Cup animals lately and I really love them. Although I think the Teddy Bear Cupcakes, Carrot Thief Bunny Cupcakes, Magical Unicorn Cupcakes, Monkey Cupcakes, and Puppy Love Cupcakes are all super cute cupcake ideas, I have to admit these Sea Otter Cupcakes are my all-time favorite. There is just something about those furry little faces that just make me so very happy.
UPDATE: These Otter Cupcakes were the first Reese's Cup-topped movie-themed cupcakes I made, but since Finding Dory's premier I have been inspired to create Beauty and the Beast Cupcakes and Paddington Bear cupcakes too. 
To make these cupcakes, I chose to use Reese's Cups for the otter's heads and I decorated them using modeling chocolate, also known as candy clay, and some candies.
I love working with modeling chocolate because not only does it taste just like chocolate, but it can be molded and cut into any shape imaginable.
For these Sea Otter Cupcakes, you are going to need to have some black, brown, and white modeling chocolate. All of these can be made by adding food coloring to white modeling chocolate, but being I always have modeling chocolate on hand, I used milk chocolate for the brown and semi-sweet chocolate colored with black food coloring for the black.
If you've never made your own modeling chocolate, it is super easy. You just need your favorite chocolate and some corn syrup (or honey.) I suggest you use chocolate that you really like to eat because the flavor will really shine through.
You can find the recipe and step-by-step tutorial for making and coloring modeling chocolate on my Chocolate Making Tips page.
These Sea Otter Cupcakes are also featured in my book, Candy Clay Creations along with 16 other amazingly adorable treats. Be sure to check it out if you are excited about working with modeling chocolate (candy clay).
Before I share the step-by-step-tutorial for creating these Finding Dory cupcakes, I want to share a link to a Facebook Live Demonstration I did the other night. I showed the audience how to make these cupcakes.
I also shared a peek inside my very own chocolate factory.
Wasn't that fun? It was my first foray into Facebook Live and I had a blast. I'll be doing more, so be sure to like my Hungry Happenings Facebook page so you can see future video tutorials.
My Sea Otter Cupcakes have become so popular and I've gotten a lot of requests to create a quick video tutorial, here it is...
FINDING DORY SEA OTTERS CUPCAKE VIDEO
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HOW TO MAKE CUTE SEA OTTER CUPCAKES
How to make modeling chocolate decorations:
- Start by marbleizing some white and brown modeling chocolate together.
- I show how to do this on the video or you can check out my Chocolate Pretzel Turkeys tutorial to see pictures of the process.
- Roll out the chocolate clay and cut out two small circles for each sea otter.
- I used a 1 inch round cutter that has a fluted edge, but you can use a plain round cutter.
- Then use a pick tool or a toothpick to create whiskers on each modeling chocolate circle.
How to make modeling chocolate eyes and nose:
- Roll out some black modeling chocolate and cut out small round eyes.
- I used a medium-sized plunger cutter, which is so easy to use.
- You can also cut a drinking straw into a short piece and use it to cut your circles.
- To create the sea otter's nose, pinch off about a jelly bean size of black candy clay and shape it into an oval nose.
Make modeling chocolate ears.
- To make the otter's ears, roll out some brown modeling chocolate to about ¼ inch thickness.
- Use the same round plunger cutter to cut out two circles per otter.
- Then cut each circle into a ¾ moon shape.
- Use the plunger cutter to cut out a small piece from each circle.
HOW TO DECORATE THE REESE'S CUP SEA OTTERS
You'll need one Reese's Cup per otter and either some melted chocolate or some piping gel. I like using the piping gel because it's clear and it really sticks the modeling chocolate pieces together securely.
- Brush a light coating of piping gel or melted chocolate onto the backside of the two round whiskers pieces and attach them across the lower half of a Reese's Cup. Use more piping gel to attach a nose and two eyes, as well.
- Brush piping gel on the cut side of each candy ear and press them onto the side of the peanut butter cup directly across from the otter's eyes.
- Add a dot of bright white food coloring to add the highlight to each eye.
- Draw on a mouth, eyebrows, and a furry patch near the top of each otter's head using a black food coloring marker.
HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR SEA OTTER CUPCAKES
- Pipe a big swirl of stiff chocolate frosting onto a chocolate cupcake.
- Snuggle a Reese's Cup Sea Otter into the top half of the frosting swirl.
- Print out the printable wave cupcake wrappers then cut out around them. Wrap one around the cupcake and tape the seams together.
- Press two Whoppers into the front of the frosting swirl creating the otter's paws.
- Then press one candy seashell in between the hands.
To make these sweet summer themed cupcakes you'll need some supplies which you can find on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales.)
Recipe originally published on June 20, 2016.
Turn Reese's Cups into sweet little otters then use them to create some adorable Sea Otter Cupcakes. These treat will be perfect for your kids birthday parties or even a Finding Dory Party.
- 12 Reese's Cups
- 1 ounce white modeling chocolate
- 2 ounces brown modeling chocolate
- 2 ounces black modeling chocolate
- 1 teaspoon piping gel or melted chocolate
- 12 chocolate cupcakes frosted with a big swirl of chocolate frosting
- 24 Whoppers
- 12 candy sea shells
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Unwrap Reese's Cups.
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Marbleize white modeling chocolate with half of the brown modeling chocolate.
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Roll out to about 1/16th inch thickness.
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Cut 24 small rounds using a 1-inch round (fluted) cutter.
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Use a pick tool to draw on whiskers, feathering the edges of the circles.
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Roll out the remaining brown modeling chocolate to about ¼ inch thickness.
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Cut out 24 small ¼ inch rounds using a medium round plunger cutter.
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Cut each circle into a ¾ moon, using the plunger cutter.
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Roll out half of the black modeling chocolate.
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Cut out 24 small ¼-inch circles using a medium round plunger cutter.
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Pinch off jelly bean size pieces of the remaining black modeling chocolate and roll them into oval noses.
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Use the clear piping gel as "glue" to attach two whiskers, a nose, and two eyes to the front of each Reese's cup.
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Attach two brown moon-shaped pieces to either side of the Reese's cup head for the ears.
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Set the decorated Reese's Cup otter on the upper half of the frosting swirl on a cupcake.
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Print out a wave cupcake wrapper, cut it out, then wrap it around your cupcake, taping the ends together.
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Press two Whoppers into the frosting just above the top of the waves and set a candy shell in between.
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Repeat creating a total of 12 Sea Otter Cupcakes.
If you are hosting a Finding Dory party, you might also like to make these Just Keep Swimming packs of Finding Dory Popcorn.
See the tutorial and free "Just Keep Swimming" printable for these Finding Dory Popcorn treats, here.
If you are looking for some more summer-themed party ideas
Sugar Coated Sea Horse Cookies • Chocolate Beach Pails • Butterscotch Crunch Starfish
Sandcastle Lollipops • Caramel Rice Krispie Turtles • Beach Party Popcorn
Under the Sea Popcorn • Beach Ball Cheesecakes • Under the Sea Gumdrops
Caramel Rice Krispie Treat Starfish • Chocolate Sea Shells • Rice Kripie Treat Dolphins
Sugar Coated Sea Horse Cookies • Sugar Coated Sea Horse Cookies • Palm Tree Cookies
If you recreate these Sea Otter Cupcakes for your Finding Dory or summer-themed party, be sure to link to this tutorial, mention, and tag @HungryHappenings, use #HungryHappenings then send a picture to beth@hungryhappenings.com, so I can share it in my Readers' Gallery.
- Gingerbread Cookie Cups - December 2, 2023
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- Mini Peanut Butter Cheesecakes - June 20, 2023
Bj
Made these a few years ago and will again for my granddaughters birthday party. I didn’t have the shells available so I used green fruit rollups for seaweed. Adorable,
Beth
I'm so glad you enjoyed making these cute cupcakes. I love the idea of using green fruit rollups to make seaweed. I bet that looked great on the cupcakes.
Wendy
Hi Beth! Thank you so much for this recipe! My son's first birthday is coming up and he LOVES the movie Finding Dory. 😊 I knew I wouldn't be able to pull off any baby Dory decorations, but this was definitely the next best thing! I made a lot more than your recipe called for to pass out to family. With no cupcake decorating experience, it took me SO MUCH LONGER (about twice the time for the amount listed in the recipe), but they are TOTALLY WORTH IT!! My little guys look exactly like yours do, thanks to your easy step by step directions. Also, thank you for posting the print off for the cupcake holders and the links to where you can order the materials for the cupcakes online. Without those details, I don't think I would have been able to perfect this recipe. My little one has just peeked at his cupcakes this morning and his face lit right up! 😄 Obviously I will have to discard any ingredients for him that he could choke on, but the rest of the family is super excited to dig into these and also seem just as excited about how they turned out. Thanks again for sharing your creations!
Beth
Hi Wendy,
I am so happy to hear you had success making these Finding Dory Sea Otter Cupcakes and that your son's eyes lit up when he saw his special birthday treat. It's great to know you appreciated the instructions and the links! I want to make sure my readers are able to recreate my decorated desserts at home so I give as much information as I can to make that possible. I hope your birthday party is a lot of fun and that all of the guests enjoy all of your hard work. I'd love to see a picture of your cupcakes. You can share it with me at beth@hungryhappenings.com.
Damian
Omg yes lil brothers bday is coming so you don't know how much help you are!!!!!!
Beth
I hope he enjoys his sea otter cupcakes!
Keri S
IMG_4614.HEIC
Thank you so much for the super cute idea. Mine didn’t turn out near as cute as yours (I knew they wouldn’t) but we we loved them!
Beth
Hi Keri, I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed making the Sea Otter Cupcakes. If you'd like to share your pictures and join other fun food decorators in our new facebook group, we'd love to have you! You can find the new group here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/HowToMakeFunFood/
Nichole
How far ahead of time can I make these?
Beth
You can make and decorate the Reese's Cups up to a week in advance but I'd wait to attach them to the cupcakes until the day you serve them. Modeling chocolate will become sticky if it is stored with the cupcakes overnight.
Nichole
Awesome! My daughter is having an otter theme party and I can’t wait to make these! But they looked like they were gonna take me a while so I just wanted to make sure I had enough time! Should I store them in a certain type of container? Refrigerate them?
Beth
So fun! An otter themed party is such a cool idea. After you decorate the Reese's Cup otters just lay them flat in a large zip top bag and place them in your room away from a heat vent or window. Do not refrigerate them as the modeling chocolate will get sticky.
I hope they turn out great and that your daughter has a wonderful birthday.
Nichole
I can’t get the otters to stay on top of the icing... the bottom of the faces sink in so you can’t see the smile... what do I do
Beth
Hi Nicole,
If you haven't frosted all of your cupcakes you can thicken the frosting with some more powdered sugar which will help keep the Reese's cup in place. The frosting is just too soft to hold them up.
If you have already frosted your cupcakes, then you can create a chocolate "pick" to attach to the back of the Reese's Cup to help keep it in place. You can see how I made the chocolate pick here - https://hungryhappenings.com/leprechaun-cupcakes-st-patricks-day-treats/
You'll need to make the picks long enough to reach the bottom of the cupcake.
Or you can attach a Pocci cookie stick to the back of the Reese's Cup. I used them in my Chocolate Cupcake Bear video but didn't actually attach them to the peanut butter cup. I just stuck it into the frosting to keep the Reese's Cup upright but you can "glue" it to the Reese's Cup using some chocolate or candy melts.
I hope this helps!
rosie_line
Bonjour ,
Je suis française, je vous écoute me parler de gâteaux, j' imagine ( je comprends un peu l' anglais ) et votre joie de vivre fait tellement plaisir. ♫ Vous êtes passionnée, çà se ressent.
Bravo pour votre talent, j' aime vos petits cakes Marmottes. Ils sont si mignons. 🙂
Beth
Thanks you so much! The best part of my job is being able to make people happy through my creative talent. I hope you continue to enjoy seeing my new treats.
Bonnie
Do you ship or do we have to make these ourselves?
Beth
Sorry I don't make and ship anything. I only provide tutorials so that you can make them yourself. Give them a try! They are really fun to make. 🙂
Jamie
Hi, I made these with my sister yesterday and they turned out really cute. Thank you for the great tutorial. I was only able to use my food coloring marker on the very first cupcake though, it just made "scratch" marks on the rest of the peanut butter cups, which still turned out alright. Any thoughts on how to make the marker write better on the chocolate?
Beth
Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been in Africa for a few weeks and just got home! I have a great tutorial about making your food coloring markers work better. You can see it here - https://hungryhappenings.com/2012/08/tips-on-how-to-use-edible-ink-food.html/
Kim Byers @ The Celebration Shoppe
Oh my at the cuteness! Love them!
Beth
Thanks so much!
Samantha
Adorable! I do a lot of cupcakes with big frosting swirls and then a simple topping, but I don't do anything like this yet.
I'm hoping to try these next week in a hot, humid climate, and I have one question: does the weather affect how well the clear piping gel sticks? I am just envisioning all the pieces sliding around and off. Or will it be okay as long as my cupcakes are in a temperature where my regular frostings are okay?
Thanks!
Beth
Hi Samantha,
If you allow the piping gel to dry overnight, your decorations should stay put, but you can also use candy melts to attach the decorations.
Have fun and be sure to snap some pictures and share them with me at beth@hungryhappenings.com.
Samantha
Adorable! I do a lot of cupcakes with big frosting swirls and then a topping, but I don't do much decorating otherwise. I'd like to try these, though.
One question: does the weather affect how well the clear piping gel sticks? I'm planning on making these in a hot and humid climate, and I envision all the pieces sliding off. Or as long as I keep them at a temperature where my frosting doesn't slide off, they're going to be okay?
Thanks!
leticia
Thank you so much! I am inspired!
Karen @ Sugartown Sweets
Yes..these are completely adorable! And we took our grandkiddos to see the movie today..well since it's past midnight..yesterday. LOVE the sea otters in the movie but yours are cuter and yummier..hehe. I started watching your video and i can't wait to see the rest. I mean, a tour of your own chocolate factory sounds so exciting!
Finally, the packaged "just keep swimmimg" snacks..so darned cute! 🙂
Beth
I was on vacation for the last 10 days and was too busy hiking and site seeing to see the movie yet. It's on our weekend agenda! Have fun watching the video. I had a great time sharing my little chocolate factory with everyone.
Tavette
Oh my gracious!!! These little "whiskery" otters couldn't be any cuter!
For your first video you get an A+. I don't use Facebook so hope your future videos are also shown on your wonderful Hungry Happenings web site.
Only thing I would add would be that the cupcakes are mini-size and then also mention the size of the Reeses cups (since they come in so many different sizes and you want them to be in proportion to the face).
Oh - to have a workspace like you do. Thanks for the tour. 50 (FIFTY) pounds of chocolate melting at once. Zowee! But...you've gotta have the right equipment to be in business. It pays off and makes life so much easier.
Your cupcake liners look 3D - such detail you take in everything you do - separates the amateurs from the professionals. It's so nice that you always tell us what works and what doesn't so we don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Tell me again how to make the otters on a stick??? Use a squeeze bottle to attach the stick to the back?
I had to laugh when a caller mentioned iit was 80 degrees in her part of the world. It's been 89 here for the past week and terribly humid. I'll be thinking about your "cool" otters going for a swim and/or floating on their backs in a stream.
Thanks for the tour, the video and mostly for the adorable little otters.
Tavette - S. Fla.
Beth
Thanks for watching Tavette. I will be sure to add links to the videos to my site so you can see the tutorials.
I do love having the candy factory at home. It's a very busy place.
The sea otter cupcakes are actually traditional cupcakes, not minis. I used the Reese's Cups from a two pack. They are a bit larger than the ones in an 8 pack and much larger than the minis.
To turn the Reese's Cup otter into a lollipop, just dip a lollipop stick into some candy melts and press it onto the back of the peanut butter cup. Let it harden and you have a lollipop!
🙂
The Partiologist
I completely agree, they could not be any cuter!!!
Beth
Thanks. 🙂
Sar Tann
Great job, that is super cute!!!!
Beth
Thank you!
Denise
I know I won't be making these, but I just had to tell you how much I love them and how absolutely adorable they are. Wow! Every time I look at them, they make me smile. Thank you for sharing your talent.
Beth
I'm so happy they made you smile! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂