Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Your dinner guests will fall in love with these decadent chocolate Thanksgiving Cupcakes decorated with chocolate pilgrim suits. The entire cupcake including the wrapper is edible. They'll make a perfect ending to your holiday meal.

Why not serve cupcakes for Thanksgiving? They can be a wonderful addition to pumpkin pie and other classic holiday desserts.

If you are going to serve a cupcake for this holiday, why not make it look really festive?

These cupcakes are wrapped in chocolate cupcake wrappers and are dressed up like Pilgrim suits. The wrappers are easy to make using modeling chocolate made from milk chocolate.

Modeling chocolate is easy to make using just two ingredients. You can click over to my Modeling Chocolate Recipe to see the step-by-step tutorial and recipe.

To make these cupcakes, I used light brown modeling chocolate made from milk chocolate, dark brown made from dark chocolate, and gold made from white chocolate that is dusted with edible gold luster dust.

You can simply use milk chocolate if you like. Just color the milk chocolate with some black food coloring and then paint a light brown buckle with luster dust. It will work just fine.

So, let's make some Thanksgiving Cupcakes.

Ingredients

modeling chocolate - Check out my step-by-step tutorial for making homemade modeling chocolate.
chocolate cupcakes
chocolate frosting
non-stick baking mat (or use a gallon-size zip-top bag)
large fondant rolling pin or wooden rolling pin
pastry wheel, pizza wheel, or knife
edible gold luster dust - Use this to create a gold belt buckle.

You can see how I created the gold buckles on my Chocolate Pilgrim Hat Cups, here.

Supplies

cupcake wrapper template - Click the link to get the pdf file from Meaningful Mama. Then print it out and cut it out so you can use it as a guide for cutting the modeling chocolate.

You need the template to overlap at the ends by at least ½ inch, so adjust the template as needed. Re-size then cut out a new template. My cupcakes were big, so I had to enlarge the template. If you are planning to make a lot of cupcakes, you can either print out several templates or laminate one.

pizza wheel or knife
silicone mat
small square cutter or use a knife to cut out your buckle

Instructions

Cut out the modeling chocolate cupcake wrappers.

The best way to roll out modeling chocolate is to pat it into a large round disc, place it on a non-stick baking mat, and use a fondant rolling pin to roll it out to about ⅛th inch thickness. If you have two mats, you can use one on top of the modeling chocolate too.

See instructions for rolling out modeling chocolate using a large zip-top bag, here. Set the cupcake wrapper template on the modeling chocolate and use a pastry or pizza wheel to cut out around it. You can use a knife, just be very careful to not cut into your mat.

Make the belt and buckle.

Roll out some black or dark modeling chocolate, and use the cupcake wrapper template as a guide to cut out curved strips for the belt. Roll out some peanut butter or light tan or yellow modeling chocolate. Cut out belt buckles. I cut out a small square, using a metal cutter, then cut out around it using a knife.

Attach the belt and buckle to the modeling chocolate cupcake wrapper using water. Just brush a very light coating of water on the back side of the decorations then press them down on the chocolate wrapper to adhere.

Wrap a cupcake in chocolate.

Wrap the decorated wrapper around your cupcake sealing the seams with some water. Frost cupcakes. (Picture was taken for another project, thus the lack of decorations.)

I suggest wrapping your cupcakes the day you will use them. You can make the cupcake wrappers ahead of time and store them in an airtight container to keep them flexible.

Modeling chocolate hardens a bit as it dries and will have the consistency of a Tootsie Roll. It will hold its shape well, but still be soft enough to easily bite into.

Storage

Serve these cupcakes the day they are decorated.

You can make the cupcake wrappers up to two weeks ahead. You can even shape them by wrapping them around the inside of a cupcake pan. See my Easter Carrot Top Cupcakes for visual instruction.

Then, store the modeling chocolate wrappers in their shape in an airtight container (without the cupcakes inside) for up to two weeks. Then, on Thanksgiving Day or the day you plan to serve the cupcakes, set the cupcakes inside the wrappers and serve. If you store the wrapped cupcakes for more than a day, the modeling chocolate wrappers will soak up the moisture from the cupcake making them sticky.

Do NOT refrigerate the cupcakes once decorated with the wrappers.

These Thanksgiving Cupcakes are meant to be eaten using a fork, and the entire thing is edible.

Related Recipes

Here are more edible cupcake wrapper ideas...
Snowman Cupcakes • Monster Cupcakes • Carrot Top Cupcakes
Ocean Waves Cupcake Wrappers • Reindeer Cupcakes 
Chocolate Football Cupcakes • Rudolph Cupcakes • Gingerbread Cupcakes
Father's Day Cupcakes • Snowflake Cupcakes • Yard Line Cupcakes

Recipe

Print

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Prep Time

45 mins

Cook Time

0 mins

 

Decorate chocolate cupcakes with modeling chocolate pilgrim suit wrappers and then add a big swirl of chocolate frosting. These are perfect Thanksgiving cupcakes.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate, cupcakes, modeling chocolate, thanksgiving dessert

Servings: 6

Author: Beth Klosterboer

Ingredients

• 10 ounces light brown (milk chocolate) modeling chocolate
• 3 ounces black or dark modeling chocolate
• 1 ounce white modeling chocolate
• 6 chocolate cupcakes
• 1 ½ cups chocolate frosting
• edible gold luster dust
• ¼ teaspoon optional, clear alcohol (Vodka) or clear extract (lemon or almond)

Instructions

1. Print out the cupcake wrapper template (https://hungryhappenings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/cupcake-wrapper-template.jpg) and cut out around it leaving the ends uncut so you can adjust it.

2. Wrap the template around one of your cupcakes and cut off the end so you have ½-inch of overlap.
3. Roll out your light brown (milk chocolate) modeling chocolate to ⅛-inch thickness on a silicone mat.
4. Set the cupcake wrapper template on the modeling chocolate and cut out around it.
5. Repeat, kneading and rerolling the modeling chocolate as needed.
6. Save any remaining modeling chocolate for another use. You'll use about 1 ounce per cupcake wrapper.
7. Roll out the black or dark modeling chocolate to 1/16-inch thickness.
8. Cut the belts so they are about ½-inch wide by the length of your cupcake wrappers.
9. Roll out the white modeling chocolate very thin.
10. Cut out belt buckles. Cut a 1 inch square and then cut out a ½-inch square inside that.

11. Brush gold luster dust over the belt buckle. You can mix the gold luster dust with a few drops of clear alcohol (Vodka) or clear extract (lemon or almond) and brush it over the buckle. Allow it to dry completely before moving the buckles.

12. Attach the belt and buckle to the modeling chocolate cupcake wrapper using water. Just brush a very light coating of water on the back side of the decorations then press them down on the chocolate wrapper to adhere.
13. Wrap the decorated wrapper around your cupcake sealing the seams with some water.
14. Pipe a big swirl of chocolate frosting over the cupcake.

Recipe Notes

Serve these cupcakes the day they are decorated. You can shape the cupcake wrappers by wrapping them around the inside of a cupcake pan. Then, store them in their shape in an airtight container (without the cupcakes inside) for up to two weeks. Then, on Thanksgiving Day or the day you plan to serve the cupcakes, set the cupcakes inside the wrappers and serve. If you store the wrapped cupcakes for more than a day, the modeling chocolate wrappers will soak up the moisture from the cupcake making them sticky.

• Author
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Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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