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Polar bear cupcakes recipe

42 ratings

Made with sweet fondant icing and delicious desiccated coconut, these cute polar bear cupcakes make the perfect Christmas treats to share with friends and family. An easy Christmas baking recipe that takes less than 30 minutes to make – kids will love helping to turn these cupcakes into adorable polar bears! See method

Serves 12 (makes 12 cupcakes)
10 mins to prepare and 18 mins to cook
450 calories / serving

Ingredients

125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
125g self-raising flour

For the topping

50g butter, softened
125g icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
500g white fondant icing
75g desiccated coconut
50g black fondant icing
1 x tube white writing icing

No self-raising flour? Add 2 tsp baking powder for every 150g plain flour

Each serving contains

Energy
1895kj
450kcal 23%
Fat
18g 25%
Saturates
11g 55%
Sugars
65g 72%
Salt
0.2g 3%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 74.3g Protein 3.3g Fibre 0.4g

Method

Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 muffin cases. Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition.
Fold in the vanilla extract and the flour then divide the mixture between the muffin cases. Bake for 15-18 mins until well risen and golden. Take the cakes out of the tin and leave on a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
To make the buttercream topping, whisk the butter with a hand-held mixer until pale. Add the icing sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking well between each addition. Add the milk and continue to whisk until the mixture is pale and creamy.
Roll out two thirds of the white fondant icing and cut out 12 circles using a 7cm (3in) plain pastry cutter – this will form the polar bears' face. Pinch the edge of the icing circles in two places to create the polar bears' ears. Spread a little of the buttercream on the top of each cupcake and then put a circle of fondant icing onto each one.
Divide the remaining fondant into 12 and roll each piece into a small ball. Stick the balls onto the cakes using a dab of water and then brush the whole of the fondant icing lightly with water and dip into the desiccated coconut to coat completely.
Take the black fondant icing and roll out 12 balls for the noses and 24 small balls for the eyes. Use a little of the writing icing to stick these onto the bears to create the faces.