As many people know, Punxsutawney Phil has decided for the rest of us that winter will indeed be extended. I'm a bit dubious considering it's 80 degrees outside today and I think Texas has decided to skip winter. I bet March will be in the 100s, which is awesome... I want a real winter.
Okay but really, Groundhog Day is a really super amazing holiday to celebrate. I mean you have shadows, and possible weather changes, and an animal that's small and furry, and there are probably a million gazillion more interesting and exciting things I don't know about. But for real y'all, it gave me an excuse to make cupcakes! So that's a plus. Now, I know what you're thinking, but no, I did not make cupcakes out of wood and shadows in order to celebrate such a monumental event. Instead, I opted for the earth-toned chocolate with chocolate cream cheese frosting. Oh but I put some dirt on it. Oh and there's a groundhog popping it's little head out!
I'm going to admit, that I got a little carried away with the faces. Honestly, who doesn't want a hipster groundhog, or an angry groundhog? I even tried to make a mustache (pretty sure that attempt ended in failure), but all of them seemed somewhat adorable to me. Can we please take a minute to look at the whole herd of the little buggers? Gosh, I love them...
... then I bite off their head!
Anyhoo, here are the supplies needed to make these guys:
Cupcakes (recipe follows)
Icing (recipe follows)
Crushed up Oreos
Milano cookies
Black frosting/gel
White sprinkles
Slivered almonds
CHOCOLATE CAKE (adapted from Allrecipes)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup cold brewed coffee
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vinegar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F
Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Mix the first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Once combined, whisk in the eggs, coffe, milk, oil and vinegar. (The final mixture will be very liquidy.)
Spoon or pour the batter into prepared muffin tins.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until done.
Let cool.
CHOCOLATE CHEESE ICING (adapted from Allrecipes)
Ingredients:
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 stick of butter (or one half cup of butter)
2-4 cups of sifted powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you like your icing)
3/4 cup sifted cocoa powder
1-2 Tbsp. milk (depending on how much it takes to get the desired consistency)
Directions:
Beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and well-combined. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into the cream cheese mixture until well combined. Add milk until desired consistency is reached.
GROUNDHOG ASSEMBLY (adapted from about 800 blogs...)
Crush up the Oreos until fine (I used a fork because that is literally all I had, but much better methods would include a food processor, or putting the cookies in a plastic bag and smashing them with a heavy object).
Frost each cupcake and dip them into the Oreo crumb mixture.
Break the Milano cookies in half and using the black piping frosting, pipe on the face of the groundhog (it's ok, you are allowed to be creative).
Break the almonds in half. Put a dab of frosting onto the end of the slivered and halved almond, and place it on where the ears would be.
Take a sprinkle and place it on the groundhog's lip. (I don't know why writing this line made me giggle...)
Pick up the Milano cookie groundhog and put some icing onto the bottom and stick him onto the cupcake.
Take pictures/ share with friends/ "hog" them all to yourself! :)
