Scruffy Pupcakes

I absolutely flipped when I saw the cover of the book Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make and had to purchase the book to find out how to make these adorable cupcakes.  I attempted to follow the instructions but got confused about the piping bag and had problems with the marshmallows.  So, still wanting to accomplish making a scruffy dog cupcake, this is what I came up with.  My daughter has a special request to come up with a version of her dog Stewie (chiweenie), I will be giving this one quite a bit of thought. 

Here is how I made my version of the Scruffy Pupcake:

Regular Cupcake baked in liner

Mini Cupcake baked in white liner

Buttercream frosting

Piping bag and leaf tip 352 (Wilton)

Mini M&Ms

Regular Marshmallow

Mini Marshmallow

Pink Sugar Sprinkle

For snouts:  Take regular marshmallow and cut in half with scissors.  Take each halved marshmallow and cut off about a third diagonally - see picture (discard cut off portion). This will give you two snouts. Set aside.

For ears:  Take a mini marshmallow and cut diagonal in half with scissors and press the sticky cut side into pink sugar sprinkles and set aside.

Top row is the regular marshmallow: cut in half (sideways), middle shows two halves, right shows each of the halves with one third diagonal cut so it forms the snout with point for the nose (discarding the one-third cut).  The bottom is the mini marshmallow cut in half diagonally and the cut sticky side is pressed into the pink sugar.

Frost regular cupcake with buttercream frosting using the piping bag using the Wilton 352 leaf tip.  Starting on the outer edge of the cupcake, position the tip so that the tip points are vertical (up and down) and the notches are in the middle.  Squeeze the piping bag making sure you are holding the top of the piping bag closed or you have it secured with something like a bag clip or band.  When you pipe onto the cupcake you will want to squeeze out so that the frosting comes out of the sides and then forms a bit of a spike. Continue this method working your way inward until the whole cupcake top is covered. Set aside.

Frost the mini cupcake the same way you did the regular cupcake but you will be covering it up with a marshmallow and won't need to be as spikey.

Take the snout marshmallow and place onto the mini cupcake placing the flat side onto the cupcake and the notched side on the bottom (the marshmallow will line up with the bottom edge of the cupcake).  Take two ears and position at the top part of the cupcake where the ears should be.  With your piping bag, pipe the notched part of the marshmallow (this will be the underpart of the nose and is difficult to pipe after it has been placed on the other cupcake). Pipe about three spikes from the marshmallow top between the ears to give a base to secure the eyes later in the instructions.

Place the mini cupcake on the regular cupcake on it's side kind of in the middle.  Pipe the snout starting on the top middle back piping down the sides and working towards the front (make sure to pipe along the edge of the marshmallow securing it to the cupcake frosting for support).  Repeat on the other side and then proceed to the front with short strokes.  Pipe carefully along the ears securing them to the cupcake.

Now to finish, take two mini M&M's (making sure the printed side doesn't show) and place the eyes, nose an tongue.

You now should have an adorable scruffy pupcake!

Here is a great way to transport tall cupcakes.  Since most cupcake carriers aren't designed for tall cupcakes, I use a clear 20 oz. plastic cup and lid.  Place cupcake onto the cup lid and place cup over the cupcake in an inverted position and snap onto the lid making sure it is secure.

This is my next project:

.