This cupcake recipe shows how to make a cupcake decorated with meringue mushrooms that looks too good to eat!

Ingredients – 6/8 cupcakes

• 75g basic cupcake mix
• few drops vanilla extract
• Cocoa powder for dusting
• Vanilla buttercream – to cover the cupcakes
• Pistachio nuts to garnish

Meringue mix for the meringue mushrooms

• 1 egg
• 70g caster sugar

Getting everything ready

1. Make a stiff meringue mix.
2. Fill a paper piping bag fitted with a small plain tube with the meringue mix.
3. Carefully pipe small blobs of meringue mix onto a flat baking tray fitted with non-stick baking paper or a non-stick mat – keep the meringue blobs the size of small button mushrooms.
4. Fill a separate paper piping bag fitted with a small writing tube with some meringue mix and pipe small lines of meringue onto the baking tray.
5. Damp the tip of your finger and smooth any peaks on the meringue.
6. Lightly dust the meringue mix on the tray with cocoa powder.
7. Place in a pre-heated oven at 100°C and allow to dry for about 2 hours until light and crispy.  Remove and allow to cool – they will keep for several days in an airtight container
8. Make the vanilla flavoured buttercream.
9. Chop a few pistachio nuts.
10. Make a basic cupcake mix with a few drops of vanilla extract for flavour.  Bake and allow to cool.

Method

1. Fill a paper piping bag fitted with a small star tube with the buttercream.  Neatly pipe lines over the top of the cupcakes.
2. Sprinkle the pistachio nuts around the edge.
3. Lightly dust with cocoa powder.
4. Use a cocktail stick to carefully make a hole under each meringue mushroom.  Pipe a tiny amount of buttercream into the hole and gently fit with a meringue stalk.
5. Arrange two or three meringue mushrooms on top of each cupcake.

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