My four-year-old is obsessed with the movie Frozen, so I thought it would be a fun project to make Olaf the Snowman cupcakes with her. And I was right!
I was surprised at how easily she bit his cute little head right off. (cold!)
Making fun cupcakes has been on my to-do list forever, because ever since my husband, Sam, put the Hello, Cupcake! app on my iPad, Aja has been completely enamored with it.
Highly Recommend this iPad app!
I then bought the book for her (when she was about three), and she would stare at the pages for hours on end.
Hello, Cupcake: $9.20 on Amazon >>
I learned some great tips from her (my little one!) as she watched, learned, and quoted from this fantastic book and app! She had been nagging me to make something from the book, so I thought I’d combine her love for the movie and the book in this project. There wasn’t an Olaf Cupcake in the book, but I got some great tips, ideas, and inspiration from it.
Don’t feel like you have to go to ten different stores and spend a fortune on special gels and gadgets—you can easily pull these together with some cupcakes, frosting, and a few candies. I just gave you details for the way we made them.
Aja insisted that we NOT use licorice (I’m guessing most four-year-olds find it as offensive as she does…?), so I fortunately—or unfortunately—discovered my new favorite candy whilst looking for a substitute.
Licorice (my fav) and chocolate?! You’ve got to be kidding me! (I won’t tell you how many I ate while making these cupcakes.)
I’d love to see your versions of Olaf—PLEEZ send me pics! Especially the ones of your little ones making them. 🙂
Tips From Hello, Cupcake
- For fantastic cake mix cupcakes: Use buttermilk in place of the water, and add an extra egg (I used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix)
- Use a freezer Ziploc bag for piping the batter into the muffin cups
What You Will Need for SIX Olaf the Snowman Cupcakes
- 6 colored cupcake liners or mini doilies to set him on (Michael’s/Party City)
- 12 vanilla cupcakes (completely cooled)
- 12 mini vanilla cupcakes, papers removed (completely cooled)
- 1 – 2 x 16 oz cans vanilla frosting (recommended: Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Classic White)
- 12 mini marshmallows for the feet
- Chocolate Twizzlers for the hair and arms (or licorice or pretzels)
- mini eyeballs for the eyes (or mini brown M&Ms) (Michael’s/Party City)
- mini chocolate chips for the buttons (or brown M&Ms)
- Sunkist Orange Slices or Fruit Gems for the nose, contoured with a sharp, paring knife (or candy corn) (Gelsons Market)
- Chiclets Peppermint Gum for the teeth, sliced in half lengthwise
- Wilton Blue Sparkle Gel (Michael’s), optional
- Black Decorating Gel
Directions
- Remove the paper from 6 of the regular cupcakes and slice in half, horizontally. Set the “muffin top” aside for secret enjoyment when you’re done making your Olafs! (The bottom half will form the second layer of Olaf)
- Frost the tops of the other six cupcakes (with paper liners) with a mini offset spatula, and set each on a flattened colored liner.
- Place the bottom half of the cut cupcakes in the centre; frost. Refrigerate.
- Place one mini cupcakes on top of another (top to top); Slice 1/3 off the top mini cupcake, on a slight diagonal. (This is where the eyes will go); Glue them together with frosting. Trim with a knife as necessary to make his head more cylindrical. (Remember that if little ones are making them, you want them to be sturdy, so don’t cut away too much or the head will fall off!)
- Cover with frosting; add more frosting to the pad the nose area. Refrigerate for a few minutes until set.
- Stick on the eyes and nose.
- Dip a toothpick into blue sparkle gel and color around the outside edges of eyeball. (This isn’t necessary, but does make his eyes pop if you have some sparkle gel lying around)
- Dip a toothpick into black gel and draw a line in the frosting, around the top part of the eye.
- Color in the eyebrows and mouth with the back, flat side of the toothpick.
- Make little cuts with a paring knife and stick in the arms and hair.
- Add the the buttons and the teeth.
- Stick on the feet with a little frosting.
- If it doesn’t break your heart, eat the little man.
Tools
- Mini Offset Spatula (or plastic knife)
- Wooden Toothpicks
