“Poor unfortunate souls”
Could this be a prettier cupcake? Pale purple, almost gray, vanilla cupcakes the shade of Ursula’s skin get an inky pudding center and are beautifully finished with a swirled vanilla frosting in shades of the sea. These will delight any Disney lover looking for a whimsical dessert!
This really only takes half a cup of pudding so feel free to use leftover pudding, or only tint what you need for this recipe! If you don’t have black food coloring, mix red, green, and blue food coloring to get your desired shade of black. Use a melon baller to scoop the center out. Be sure to freeze the leftovers or make little Ursula pudding jars with the leftover ingredients!
This was my first time making a swirled frosting and I absolutely loved the results. It’s quite easy to do! Just tint frosting three shades, carefully spread the frosting in rows on cling wrap, then roll like a tube and insert the whole tube inside a pastry bag.
I did this in two batches because I find an entire batch of frosting difficult to handle at once. I couldn’t believe how stunning the results were! You’ll be seeing a lot of swirled frostings on The Rose Table now. It came out just gorgeous!
As for why I randomly made Disney Villain Cupcakes this weekend, I say: do you really need a reason to add Disney magic to your day? I think not. Besides, what better time to go under the sea than in the summertime?
Sea Witch Cupcakes
Makes 24
For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft
1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
Purple food coloring
1 small box instant vanilla pudding + 2 cups milk
Black food coloring
Fancy Sprinkles Sea Witch Sprinkles (or a mix of blue, green, and purple sprinkles) For the Sea Witch Swirl Frosting:
6 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp milk
Green, blue, purple food coloring
To bake the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners and lightly spray with nonstick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add butter to the mixer and beat until it looks sandy.
- Combine the milk and vanilla and add to the mixer. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Don’t forget to scrape the bowl as you go!
- Crack eggs into a bowl. This way, you won’t accidentally get egg shells in your cake batter. With the mixer running on low, add eggs one at a time. Make sure each is incorporated before adding the next. Add a tiny bit of purple food coloring to achieve that pale purple color, almost grey.
- Pour batter into your prepared cupcake pans about 2/3 of the way full. Softly bang the bottom of the pans against the countertop to help settle the batter evenly in the pan.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes or until the a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake will come out clean.
- Remove tins from the oven and place on racks. Cool five minutes, remove from pan, and cool completely before frosting.
- Mix pudding according to package directions and tint black with food coloring.
- Use a melon baller to scoop out center from the top of each cupcake. (I like to freeze extra cake for last-minute trifles!) Fill each hole with black vanilla pudding. Frost according to directions below and top with Sea Witch Fancy Sprinkles. Note: these need to be refrigerated because they’re filled with pudding.
To make the Sea Witch Swirl Frosting:
- Cream together powdered sugar and softened butter with an electric mixer. Start with two cups of powdered sugar and half a stick of butter, alternating additions.
- Slowly incorporate vanilla extract and milk. Beat until smooth. Add additional milk or powdered sugar if needed for desired consistency.
- Divide frosting evenly in three bowls. Tint to desired shades of blue, green, and purple. Set a piece of cling wrap on the counter and spread the frosting on the cling wrap in rows as shown in the photos above. Roll up like a tube and put the whole tube inside a large pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Frost as you normally would cupcakes and voila – a beautiful swirled frosting!
