Happy Friday! As part of Disney’s Ultimate Princess Celebration, this week is World Princess Week! I’m celebrating one of my favorite princesses with these Belle cupcakes! I love Belle’s adventurous, imaginative, and kind-hearted nature. Similar to Belle’s transformation from villager to princess, these rich chocolate Belle cupcakes have a blue and yellow swirl of marshmallow frosting and a fondant book and rose!
Like most Disney princesses, Belle has a couple different outfits, her blue village dress and her beautiful yellow ball gown. I love both of these dresses as they show off different parts of her personality and so I decided to combine them on one cupcake!
To make these cupcakes, I started by making the fondant decorations. For the roses, I used pre-made fondant decorations from Michaels. It was a bit harder to find book decorations, so I made those myself using white and burgundy fondant from Satin Ice. The white fondant is for the inside of the book and the burgundy fondant is for the cover. If you’d like, you could also use another dark colored fondant for the book cover like brown or navy.
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To make the books, start by cutting out a rectangle of white fondant, about 1 inch wide by 6 inches long x 2 inches deep. Cut the long rectangle into smaller rectangles about 3/4 inch wide. Next, cut the small rectangles in half so that they’re about 1 inch in height. This should get you 12 books.
Next, roll out a chunk of the burgundy or other dark colored fondant to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into long rectangles that match the dimensions of the white book insides. Wrap each book inside with a piece of burgundy fondant, leaving one side open. Cut off any excess burgundy fondant and repeat until all of the books are covered. If the burgundy fondant isn’t sticking to the white fondant, use a damp finger to help it adhere.
Next, make the cupcakes by combining the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Stir in the boiling water, mixing until combined. Don’t worry, the batter will be thin and runny.
Pour the batter into a muffin pan with cupcake liners. For these cupcakes, I used brown foil cupcake liners. Bake the cupcakes at 350 F for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. First, beat the butter in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add the marshmallow fluff and beat on low speed just until combined, about 30 seconds. Gradually add in the sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed until fluffy. Make sure not to overbeat the frosting as it will become tough.
Separate the frosting into two bowls. Stir a few drops of yellow gel food coloring into one of the bowls and a few drops of blue gel food coloring into the other bowl. For these cupcakes, I used Wilton Gel Food Coloring.
Transfer the frostings to two medium size piping bags. Fit a large piping bag with a large star piping tip. Cut off the tips of the two medium piping bags and place them into the large piping bag, this set-up will allow you to make the two tone swirls.
To decorate the cupcakes, pipe a swirl of frosting onto the top of each cupcake. Add a fondant book to the side with blue frosting and a fondant rose to the yellow side.
Enjoy these Belle Cupcakes!
Belle Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup + 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup boiling water
Marshmallow Frosting
- 1 ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 7.5 oz jar marshmallow fluff or creme
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Decorations
- white fondant
- dark colored fondant (navy blue, brown, burgundy, etc.)
- red rose fondant decorations
- blue gel food coloring
- yellow gel food coloring
Equipment
- 2 medium piping bags
- 1 large piping bag
- large swirl piping tip
- brown cupcake liners
- muffin pan
Instructions
Fondant Book Decorations
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Cut a rectangle out of white fondant, about 1 inch wide by 6 inches long x 2 inches deep. Cut the long rectangle into smaller rectangles about 3/4 inch wide. Next, cut the small rectangles in half so that they’re about 1 inch in height. Use your fingers to smooth and shape the small rectangles into book shapes as these will be the inside of the books.
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Roll out a piece of the dark colored fondant to about ¼ inch thickness.
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Cut the dark fondant into long rectangles that match the dimensions of the white book insides. Wrap each book inside with a piece of dark colored fondant, leaving one side open.
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Cut off any excess fondant and press the dark colored fondant onto the white fondant to attach the cover to the book. Use a damp finger to adhere, if needed.
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Repeat until all the book insides are covered.
Chocolate Cupcakes
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
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In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.
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Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
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Stir in the boiling water (batter will be thin and runny).
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Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
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Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Marshmallow Frosting
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On medium speed, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
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Add in the marshmallow fluff and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
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Gradually add in the sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed until fluffy. Make sure not to overbeat the frosting as it will become tough.
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Separate the frosting into two bowls. Stir a few drops of yellow food coloring into one of the bowls and a few drops of blue food coloring to the other bowl.
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Transfer the yellow frosting to one piping bag and the blue frosting to a second piping bag. Cut the ends off the piping bags and place into a larger piping bag that has been fitted with a large star tip.
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If the frosting feels warm or runny, place in the refrigerator to chill before frosting the cupcakes.
Assembly
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Using the large piping bag that has both the yellow and blue frosting, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in a swirl pattern.
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Add a red fondant rose to the yellow side of the swirl and a fondant book to the blue side of the swirl.