Want to ring in the New Year with a fancy dessert that will have your holiday party guests fighting for the first bite? Make these New Year’s Eve ball cupcakes, inspired by eASYbAKED, and get the party started!
This impressive festive dessert features chocolate cupcakes dressed up with a high twist of chocolate buttercream frosting and a New Year’s Eve ball that melts in your mouth. The most eye-catching component of the cupcakes, the New Year’s Eve ball, is nothing more than a Lindt white chocolate truffle gilded with a coating of vodka-spiked edible gold paint.
ALSO TRY: German chocolate cupcakes
Though these cupcakes are an obvious work of art, they are surprisingly easy to make. Start with a dozen premade cupcakes — we suggest baking a batch in advance and keeping them in your freezer until the day of your party. Let them thaw at room temperature for an hour, then decorate to your heart’s content. No baking, no messy pans, just a half hour of food art fun.
The decorative New Year’s Eve picks give the cupcakes an extra special touch. Use our downloadable template of New Year’s Eve printables to make them. We’ve designed the printables so all you have to do is cut and paste. Cut out two copies of each message and paste them together on a decorative pick. Stick the finished picks in the cupcakes and your scrumptiously festive New Year’s Eve dessert is ready to eat.
Make them kid-friendly. Admittedly, grown-up cupcakes are more fun for the adults, but kid-friendly cupcakes are a better bet if you’ve got kids in the house. To make these New Year’s Eve Ball cupcakes safe for young partygoers, mix the edible gold dust with water instead of vodka. You can even get your kids involved in this fun-to-make dessert. Have them paint the truffles and help you make the picks. When the New Year’s Eve ball drops in Times Square, your whole family can celebrate the New Year and devour these delicious cupcakes.
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Make the frosting
A simple chocolate buttercream frosting is all you need to set the stage for the fancy truffles. To make the frosting, combine softened butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Use a handheld mixer to beat the ingredients into a light, fluffy frosting. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip.
Paint the truffles gold
Unwrap the Lindt white chocolate truffles. Make gold paint by mixing gold food coloring dust with vodka in a small bowl. Roll each truffle in the paint, coating all sides. Use a brush to smooth out the paint. You may need two coats of paint. Insert a toothpick in each truffle.
Let the painted truffles dry
Stand the truffles up on a small Styrofoam block. Allow the painted truffles to dry before decorating the cupcakes.
Decorate the cupcakes
Pipe frosting in a high swirl pattern on each of the premade cupcakes. Sprinkle with the gold dust. Place a gold truffle on each cupcake, inserting the toothpick down into the center of the frosting.
Place decorative picks in the cupcakes
Make festive New Year’s Eve cupcake picks using our handy template. Glue both sides back-to-back on a gold or black painted decorative pick. Stick one in each cupcake.
The fanciest tray of cupcakes!
The gold New Year’s Eve ball really sets these cupcakes apart
Elegant and fun!
Gold star detail is so pretty
Your guests won’t believe you made these yourself!
So simple, and so delicious!
New Year’s Eve ball cupcakes
Yield 12 servings
Ingredients
- 4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 12 Lindt white chocolate truffles
- 12 toothpicks
- Gold food coloring dust
- 1/4 cup plain-flavored vodka
- A small block of Styrofoam
- 12 premade chocolate cupcakes cooked in dark cupcake liners, cooled
- 12 decorative picks
- 12 New Year’s Eve printables*
Instructions
- To make the frosting, combine softened butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa in a large mixing bowl. Beat with handheld mixer on high until frosting is light and fluffy.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip.
- Unwrap Lindt truffles.
- To make gold paint, mix gold food coloring dust with vodka in a small bowl until a paint forms. Roll each truffle in paint until all sides are coated. Use a brush if needed to smooth out gold paint. Two coats will likely be necessary.
- Insert a toothpick into each of the painted truffles and stand them up on a small block of Styrofoam. Allow painted truffles to dry.
- Pipe frosting in a swirl pattern on each cupcake.
- Decorate each cupcake by placing a gold truffle on top.
- Make New Year’s Eve cupcake picks using the linked template. Print out two copies and cut out messages. Glue both sides back-to-back on a gold or black painted decorative pick.*
- Place decorative picks on each cupcake.
- Serve.
Courses Dessert
