Popcorn is the perfect salty movie snack. Popcorn cupcakes, for me, are now the perfect movie dessert! 🙂 I chose to post this today because it's rainy and dreary outside, which is the perfect movie weather! Now, tell me, what is the perfect movie? (The Lord of the Rings? Star Wars? Good Will Hunting? Ferris Bueller's Day Off? The Goonies? Twilight? Disney Movies?)
This is another brilliant idea from my Hello, Cupcake! book. The authors, Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, are definitely two of the most creative cupcake decorators I've seen. And, Alan's photography is just stunning!
I made these Popcorn Cupcakes about two weeks ago when some of Ben's students (college students) came over for movie night in the "man cave". We watched The Dark Knight (which could possibly be the perfect movie) and ate cupcakes, popcorn and Twizzlers!
It may look complicated, but the cupcakes are very easy to make. The only time consuming part was creating the actual popcorn out of the marshmallows, because you need to make so many of them! Since there were 6 of us, I only made about ⅔ of the original recipe.
You'll need two bags of miniature marshmallows. One white bag and one multi-colored bag. I found the multi-colored bag at Walmart for cheap. Pick out the yellow ones.
Line two cookies sheets with wax paper. Spoon ¼ cup vanilla frosting into a ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and close the bag.
For each piece of popcorn, use 2 marshmallows of the same color. using clean scissors, cut 1 marshmallow into thirds, crosswise. Arrange the pieces on the cookie sheet in the shape of a three-leaf clover, pressing gently with your fingertips to flatten them slightly (I didn't need to).
Snip a ⅛-inch corner from the bag and pipe a dot of frosting on one end of the second marshmallow.
Press the other marshmallow into the center of the cloverleaf arrangement; the frosting will hold the 4 pieces together. Repeat with the remaining white and yellow marshmallows until you have 225 to 250 pieces of popcorn (holy cow! I didn't even make half that number!).
Spread the tops of the mini cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Press 5 to 7 popcorn pieces onto the top of each cupcake. Any loose pieces can be secured with a dot of frosting from the ziplock bag.
Let the cupcakes sit for about 30 minutes before stacking them in the popcorn boxes or a bowl.
Penny Says: You can make this for a pretty reasonable price. Buy a boxed cake mix that's on sale to make the cupcakes. You should easily find frosting on sale, too! And, ask friends if they have cute popcorn tubs you can borrow (that's what I did!)
Anonymous says
Oops! I meant to say how cute! I love them
Anonymous says
hi
Sonja says
Thank you so much you save me I did not 15.00 to buy the book and I needed to make the cupcakes for mu son's 4th grade class.
Thank you,
Sonja
Brownstown, MI
Michelle @ 5 Forks says
I love this, great idea for a kids slumber party!
Edie says
My 4yr old is having a movie night themed PJ party ( She wanted a sleepover, but not at 4!) and we are planning on doing these cupcakes. The main cake will be a giant cupcake that looks like a box of popcorn. Question for you...how long will the popcorn marshmallows stay fresh? Trying to plan the party time line, and not sure if I have to do these day of. Any advice would be great.
Pennies on a Platter says
Hi Edie,
I would make the mini cupcakes (popcorn kernels) the day before and store them in a airtight container. Then assemble the cake the day of. If you need to assemble the cake the day before, just make sure the marshmallows stay covered so they do not harden.
Sounds like a great party!! If you can, email me a pic of your cake!
Nikki 🙂
Layla says
awesome! i didnt have a mini pand so i used a normal sized one and they turned out great!! ( it took 4 ever to make all the pocorn peices though!!)
layla says
did u use mini cupcakes or regular size ones??
Pennies on a Platter says
Hi Layla. I used mini cupcakes.
layla says
omg! sooo cute! i am makeing them 4 my popcorn luving bff!
pinkstripes says
I love them! How perfect.
Jessica says
What an adorable idea!
Kerstin says
Oh wow - these are ADORABLE, I'm completely impressed! Very cute blog 🙂
Amrita says
OMG! Those are super cute!! I could just pop into the screen and grab a bag!!!
(P.S.:- My boyfriend is standing behind me and drooling on the keyboard at those cupcakes....)
ingrid says
Those look great & your right holy cow 225/250?
~ingrid
Jessica says
These are sooo cute!!!
culinarypilgrim says
I was just given this book as a present. I can't wait to try it out. Great job!
Stephanie says
Those are SO cute! I have got to make these!
Veggie Wedgie says
This is adorable! Must be the coolest idea!
BMK says
Very cute! Love your presentation. I need to have a movie night soon to make these!
Amanda says
That's one of the cutest things I've seen this week!! Great job!
Tracey says
Great job - they're so cute! This is one of my favorite pictures in the book though I've yet to try the recipe.
culinarycory says
So cute and creative. I love the staging inside the popcorn box.
Mrs. D says
So neat!!
Amy says
These are so adorable. Great idea.
Chelle says
These are adorable! I love it!!!
Erin says
I've been wanting to make these too! They look so cute!
brannyboilsover says
Cute! Those are cookbook photo-worthy. Thanks for the detailed instructions.