Fandango on with cupcake popcorn bags

Cupcake? Popcorn? A mash-up ready for watching any genre!

I love the dynamics of the community where I live. Within its bounds live a wide array of Wikipedia entries: a Grammy Award winner, renowned scientists and software developers, a National Golden Gloves boxer, and my personal favorite, “The Girl” who inspired Kevin Reynolds to write one of my favorite movies set in Texas … Fandango.

 

Not only is the university where Fandango starts a brisk 30 minute walk from our house, but like most of central Austin, large trucks and tall lights have been seen outside neighboring mid-century houses, and  more recent films from Troublemaker Studios have shaken its foundation.

 

Inspired directly by a design from Hello, Cupcake (an excellent book), I recently made a set of popcorn bag cupcakes. The bags I purchased are smaller sized than the ones called for in the book. The set I ordered from Century Novelty arrived much faster than the buycostumes.com set, but I liked the latter’s design a little better, so used those for the final product. I also modified the instructions from the book because I have the attention span of a gnat.

 

POPCORN CUPCAKE BAGS (or, as my neighbor called them … POPCUPS)

 

48 miniature yellow cake cupcakes baked in miniature white cupcake liners (available at All-in-One, Hobby Lobby, and most grocery stores), cooled
white frosting (I used white chocolate cream cheese, but I’m decadent)
white miniature marshmallows
yellow miniature marshmallows (from a multi-colored bag)

 

With a pair of clean scissors, snip two marshmallows almost all the way through. Gently pull the marshmallows apart and press the two cuts together, pressing firmly and giving a bit of a twist. The gooey interiors will stick and give the marshmallows a 3-dimensional popcorn shape. Vary the location of the cuts to give the popcorn more variety in form, and make both white and yellow popcorn to give the cupcakes dimension (and a “buttered” look).

 

This is not at all how Hello, Cupcake makes marshmallow popcorn, but since you’ll want at least 225, you might appreciate this faster method that works almost as nicely.

 

Spread a thin layer of icing on a cupcake and press 6-8 marshmallow popcorns on top. Set aside and continue until all the cupcakes are covered.  Let the icing firm up, about 30 minutes.

 

Prepare the bags by crumpling paper (gift tissue is the nicest) and placing in the bottom 1/3 of each popcorn bag. Gently place cupcakes on top. Add extra marshmallow popcorn if desired.

 

This design is amazingly cute, and can be translated into a more decadent (and multi-day preparation) dessert that might be used for a grooms cake. I would make a mold for tempered white chocolate to reduce the size of the bag down to a single serving, fill with vanilla mousse or pastry cream, and top with tiny piped baked meringue popcorn. The idea of the sweet of the chocolate with the creamy center and the crunch of the meringue really wants me to try to make it. Maybe for the next Neighborhood Movie Night ...

For more info: If you would like the original Hello, Cupcake method for making marshmallow popcorn, information about where I purchased my supplies, or if you make the mousse dessert and would like to share how it tastes, please let me know at carabou@gmail.com. DOM! in the subject line will take a roadtrip past my spam filters.