Turtle Cupcakes Recipe

These Turtle Cupcakes make the perfect addition to parties and celebrations at the beach. They also make a great ocean themed birthday party food.

For the past 17 years on June 8th, the Ocean Project created this day to celebrate World Ocean Day. It is an important environmental issue. Many foods and medicines come from the ocean, so it is important to keep them safe and clean. On this day, it is important to show we care and the best way to show that is to visit a beach and help clean it up. 

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Beach Themed Birthday Party

The ideal place for a beach party is at your favourite beach. That only works out if you live in a warm climate or your birthday is during the warmer weather of summer. If your birthday happens to be in the winter, don’t worry there are always ways to make it a fun beach themed party indoors. While we can’t bring sand indoors, we can make a table that looks like a beach using cupcakes with blue frosting or turtle cupcakes with frosting and candies. Make sure to add some other ocean themed party food.

Set up a table to look like the beach using a blue tablecloth for the water and graham cracker crumbs for the sand. Place some water themed decorations on the table and make sure to have your turtle cupcakes in different spots on the table. This will make it look like they are swimming around.

Have the kids help out with decorations by making some of these 12 Ocean Themed Crafts. These can also be used for a fun activity during the beach themed birthday party or use as ideas for loot bags. 

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Lifecycle of a Turtle

At your child’s beach themed birthday party, you can show the lifecycle of a turtle by having the children make a sea turtle life cycle craft.

There are 4 stages in the lifecycle of the sea turtle; eggs (nesting), hatchlings, juvenile, and adult.

• Nesting season is when the mother turtle comes to shore and lays eggs, usually between 80- 120. Once the eggs are buried in the sand, mother turtle heads back to the sea.
• Once the baby turtles (hatchlings) have fully developed, they break out of the shell and dig their way to the surface of the sand to head to the ocean. They tend to do this in the darker hours to avoid predators. Sadly many of them don’t make it to the water’s edge.
• For those baby turtles who make it to the ocean, they will continue to grow and become juveniles foraging by the shore.
• When they become adults, they will find a mate and once again mother turtle will head to the shore and begin the cycle again.

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Recipe for turtle cupcakes

One of the most loved ocean creatures is the sea turtle next to dolphins and whales. There is something about them that has us wanting to know more. If you have a fascination with turtles, you probably already have a collection of pictures ornaments and maybe a few stuffies. What better way to show your love of them than by making turtle cupcakes!

Cupcake Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 2 egg whites
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 baking soda
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Moist vanilla cupcakes recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line the cupcake tins with paper liners.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl.
4. With a mixer, beat butter on high for 30 seconds.
5. Add sugar and vanilla extract to the butter and beat until well combined.
6. Add egg whites, and then eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, beating on low speed until everything is mixed together.
   • Add 1/3 cup flour mixture to the wet mixture followed by adding 1/3 cup of the buttermilk; add 1/3 cup flour mixture again then add 1/3 cup buttermilk mix on low speed; add 1/3 cup of flour and add the rest of 1/3 cup of buttermilk mix in low speed until thoroughly blended.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted cupcake comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool in the cupcake tin for 10 minutes.
10. Remove the cupcakes from the cupcake tin and completely cool on a wire rack.

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How to make a cupcake frosting

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 cup soft unsalted butter
• 4 + cup powder sugar
• 4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• Blue gel food colouring

Cupcake Frosting

1. Cream the butter and powder sugar until it looks light and creamy.
2. If it doesn’t cream add several drops of the heavy whipping cream.
3. Test to see if the frosting can form and hold a stiff peak.
4. If not add more powder sugar 1/2 cup at a time.
5. Test to make sure that the frosting can make and hold a stiff peak.
6. Divide the frosting into half. 1st bowl remains white while the 2nd bowl, add several drops of blue gel food colouring while making sure it is an ocean blue colour than stir to mix well.
7. Scoop the white frosting into a pastry bag with a large frosting tip. Scoop the blue frosting into the same pastry bag and twist the open end of the pastry bag to push the frosting to the tip. You may want to test this out to make sure that the frosting comes out with both the blue and white frosting at the same time.
8. Frost the cupcakes by starting at the outer edge of the cupcake in a circle until you reach the centre of the cupcake.

Candy turtles

Ingredients

• Sour Apple Gummy ring candies
• Green gum drop candies
• Gum candy (similar to orange slices)
• Candy Eyes
• Toothpick or kitchen skewer

How to make the Turtle

1. Turtle shell: Place a gummy ring on each cupcake and place gum drop in the centre of the gummy ring. Push the gum drop into the frosting.
2. Fins: Cut the green (orange slice) candy into two pieces. The top piece will be the front fins while the thicker piece is the hind fin.
3. Head: a green gum drop will be the head and use royal icing to “glue” the eyes on each side of the gum drop.
4. Place the turtle into the cupcake frosting to hold it in place.

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I hope you enjoyed my Turtle Cupcakes as much as I did! If you make the recipe, please share your photos with us on Facebook or Twitter! Also, check out all of our other recipes!

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Turtle Cupcakes

Lyne Proulx

These Turtle Cupcakes make the perfect food addition to ocean themed birthday parties and celebrations at the beach. 

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Frosting 10 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, Canadian

Servings 12

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temp
• 2 egg whites
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 baking soda
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

FROSTING INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup soft unsalted butter
• 4 cup powder sugar and more
• 4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• Blue gel food colouring

CANDY TURTLES

• Sour Apple Gummy ring candies
• Green gum drop candies
• Gum candy similar to orange slices
• Candy Eyes
• Toothpick or kitchen skewer

Instructions

 

MOIST VANILLA CUPCAKES RECIPE

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line the cupcake tins with paper liners.
• Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl.
• With a mixer, beat butter on high for 30 seconds.
• Add sugar and vanilla extract to the butter and beat until well combined.
• Add egg whites, and then eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, beating on low speed until everything is mixed together.
• Add 1/3 cup flour mixture to the wet mixture followed by adding 1/3 cup of the buttermilk; add 1/3 cup flour mixture again then add 1/3 cup buttermilk mix on low speed; add 1/3 cup of flour and add the rest of 1/3 cup of buttermilk mix in low speed until thoroughly blended.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted cupcake comes out clean.
• Allow to cool in the cupcake tin for 10 minutes.
• Remove the cupcakes from the cupcake tin and completely cool on a wire rack.

CUPCAKE FROSTING

• Cream the butter and powder sugar until it looks light and creamy.
• If it doesn’t cream add several drops of the heavy whipping cream.
• Test to see if the frosting can form and hold a stiff peak.
• If not add more powder sugar 1/2 cup at a time.
• Test to make sure that the frosting can make and hold a stiff peak.
• Divide the frosting into half. 1st bowl remains white while the 2nd bowl, add several drops of blue gel food colouring while making sure it is an ocean blue colour than stir to mix well.
• Scoop the white frosting into a pastry bag with a large frosting tip. Scoop the blue frosting into the same pastry bag and twist the open end of the pastry bag to push the frosting to the tip. You may want to test this out to make sure that the frosting comes out with both the blue and white frosting at the same time.
• Frost the cupcakes by starting at the outer edge of the cupcake in a circle until you reach the centre of the cupcake.

HOW TO MAKE THE TURTLE

• Turtle shell: Place a gummy ring on each cupcake and place gum drop in the centre of the gummy ring. Push the gum drop into the frosting.
• Fins: Cut the green (orange slice) candy into two pieces. The top piece will be the front fins while the thicker piece is the hind fin.
• Head: a green gum drop will be the head and use royal icing to “glue” the eyes on each side of the gum drop.
• Place the turtle into the cupcake frosting to hold it in place.

Keyword ocean themed birthday party food, ocean week food, sea turtle cupcakes, turtle cupcakes

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!