How to make Thanksgiving-themed treats

by · Published · Updated

Thanksgiving  is a wonderful time to share gratitude with friends and family. It’s also a great opportunity to gorge yourself on delicious homemade food. Here are three ideas for some special treats on this special holiday.

img_1236Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

Turkey Cupcakes

img_1216Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

Materials

  • Undecorated cupcakes
  • Red, Yellow, and Brown Candy Melts (I used Wilton brand Candy Melts purchased from Michaels)
  • Food coloring
  • Whipped Cream (see recipe at bottom)

Procedure

  1. Cut two strips of parchment paper as shown below.

    img_1161Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  2. Melt a handful of red candy melts in a Ziploc bag by microwaving them at 30 second intervals while stirring/kneading in between. Once this has been done, cut off a small corner of the Ziploc bag so that it can act as a piping bag. Do the same with a handful of red and yellow candy melts in one Ziploc bag to get an orange color. Add more yellow for a lighter orange.
    img_1162Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

    img_1163Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  3. On one strip of parchment paper, use the red or orange to pipe out two feathers across from each other. See the picture below.

    img_1181Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  4. Then, use the remaining color to pipe out two feathers on top of the already made feathers.

    img_1182Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  5. Change back to the color you used in step 4 and make one feather in the middle.

    img_1183Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  6. Drag a toothpick down the middle of the tail while the candy melts are still melted.

    img_1185Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  7. Continue to make as many turkey tails as you need. Make sure to spread them out and move onto the second strip of parchment paper once you run out of room.
  8. Melt a handful of brown candy melts using the process in step 2.
  9. In the space between the turkey tails that have dried, pipe out a short brown line. Then pipe out a dot at the end of the line, and using the tip of the Ziploc bag, drag out the dot to one side. If you need to, you can adjust the shape with a toothpick. This will be the body of the turkey.

    img_1190Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  10. Once all of the candy melt pieces have dried, put a small red dot onto the base of one of the tails. Then take a turkey body and press it into the melted candy, which acts like a glue.

    img_1195Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  11. Dye some whipped cream light brown by using equal amounts of red, green, and yellow. Then, place the icing tip (shown below) in a Ziploc bag and cut off a small corner. Scoop the whipped cream into the bag.
    img_1199Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

    img_1202Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  12. Starting from the middle of a cupcake, pipe out a continuous line in a circular pattern.

    img_1207Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  13. Place a completed turkey in the middle of the cupcake at a tilt.

    img_1210Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  14. Dye some whipped cream orange with equal amounts of red and yellow, and dye some whipped cream yellow.
  15. Place the icing tip (shown below) in a Ziploc bag and cut off a small corner. Fill half the bag with orange whipped cream and the other half with yellow. When you pipe it out, it should look like this.
    img_1204Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
    img_1205Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

    img_1245Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  16. Pipe out dots along the edge of the cupcake by placing the tip of the Ziploc bag at a certain point, squeezing out a little whipped cream and then stopping before removing the tip of the bag from the point.

    img_1214Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  17. You are finished! Sit back and enjoy your delicious turkey cupcakes.

Cupcake Pies

img_1229Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

Materials

  • Whipped Cream (see recipe at bottom)
  • Undecorated Cupcakes
  • Jam, Jelly, or Preserves. In this example, I am using Raspberry Preserves.
  • Food coloring

Procedure

  1. Dye some whipped cream brown using equal amounts of green, red, and yellow food coloring.
  2. Place the tips (shown below) into two Ziploc bag and then cut of the corners. Scoop some brown whipped cream into both bags and set aside for now.
    img_1220Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

    img_1221Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  3. Using a knife, spread some jam/jelly/preserves onto the center of a cupcake.

    img_1223Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  4. Use the bag with the star shaped tip, and outline the edge of the cupcake.

    img_1224Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  5. Using the plain circular tip,  pipe out stripes within the circle of whip cream.

    img_1225Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  6. Then, pipe out more stripes perpendicular or slanted to the already made stripes.
    img_1226Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier

    img_1227Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  7. Enjoy your delicious treats.

 

Whipped Cream

Materials

  • 1 Carton of Heavy Cream
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
  • 2 Tablespoons Sugar

Procedure

  1. Pour one carton of heavy cream into a large bowl.
  2. Whisk or beat with an electric mixer on medium.
  3. Once the heavy cream develops a layer of bubbles, add the vanilla and sugar.

    img_1063Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  4. Continue whisking or beating until the whipped cream becomes stiff.

    img_1065Michelle Zhang | Conant Crier
  5. Taste test the whipped cream. If it is not sweet enough, mix in more sugar.

Tags:

Michelle Zhang

Michelle is a junior at Conant Highschool, and this is her second year on the Crier staff. This year she is going to be the editor of the new Lifestyle section. During the school year she is on the golf team and the math team. Outside of school she loves to bake, read, and spend time with her family.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *