3D Horse Orange Milo Chiffon Cupcakes

I originally had a request for 20 horse cupcakes but it became 30. Unlike the usual cupcakes decorated with cream and/or fondant, 3D cupcakes made entirely out of soft chiffon sponge has to be patiently and painstakingly assembled. So I managed only about 21 horses and topped up the rest with simpler cupcakes. Here are some of the horses :).

Sitting snugly in cupcake cases!

Orange and Milo flavour was requested. These horses are adapted from the orange Milo chiffon horse cakepops that I made two years ago. The details of shaping the horse head can also be found in our newly launched Creative Baking: Chiffon Cake book.

You may refer to my post for monkey milo chiffon cupcakes for the Milo chiffon cake recipe and detailed baking steps. Prepare the same amount of batter for both flavours. You may want to reduce the amount of zest in the orange flavoured cake to prevent the cake from looking too speckled, about 1/2 tsp. If you don't mind the speckling by all means add more zest for a stronger flavour :).

For your convenience I will just type out the ingredient list here:

Orange chiffon cake
Ingredients:
3 egg yolks (60-65g eggs)
15g caster sugar
39g canola/vegetable oil
42g orange juice (I used mandarin orange since it's bountiful during this time of the year. I let the freshly squeezed juice settle in the fridge for two days to increase concentration and flavour.)
1.5 orange zest (about 5-6g)
1/2 tsp orange emulco (optional)
60g cake flour
1/8 tsp salt

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
40g caster sugar

Milo chiffon cake
3 egg yolks
10g caster sugar
42g vegetable/canola oil
42g hot water
30g Milo powder
50g cake flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda (cocoa powder in Milo is not Dutch processed so this ingredient is necessary)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
45g caster sugar

Just to share some photos of the process...

Filling batter in egg shells for the horse heads.

Filling paper cones with batter for the horse bodies. Baking time is about 5 minutes longer than egg shell baked cakes.

Freshly unmoulded egg shell baked cakes.

Freshly unmoulded cakes baked in paper cones.

Assemble the horses by using a cakepop stick to attach the heads to the bodies. Use cocoa powder dissolved in hot water to make a paste for the eyes and nostrils. I used extra layer cakes for adding on the mane instead of using melted chocolate as mentioned in the chiffon cake book. Remember to brush the surface of the cupcakes with some vanilla or orange flavoured syrup (10g sugar dissolved in 25ml hot water + 1/2 tsp vanilla/orange extract). Store in airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Here are the extra simple cakes that I made :).

Thank God that the cupcakes were very well received by kids and teachers! Some kids even asked for second helping!

With love,
Phay Shing