Sushi Cupcakes

by Anne

One of these days I’ll run out of photos from my baking days in Chicago. Until then, here’s a batch of Sushi Cupcakes I made last May! (I should probably tell you right away that these guys contain no fish- raw or otherwise…they’re just pure sugar, baby.)

As I recall, these went over quite well with my friends- who were probably just as giddy about our newfound done-with-graduate-school status as they were about these sugar packed desserts. Meh. I’ll pretend all the smiles were about these little 'cakes.

Why sushi cupcakes you might ask? Well, my friend was throwing a “roll your own sushi” party, and while, I LOVE a good theme, I also wanted to try Bakerella’s Cake Pops method.  While these are technically pop-less (read: no sticks), I think I got the gist of the technique, and gained a profound amount of respect for her mad decorating skills.

Want to make ‘em? Just whip up a batch of cake pop “batter”, and form into your favorite sushi shapes. That’s right, sushi shapes. That’s about as technical and this non-sushi eater is going to get. Sorry folks.

Once you have your sushi-shaped ‘cakes, stick them in a refrigerator or freezer for a while, maybe 30 minutes, or until they’re quite firm. While the ‘cakes are chilling, melt chocolate. I’m sure there are lots of fancy melting chocolates you can buy for this task, but I just used chocolate bark for the brown, and almond bark for the white.

Melt the chocolates (do one flavor at a time so you don’t have to keep reheating everything) in a double boiler or via the bowl-over-boiling water method. Not familiar with that method? It’s pretty self-explanatory. Boil water in a small saucepot. Place a heat-proof bowl over the boiling water. Make sure the bowl is larger than the pot- you want the steam from the boiling water to heat the chocolate, not the water. Place chocolate in the bowl and stir until melted.

When the ‘cakes are firm and the chocolate is melted, dip each cake into the chocolate. Depending on what kind of sushi you want to make (California-roll-esque or those little cubes of white rice with fish on top- “nigiri,” or so I’m told), dip the ‘cake into the melted white or chocolate bark. If you want a rice-like texture, roll the ‘cake into coconut or decorator’s sugar before the chocolate hardens.

I topped the rolls with a little bit of vanilla frosting and lots of chopped up gummy worms.

The nigiri are made with a ‘cake, dipped in white chocolate, rolled in coconut, and topped with a “fish” made of starburst candy.

The fish are easy to make, and, I think, look pretty authentic. Just pop a couple of (unwrapped) starburst into the microwave for about 8 seconds. The heat should soften the starburst enough so that you can mold them, but not so much that they melt. Mold them into fishy shapes and use a butter knife to add a little texture. Use a little frosting to stick the fish to the coconut-covered "rice" patties and you're done!

In all, these little sushis are a bit tedious, with all the melting, cooling, and sprinkling... but they're lots of fun! Oh, and they're ridiculously sweet. So consider yourself warned.