Ming Ming Cupcakes

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: December 17, 2022

Here is anther cupcake I did with my daughter when she loved the show Wonder Pets. This is Ming Ming the duck.

This recipe was also from Nick Jr com. And no it’s not as hard as it looks. If I can do it, anyone can. And there is lots for kids to do to help. I put my daughter in charges of unwrapping the Tootsie rolls and the Starbursts.

Then she had to go through all the M & M’s and take out the brown ones. She was happy, because she got to eat all the other colors.

Then she had to unroll the fruit roll ups. She was a very good helper. She was three years old at the time.

Ming-Ming Cupcakes

36 chocolate taffy candies (such as Tootsie Rolls®)
1 roll green apple taffy (such as Fruit by the Foot®)
24 pink taffy candies (such as Starburst®)
48 brown candy-coated sunflower seeds or mini candies (such as mini M&M’s®)
48 brown candy-coated chocolates (such as M&M’s®)
Toothpicks
2 plastic resealable bags
Ming-Ming Hat template

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions and divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 21 minutes. Transfer the cupcake pans to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Invert the cupcakes and cool completely.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of vanilla frosting into a resealable bag and set it aside. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting pale yellow. Spoon 1/2 cup of the yellow frosting into a resealable bag. Cover the tops of the cupcakes with the remaining yellow frosting.

Cut 12 of the chocolate taffies in half lengthwise. Soften them in the microwave for several seconds and roll them out flat. Use the hat templates to cut out Ming-Ming’s aviator hat. Arrange the two side flaps on each cupcake, and then place the top piece. Add the green apple taffy (soften in the microwave for a few seconds) to the bottom of the cupcake to make Ming-Ming’s scarf. Snip a small corner from the bag of yellow frosting and pipe a few feathers over the scarf.

Heat the pink taffy in the microwave for a few seconds to soften. Shape them into the beaks. Use a toothpick to make the nostrils. Press the beaks into the center of the cupcakes. Add the small brown candies to make the eyes. Snip a very small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting and pipe white dots on the eyes. Pipe frosting dots on the hat and add the larger chocolate candies to make Ming-Ming’s goggles.

I didn’t find any green fruit roll up, so I used strawberry flavored. I didn’t find any chocolate covered sunflower seeds, so I used raisins. I also couldn’t get the nose to look like the one on the Nick Jr. website, but all in all , I was pretty impressed with myself and my daughter was delighted.

Gotta love that cheesy smile and the yellow frosting on her face.

Subscribe for New Racipies

Get mental health tips, updates, and resources delivered to your inbox.

Matchstick Fries, and Lately I’ve Been Loving, Part 2

Appetizers

Christiana George

Updated Date:
June 8, 2023

Apologies to those who want me to get straight to the food commentary. (Although it’s becoming apparent that I’m always kind of long-winded when it comes to writing about food, isn’t it?) Feel free to jump past this section, of course.

To all you others, lately I’ve been loving…

– Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, lemon and blueberry fro-yo to be exact. I had the pleasure of trying the salted caramel flavor this weekend, and while it was delicious and pleasantly salty, the lemon was stunning. Luckily the recipe can be found online.
– Niagara grapes, a replacement to the Muscats I can’t get on this coast.
– The perfect wedding ring has been found. It was love at first sight; I was mesmerized by the shine and didn’t want to take it off.
– The Book Thief may fall in the YA category, but it was so creative and lovingly written. Apparently, 1,249 people agreed, yowza.
– Fashion Week street style. I can’t help loving the grand display those fashion insiders put on twice a year.
– Jeanne Damas. Specifically, I love her hair. So much so, I was inspired to carve out a set of bangs for myself the other day. It soon became clear that I’m rusty in the bangs-cutting department. They turned out shorter than I would’ve liked. A LOT shorter, and crooked too. This is why there are professionals to do this sort of thing—but surely I’m not the only person in the world staunchly opposed to forking over money simply to get my bangs cut?

And the latest Pinterest love:

– This photo pretty much captures love, don’t you think?
– The perfect wedding takes place in the forests of Northern California. (I want a forest wedding!)
– This wedding veil is utterly romantic. I must get it.
– One of my favorite food photos as of late. It is so moody and evocative.

On to today’s recipe. Chris and I got home famished, after an afternoon rummaging through the Brooklyn Flea. I remembered that we had been given a bunch of potatoes, big dusty Idahos, that had been sitting on the counter for awhile. We hardly ever have potatoes in the house, because neither of us really like them except when they’re deep-fried.

So that’s what I decided to do. I whipped up a batch of these matchstick fries in no time, doused them in salt, pulled out a couple beers from the fridge, and suddenly, happy hour had been transported home with us. Minus the lack of seats.

MATCHSTICK FRIES

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa
Serves 2

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil
1 Idaho potato, peeled
Salt

Directions:

Slice the potato into matchsticks of about 1/8″ thick. You can use a mandoline, but I just hand-sliced without too much difficulty.

Heat about 1/2-inch of oil on medium heat in a medium saucepan with steep sides.

When the oil starts to shimmer, gently drop enough potatoes in the pan so it’s full but not overcrowded (overcrowding will cause the potatoes to stick together). Cook until they turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. Continue cooking batches until you run out of potatoes.

Serve with your favorite condiments. Chris likes them as simple as can be, amply salted, and I like them with ketchup.