‘The Fault in Our Stars’ Cupcakes

We’re making The Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS) cupcakes.

Okay? Okay. 

TFIOS movie comes out on June 6th in Poland. While I’m excited, I’m also surprised that it took so long for John Green’s work to get picked up for a movie deal. He is brilliant.

I was first introduced to his novels a couple years ago when I read Looking for Alaska. The entire setup of the novel is extraordinary- the story begins as a countdown- and while the reader is aware of this, the event that occurs once time is up comes as quite a shock. One of the elements that makes a good novel is the author’s ability to capture human nature- John Green masterfully does this for adolescents- the way we cope with obstacles that come out of nowhere is the main idea of Looking for Alaska.

I think TFIOS is similar in this way as well. I’m doing my best to hold my tongue and not let any spoilers slip by (I’m aware I’m not physically talking to you). But the way Green crafts his stories into pieces that explore emotions, settings and overall, plot is very effective. I also loved Will Greyson, Will Greyson and An Abundance of Katherines– so if you haven’t heard of either of these titles, look them up. I also want to mention that I read TFIOS before it went viral in the young adult world, when it was just released. I pride myself on this fact.

In addition to writing, John Green also runs a Youtube channel with his brother, Hank Green and a “Crash Course” channel that explores literature, science and history. I find these mini-courses extremely helpful and interesting. But enough about my gushing.

I’m a fan. I think you get the idea.

The cupcakes. The logo, “Okay? Okay”, can be found all over the internet- it’s a famous quote from the book. I’m not particularly sure why it’s so much more popular than other quotes (if you do, enlighten me!), but frankly, it’s easy to pipe, and people instantly know the cupcake has something to do with TFIOS.

For these Fault in Our Stars cupcakes, I’ve dyed the frosting blue to resemble the book cover. Typically I don’t like using food coloring, but I made an exception, since the premiere is a big deal. I then dipped the top of the cupcake in blue sugar for a slight sparkle. The logo was done in white and dark chocolate because I felt like it was easiest this way- not too much piping involved.

The cupcake recipe was a simple vanilla cupcake. I have a great recipe on the blog, but I actually used the Magnolia Bakery’s recipe as I wanted to try it out. It was very soft and fluffy, with the flavor of a pound cake. But I think that a Nutella cupcake recipe would go great as well, since the protagonist is Hazel. See what I did there?

I hope you enjoy making some ridiculous TFIOS cupcakes. As John Green says, “DFTBA” (Don’t forget to be awesome). Enjoy.

Below is a list of ingredients and essential equipment, as for the technique, do watch the video because a picture is worth 1000 words, and a video is worth more.

*NOTE* the vanilla cupcakes and vanilla buttercream recipe links are the same- they will direct you to my Spiderman cupcakes tutorial where all the base recipes you’re looking for are written.

The Fault in Our Stars cupcakes

The Fault in Our Stars themed cupcakes smeared with blue vanilla buttercream, dipped in blue sugar for a sparkle and topped with a white-chocolate logo

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 cupcakes, Nutella stuffed, vanilla, maybe chocolate?
• 1 cup vanilla buttercream frosting dyed neon blue
• 200 g 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted (15 second increments in the microwave or over a double boiler)
• 200 g 8 oz white chocolate, melted
• ⅓ cup blue sugar, optional

Equipment

• 1 offset spatula
• 2 piping bags (alternatively ziplock bags)
• 1 #2 icing tip
• parchment paper
• 1 cloud shape or flower shape cookie cutter that has been bent slightly to form a cloud (no more than 2 inches in diameter)

Instructions

• Line 1 (or 2) cookie sheets with parchment paper (or aluminum foil lined with butter) and spread around 1/2 of the melted chocolate on each, separately, about 0.2 cm thick.
• Place the trays in the freezer for 2.5 min.
• Using the cookie cutter, press gently into the chocolate like you would cookie dough. But do not remove the pieces yet. Make sure you have 12 clouds from each type of chocolate (24 all together).
• Place the tray back into the freezer for an additional 2 minutes and gently peel off. Store clouds either in the fridge or at room temp.
• Place the remaining chocolate in 2 separate piping bags either with a small hole snipped off (like 0.1 cm in diameter) or using a #1 or #2 piping tip.
• Flip the clouds so that the bottom side is up (the smoother side) and pipe your desired message on each. I’d go with “Okay?” on the dark one and “Okay.” on the white one. Holding the piping bag like a pencil is easier when working with chocolate- make sure that the top is sealed properly with a rubber band or clamp though. Place back into the freezer for 2.5 more minutes to set.
• Place a dollop of frosting on top of each cupcake and smooth out. Dip the cupcake head first into the blue sugar until coated.
• Place the dark cloud on the top center of the cupcake, make sure to add a little extra frosting on the back so that it sticks.
• Place the white cloud so that it very slightly overlaps the dark cloud at the bottom center. Done.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American