When it comes to Instagram trends, everyone knows that 2017 was the year of enchanted unicorns and mythical mermaids. But if you scroll through your news feed, you may notice that there’s a new creature gaining popularity on the gram: Llamas. That’s right. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of alpaca and llama-related things pop up all over the place. In fact, I’m almost certain that llamas are the new unicorns of 2018.

I happen to have a low-key obsession with llamas. I know, that sounds kind of weird. But as a kid, one of my favorite  movies was The Emperor’s New Groove and I’ve been a huge fan of these quirky creatures ever since then. Apparently, I’m not the only person who has a love for llamas. I recently came across a photo of a llama-themed birthday cake, and  I instantly knew that I had to jump on the llama baking bandwagon.

Say “hello” to these adorable llama cupcakes.

Have you ever seen a cupcake that’s as cute as this? Since llamas tend to put me in a pretty fantastic mood and all, I also decided to add a fun little twist to my cupcakes by hiding a festive surprise inside of them. Spoiler alert: they’re filled with pretty pastel sprinkles!

To make these little fellas I used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe adapted from Little Sweet Baker. I think this might be my new go-to recipe for vanilla cupcakes. They have a soft, fluffy texture that’s moist and packed full of sweet, buttery flavor.

Seriously, it’s dangerous to bake these bad boys when you’re on a diet (like I am right now), because they’re downright irresistible. Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, it’s time to fill them with confetti.

It’s pretty easy. All you have to do is use a knife to cut a little circle in the center of the cupcake, then fill it with sprinkles. On a side note, It’s important to cut the hole on a bit of an angle (think cone-shaped), in order to get the tops to fit back on the cupcakes properly.

For the filling, I just mixed star-shaped confetti sprinkles with a few different pastel-colored nonpareils. But you can use any type of sprinkles or candies to fill your cupcakes. Once the cupcakes are filled, just place the tops back. Don’t worry if you can see the outline of the hole. You’re going to frost over the whole thing to hide any evidence of the sprinkle surprise inside.

For these cupcakes, I used a vanilla buttercream frosting. I piped the frosting onto each cupcake, then used a spatula to smooth it out. Then, I piped a line around the edges of the cupcakes, moving the tip in a circular motion, to create a fuzzy, fur like texture on the frosting.

Once the cupcakes are frosted, it’s time to get to work on those llama features by shaping mouths and ears out of white fondant. Don’t forget to outline the mouth of each llama using an edible marker and paint pink accents onto the ears using food coloring gel mixed with alcohol.

Then, it’s time to bring your llama to life by assembling the fondant features on the frosted cupcakes. After the fondant is in place, go over the mouth in black icing and pipe on some eyes. Then, use a small amount of the food coloring to give the llamas rosy pink cheeks.

Next, use a star tip to pipe on a few tufts of fur in between each llama’s ears. Last but not least, jazz up those little llama hairdo’s with a few white nonpareils and that’s it. You’re done!

These llama-tactic cupcakes are easy, adorable and delicious. Check out the full recipe below.

Confetti-Filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Takes approximately 40 minutes. Yields 12 cupcakes. 

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Sprinkles (for filling)

Vanilla Buttercream Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Decorating Ingredients: 

• White fondant
• black icing
• Pink gel food coloring

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Melt butter in the microwave, then set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cooled melted butter and sugar. Stir in the egg, almond milk, yogurt and vanilla.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until the batter appears smooth and even.
6. Pour batter into lined muffin tins, filling each one 2/3 full with batter.
7. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and set aside to cool.
9. To make the vanilla buttercream, use a stand mixer or hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar together.
10. Add salt, followed by almond milk and vanilla. Beat for 4-5 minutes until frosting appears smooth and fluffy.
11. Once the cupcakes are cool, cut a cone-shaped hole into the top of each cupcake.
12. Carefully remove the top, fill with sprinkles, and place top back on cupcake.
13. Use a spatula to frost the cupcakes with buttercream icing. Set aside.
14. Using white fondant, create round mouth shapes and half-circle ear shapes for the llamas.
15. Outline the llama mouths with an edible food pen. Add pink accents to the llama ears using pink gel food coloring mixed with alcohol.
16. Assemble you llama by adding the fondant features to the cupcakes.
17. Go over the mouth with black icing and pipe on the eyes. Brush a small amount of the pink food coloring solution onto the llamas cheeks.
18. Using a star tip, pipe vanilla buttercream in between ears to create tufts of “fur.” Then decorate fur with white nonpareils.
19. Serve and enjoy!