Queen of Heaven Cupcakes Recipe
Looking for a fun way to celebrate the Nativity of the Theotokos with your children? These Queen of Heaven cupcakes are a simple and festive Orthodox feast day recipe that our family has enjoyed making for several years. The Nativity of the Theotokos is celebrated by Orthodox Christians on September 8, commemorating the birth of the Virgin Mary. I always love finding a food connection to the feast days of the Orthodox Church because food has a special way of opening our hearts, bringing our families together, and helping anchor our traditions. As Americans, we usually celebrate birthdays with cake or cupcakes, so we thought it would be a fun way to help our children remember the birth of the Theotokos by celebrating her “birthday” with these Queen of Heaven cupcakes, decorated with blue frosting and adorned with star sprinkles. They make a simple and meaningful addition to your family’s feast day traditions.
Scroll for Recipe
Queen of Heaven Cupcakes
For the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, make these cupcakes! A fun way to help children remember this feast is by celebrating the Theotokos' “birthday” with cupcakes! Adorned with blue frosting, the liturgical color for any feast, and add some star sprinkles or cupcake toppers. It is said that her womb was more "spacious than the heavens."
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, line cupcake pan with liners.
- Cream sugar and butter together in a mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
- Combine flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Add milk and stir until smooth.
- Pour batter into cupcake liners about 3/4 full.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the top springs back when lightly touched, about 18-22 mins
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting
- Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy.
- Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until fully incorporated. Add vanilla.
- Add milk and beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add food coloring, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached.
- (Optional) top with star sprinkles and crowns (linked below)
I should say, this idea of Queen of Heaven cupcakes was originally was shared by my friend Caitlyn of Geraldine and Virginia (@geraldineandvirginia) many years ago and it has become a family tradition for us each year on the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8th), and it is one that my children always look forward to.
Shop My Links
Amazon links:
Check out this video with Patristic Nectar Family
Each year we bring this tradition to the Parish, for the Potluck after the Divine Liturgy!
Final thoughts:
As a mom of small children, I love incorporating traditions in my home that anchor us more deeply in the life of the Church. Our time is precious, and very limited, so sprinkling in a few special traditions each year is an attainable goal, but we don’t necessarily do every feast day. As we have grown our family, our participation in the life of the Church has also grown and we begin to follow the seasons, and rhythms of the Church. It becomes seamless and is woven into the fabric of our lives and we look forward to each new season as it comes. To give you an idea, we have been practiced at following the seasons for so many years now, I don’t need a calendar to tell me what’s coming up this fall. We do the same things each year, and each year we look forward to these traditions that help us anchor ourselves deeper and deeper into the Church. So choose one thing, be faithful to do it for a few years, and soon enough it becomes a cherish tradition woven into your lives. The rhythms of the Church begin to take root and bring forth so much life in your home. Start small, and build!
For the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, make Queen of Heaven cupcakes! A fun way to help children remember this feast is by celebrating the Theotokos' “birthday” with cupcakes! Adorned with blue frosting, the liturgical color for her feast, and add some star sprinkles or cupcake toppers. It is said that her womb was more "spacious than the heavens."