Easy Cupcakes

These Christmas cupcakes are understated enough for a classy holiday event, yet fun for a more-casual party. Eat them the day you make them, or the red from the cinnamon imperials might “run.”

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; cinnamon imperials (“red hots”); green leaf-shaped sprinkles (they don’t have to be ivy; we used maple leaf shapes).
Make That Cupcake!: Frost cupcake white. You can go for a flat or a fluffy appearance. Randomly place red hots on cupcakes. Add one or two green leaves at edges of red hots.

These cute fish cupcakes owe their open mouths to O-shaped Life Savers candies!

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white or off-white frosting; orange paste-style food coloring or red and yellow liquid food coloring; 3 mini candied orange slices; two blue M&Ms; 1 Life Saver.
Make That Cupcake!: Tint frosting orange (or actually any color you’d like your fish to be). Add three candied orange slices at sides and back of cupcake for fins and tail. Add blue M&Ms (upside down) for eyes and Life Saver candy for mouth. Create a whole school of these fish for a swim party!

These fast frogs come together thanks to gumdrops, red hot candies and cut-up fruit roll tongue.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white or off-white frosting; liquid or paste green food coloring; two green gumdrops; 2 cinnamon imperials (“red hots”), red fruit roll (We used Fruit by the Foot).
Make That Cupcake!: Tint frosting green and frost cupcake. Use dab of icing to stick red hots to front of gumdrops and place on cupcake for eyes. Cut notch in fruit roll for tongue shape and stick to front of cupcake for tongue. You can make a bunch of frogs, all with different tongue lengths!

Quick and fun for kids to make, these dinosaur cupcakes get a fun and edible twist thanks to colored coconut flakes “grass” and candy “rocks.” Just don’t eat the plastic dino!

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white or off-white frosting; green liquid food coloring; coconut flakes; candy rocks (get them cheap in the bulk food aisle); and plastic dinosaur.
Make That Cupcake!: Tint frosting green and frost cupcakes. Use liquid green food coloring to dye coconut flakes in a bowl or bag (it doesn’t have to be perfect; variations look like natural grass). Sprinkle coconut flakes on cupcake. Place dinosaur on top of cupcake, sinking in feet if needed. Add candy rocks. Roar!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and for the local scrapbooking “Crop for a Cure” event, easycupcakes.com made a batch of these pink ribbon cupcakes. We even found pink ribbon cupcake liners, made by Fox Run. Don’t worry if you don’t get the ribbon “just right.” It’s all for charity!

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; red paste or liquid food coloring; pastry bag and coupler; icing tip #104.
Make That Cupcake!: Frost cupcakes using white icing. Tint reserved white icing pink. Using coupler, attach tip #104 to pastry bag. Fill bag halfway with pink icing, squeeze out air and twist top closed. With the narrow end of the tip facing you, hold the bag at a 90- or 45-degree angle (depending on the “look” you want) and, in one motion, “draw” ribbon shape. Stop squeezing before you lift the tip up, and be sure to wipe the tip off between cupcakes.

The secret to these cute cupcakes are those little candy dots that come on a strip of paper. (Necco Candy Buttons) You could make a whole bunch with various colors of butterflies.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; candy dots; mini sugar-coated fruit slices; black licorice laces.
Make That Cupcake! Frost cupcake. Place two fruit slices with round sides together and a small space between them. Cut two small lengths of licorice laces and place in middle for antennae. Peel candy dots off paper and place randomly all over cupcake.