Easy Cupcakes

Whether you’re celebrating a great tennis match or gearing up to watch tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, these cupcakes will be a great addition to your party.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted tennis ball green (mix green and yellow); white writing icing or gel.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Pipe U-shaped curve as shown. That’s it!

Making pink ladybugs is especially easy, because you don’t have to try to blend dye into your frosting to make an intense red. Plus, pink ladybugs are cute and girly!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted pink (we used Wilton Aster Mauve paste food coloring); brown mini M&Ms; mini Oreo; red writing icing or gel in tube; black writing icing or gel in tube; candy eyes or white writing icing.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use red icing to pipe mouth on Oreo and attach eyes with dab of frosting. Place on front of cupcake. Use black to pipe line from back of head down center of cupcake. Place M&Ms, upside down, on “body.”

These turtle cupcakes have legs! Well, Junior Mint legs anyway. They’re fun for kids and adults alike.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted green; 5 green M&Ms (any shade that contrasts with the frosting); 4 Junior Mints; 1 green Necco wafer; 2 candy eyes (or use writing icing or mini M&Ms); red writing icing.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add Junior Mint legs and M&M spots. Add eyes and a piped mouth to the Necco wafer and place on cupcake to form turtle head.

All it takes is pastel colored candy corn and M&Ms (available around Easter time, or at specialty shops) to make pretty flower cupcakes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 7 pastel candy corns; 1 pastel M&M.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place M&M upside down in the center of the cupcake. Surround with candy corn, alternating colors, with the white tips facing inward toward the M&M center.

Great for political events, the 4th of July or any patriotic occasion, these fireworks cupcakes are quick and easy to make with just red icing or gel and star-shaped sprinkles.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; red gel or writing icing in tube; large blue star sprinkles (these are by Wilton).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use tube icing to draw six red, curved lines going upward from one edge of the cupcake. Add blue star sprinkle to end of each red line.