Easy Cupcakes

Easy zigzag Christmas tree

Here are some super-easy Christmas tree cupcakes with no decorating bag or tips required! Just buy green icing in a tube!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; green gel or writing icing in tube; Christmas sprinkles; large yellow star sprinkle (this one is from Wilton.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use green writing icing to draw zigzag pattern shaped like a tree (skinny on top, wide on the bottom.) You can add a trunk or leave it abstract. Place star confetti on top and sprinkle with sprinkles.

Patriotic flower cupcake

For Election Day, Fourth of July or any patriotic occasion, these red, white and blue flower cupcakes add prettiness to the party.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; blue candy-covered sunflower seeds; red hot candies (cinnamon imperials).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Arrange blue sunflower seeds, point facing inward, around red hots.

Election Day flag cupcake

Planning an election night party? Or, perhaps you’re reading this post after the Nov. 4, 2008 presidential election and want to decorate cupcakes for the Fourth of July or another patriotic event. This flag cupcakes fit the bill! Whether you’re for Obama, McCain or even Nadar, there’s one thing we can all agree on: Cupcakes are yummy.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted red (use no-taste red paste food coloring if you can); icing in aerosol can such as Betty Crocker‘s (or use pastry bag and ribbon tip); large blue confetti stars.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake red. Attach ribbon tip to icing can and draw stripes across the cupcake, leaving a square at the top left area for the stars. Add blue stars.