Easy Cupcakes

All you need are candies for these cute and quick panda bear cupcakes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 2 black (licorice) Necco wafers; 2 black M&Ms; 2 white jellybeans; 1 black jellybean; bit of red string licorice.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place M&Ms near top for ears. Use dab of icing to attach white jellybeans to Necco wafers for eyes. Add black jellybean nose and licorice mouth.

Here’s a pig cupcake with a nice, big snout. All of the decorations are candies, so no need for pastry bags, tips or piping!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting; 1 pink Mentos; 2 black or dark brown M&Ms; 2 pink Jordan almonds or candy-coated chocolate eggs; 2 brown mini M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Stick Jordan almonds near top of cupcake for ears. Use dab of icing to attach 2 mini M&Ms to Mentos for snout and place in center of cupcake. Add M&M eyes.

This sweet cat cupcake gets its furry appeal from shaved coconut. The ears are marshmallows! You could also tint the coconut and make other colors of kitties — even calico!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; shaved coconut; marshmallow; 2 blue mini M&Ms; chocolate sprinkles; pink jellybean; kitchen shears or scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with coconut. Cut marshmallow in half, width-wise. Pinch one piece slightly to make point at end. Trim part of wide end off so the ear is shorter and more triangular. Dip sticky side in chocolate sprinkles. Repeat for other marshmallow half and place both ears near top of cupcake as shown. Add M&M eyes and jellybean nose. Select six longish chocolate sprinkles and place three on each side of nose for whiskers.

No, not cupcakes made with chicken. A cupcake of a chicken. Enjoy them at a farm-themed party or anytime.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 2 red Swedish fish; 2 black (or brown, or blue) M&Ms; candied orange slice; kitchen shears or knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut tails and heads off Swedish fish (it won’t hurt them). Stick head into frosting at center top of head and put the tails, which are smaller, on either side. Cut triangle shape from orange candy for beak and place near center of cupcake. Place M&Ms, upside down, directly above beak.

Summertime, wintertime or anytime is right for polar bear cupcakes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; shaved coconut; blackberry-shaped gummi candy (or other black candy); 2 mini marshmallows; 2 blue mini M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with coconut. Add eyes, ears and nose. That’s it!

Arbor Day is coming up (in 2009 it’s April 24), and after you plant a tree you can plant an apple tree cupcake in your belly. Also great for Earth Day, Johnny Appleseed celebrations or anytime, these cupcakes are easy and fun.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; light green frosting; green gel icing in tube; red mini M&Ms. (You could use red hots instead, but the colors tend to run after awhile.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Draw tree shape using gel icing. Add upside-down M&Ms for apples on the tree and ground.

Already-pink frosting and candies makes these pink kitty cupcakes extra easy.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting (strawberry and other pink-tinted frosting is sold in the can in the baking aisle, or use dye); 4 candy-coated licorice pieces; 2 brown mini M&Ms; 1 heart-shaped pink candy (ours is a Runt); 2 sour grapefruit slices.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add candies as shown for eyes, nose, whiskers and ears. There’s your kitty!