Easy Cupcakes

Well, technically speaking, these are Frankenstein’s monster cupcakes. They’re easy to make, with cool marshmallow bolts on his neck. I made them even more quickly thanks to canned frosting that is already tinted green. This is a variation of an idea I saw in a 2003 Halloween issue of Parents magazine.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; black writing icing or gel; red writing gel; 2 mini marshmallows; 2 black or brown M&Ms; toothpicks (optional).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use writing gels to draw nose, mouth, hair and Frankenstein stitches. Add sideways M&Ms for eyes. Use toothpicks to make marshmallow bolts stick out from neck, or just place them directly on the cupcake.

My son had a Harry Potter birthday party, and I whipped up these cupcakes. To make them easier, I went with a design similar to one I’d seen online, where only Harry’s glasses and lightning bolt scar were included. My kid wanted the scar to be red, so I used red gel writing icing.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting tinted “flesh” tone (I added a little Wilton Ivory, but a tiny bit of Copper would also work); red Decorating Gel in a tube; black writing icing or gel (I used Wilton’s Sparkle Gel).

How to Make It: After tinting icing, frost cupcake. Use writing gels to draw glasses and a red scar (which goes on the right side of the boy wizard face — your left). No black magic required.