Easy Cupcakes

Add the look of “Indian” corn to your harvest table with these easy Thanksgiving cupcakes that look like an ear of dried corn.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; green sprinkles; assorted fall color Jelly Belly jelly beans; paper and scissors to make a template.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut a wedge shape from scrap paper to use as a template or “mask” and set it on the cupcake as you sprinkle the rest of the cupcake, forming a corn husk shape. Then remove paper and arrange jelly beans, either skinny side up (like this) or the other way.

It’s 105 degrees where I live, so the thought of the beach sounds refreshing. I’d even go for a tropical island, if it came with a cool ocean breeze. These cupcakes are perfect for a beach party, Hawaiian luau or birthday party.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white frosting; toast coconut flakes; 2 banana candies (such as Runts); black food-safe marker; paper umbrella.

How to Make Them: Toast coconut by spreading on cookie sheet and baking in 350-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes (be careful not to overcook!). Let cool. Frost cupcake. Use black food-safe marker to draw black lines and spots on bananas (optional). Sprinkle cupcake with coconut. Add bananas and umbrella.

For any summer party, including Fourth of July festivities, consider these easy, somewhat abstract watermelon cupcakes. The “seeds” are chocolate sprinkles!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green cupcake liner; frosting tinted green; white frosting; red sugar sprinkles; chocolate sprinkles.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Drop and spread a dollop of white frosting to about half an inch from the edge. Sprinkle with red sugar, almost to edge of white. Add chocolate sprinkles for watermelon seeds.

Cupcakes that look like apples would be a nice treat for the last day of school, or for a favorite teacher (for non-favorite teachers, add a gummy worm).

What You Need: 1 cupcake; icing tinted red; red sugar or sprinkles; candy spearmint leaf; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with red sugar. The spearmint leaf is probably quite thick; use scissors to cut it in half or in thirds (you can use one of the other pieces on a second cupcake.) That’s it!

I made a batch of these cupcakes for my husband’s birthday using carrot cake mix and canned cream cheese frosting. I’m not a fan of carrot cake, but I thought these came out pretty cool, with very little effort.
What You Need: 1 cupcake; cream cheese frosting; icing tinted orange; icing tinted green.
How to Make It: I found a lot of fancy ways to make carrots using pastry bag tips, but it turns out you can make a really cool carrot just using a plastic bag with the corner cut off and “jiggling” it a bit as you draw the carrot. Make the leaves the same way, but cut a smaller hole. If you want to use metal tips, either with a pastry bag or prepackaged tube, try tip #3 for the carrot and #1 or a leaf tip for the leaves.

Of all the things George Washington is remembered for, there’s always that darn cherry tree. Did it really happen? Who cares; any excuse to make cupcakes! Consider adding cherry flavoring or filling to these cupcakes to complete the feeling. You don’t have to wait for Presidents’ Day to make these cupcakes. They’d be great for any cherry themed occasion, from gambling to a kids’ party.
What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; pastry bag and 1M star tip; gummy cherry with stem.
How to Make It: First, make swirl with 1M star tip: While squeezing out icing, move arm in a circular motion and cover the top of the cupcake with a swirl of icing. Then, starting a little bit in from the edge this time, make a second swirl on top of the first one. Add gummy cherry and that’s it!

Did you know you can substitute applesauce for the oil in a cake mix recipe and end up with cupcakes that are lower in fat as well as especially moist? Complete the experience (or take a tongue-in-cheek jab at guests who don’t believe in crazy applesauce substitutions) by decorating your cupcakes like apples.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); icing tinted red; thick pretzel sticks; green icing and pastry bag with leaf tip (or just buy some of those sugared gel candy leaves).
How to Make It: It’s notoriously hard to get a good, deep red when tinting icing. It’s a good idea to use concentrated gel icing (as opposed to liquid drops), and spring for the No-Taste Red in the cake aisle, because red icing can taste funky when you’re using a lot of it. (You could also just go with green apples, or pink “Pink Lady” apples.) Frost cupcake. Break off end of pretzel and stick in cupcake for stem. Pipe green leaf using pastry bag and leaf tip, or simply add candy leaf.