Easy Cupcakes

Purple spider cupcake

Not all spider cupcakes have to have black spiders. Purple ones are great for Halloween, too, or any occasion.

What You Need: 1 cupcake, orange frosting (we just used Pillsbury’s Halloween frosting already tinted); purple gumdrop; purple and black gel icing in tube (we used CakeMate); 2 candy eyes (optional); toothpick.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use black gel in tube to “draw” three circles, one inside the other. Drag toothpick through gel, starting at the center, at several points to form web. (Wipe toothpick clean in between). Squish gumdrop a bit to make it flatter. Use gel to attach eyes and place in center of web. Use purple gel to draw legs.

Gravestone cupcake

Halloween is coming, and so are the ghosts and ghouls, rising up from the graveyard to bring you … cupcakes? Turn a chocolate-covered graham cracker into a gravestone with “R.I.P,” a party guest’s name or anything else you can fit on with writing icing.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; chocolate covered graham crackers; shredded coconut tinted green with food coloring (for grass); candy rocks. (You could also include a mellowcreme pumpkin).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake generously. Holding graham cracker vertically, use white writing icing in a tube or pastry bag to write “R.I.P.” or whatever you’d like. Insert cracker in frosting. Place tinted coconut and candy rocks around tombstone.

There’s gum on this cupcake, and we don’t mean gum paste! (Sorry, cake decorating joke). Gum from a roll makes the wrapping on this not-so-scary mummy.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; white or light green rolled gum; two blue M&Ms.
Make That Cupcake!: Frost cupcake white. Unroll section of gum. (Our gum was wider than we liked, so we used scissors to cut it in half lengthwise). Cut gum into various lengths and lay over top of cupcake, leaving space for 2 M&M eyes. You can lay the gum in longer-than-needed strips and trim with scissors while on the cupcake if you’d like. Add eyes and there you have it!

The moon on this cupcake, which is perfect for Halloween, is actually a banana candy!

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); chocolate frosting; Junior Mint; brown M&M; bit of black licorice (for tail); black writing icing or gel and Runts banana candy.
Make That Cupcake!: Frost cupcake. Position Junior Mint as cat body and M&M as head. Use writing icing to draw triangle ears. Add black licorice for tail (or you could just draw the tail). Add banana moon and there you go! A fun cat for Halloween or anytime.

Want to make friendly spider cupcakes for Halloween or another occasion? How about mean ones with evil fangs? Well, you can make both!


What You Need: 2 cupcakes (baked and cooled); chocolate frosting; red and black licorice strings; mini Oreo cookie; 4 cinnamon imperial (”red hot”) candies; 2 Tic Tac mints.
Make Those Cupcakes!: Frost both cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Cut licorice into 8 lengths for each cupcake and stick into cupcake to form legs. For friendly spider, place mini Oreo near front of cupcake for head. Use dab of icing to adhere 2 red hot eyes and a bit of licorice for smiling mouth. For mean spider, use 2 red hots for eyes and cut small stands of black licorice for frowning eyebrows. Add 2 Tic Tacs for fangs. These would also be great for a kids’ bug-themed party.

The trick to these Halloween werewolf cupcakes is to make sure the frosting looks nice and “furry” by pulling upward with your knife or spatula several times to form peaks.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); chocolate frosting; 4 candy corn pieces; 1 red jellybean; 2 yellow M&Ms; candy eyes (or use candy dots or just a dab of black writing icing).
Make That Cupcake!: Frost cupcake generously, and pull upward with knife or spatula to form fur-like peaks. Add 4 candy corns for teeth, a red jellybean nose, 2 upside-down yellow M&Ms for eyes and then use a tiny dab of icing to attach a candy eye or candy dots (the kind that come on a strip of paper) or just a little dot of writing icing. It’s howling good fun!

This Jack o’ lantern cupcake comes with his own handle! But don’t try to pick him up; it’s just licorice.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white or off-white frosting; orange food coloring (paste or mix red and yellow liquid food coloring); 2 candy corns; 1 orange M&M; candy orange slice; length of black licorice.
Make That Cupcake!: Tint icing orange and frost cupcake. Add candy corn eyes, M&M nose and candy orange mouth. Poke ends of licorice string into cupcake for “handle.”