Easy Cupcakes

Sure, you can just use colorful gummy worms to make tasty and gross cupcakes. But there’s something about a realistic candy earthworm that adds that extra “ew” factor. It even has a segment. I used Gummy Earthworms Candy by Gummies of All Shapes, made by the Iowa-based Foreign Candy Company.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; crumbled sandwich cookies (such as Oreo); candy rocks; gummy worm.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Crush cookies (a plastic bag works great) and sprinkle on top of cupcake. Add rocks and worm. Yum!

A chocolate Twizzler makes a great tree! Whip up a forest of these autumn trees quickly for Thanksgiving or any fall festivities.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; chocolate Twizzler licorice; candy-coated sunflower seeds; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut length of Twizzler to slightly shorter than width of the cupcake. Use scissors to cut about four “branches” one-half to two-thirds of the way through the Twizzler. (It’s hollow.) Spread branches apart and place on cupcake. Sprinkle and/or place sunflower seeds on tree and ground for leaves.

These yummy acorn cupcakes are a variation of a design I saw in Woman’s World magazine. (You could also use a molded Tootsie Roll to form the nut.)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; chocolate sprinkles; Hershey’s Kiss; 1 caramel; toothpick.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake and add chocolate sprinkles around edge. Using clean or gloved hands, mold caramel into the shape of an acorn cap. Press onto wide end of Kiss. Use toothpick to press crosshatch pattern into caramel.

Celebrate fall with these easy cupcakes that pair an edible rake with falling leaves. They’re great for harvest festivals and other autumn events.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; stick pretzel; chocolate Twizzler; leaf-shaped sprinkles (such as by Wilton); scissors or kitchen shears.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Break about one-quarter of the pretzel stick off and discard (or eat). Cut about a 1-inch length of Twizzler. Insert scissors into Twizzler (it’s hollow) and make about six cuts around, about two-thirds up. Poke broken end of pretzel into intact end of Twizzler and fan out ends to look like a broom. Place on cupcake. Add leaves to “ground” and “air.”

This acorn cupcake idea was first seen in the hit book Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make. I made some for my kid’s autumn-themed bake sale and they were a big hit. They’d be great for Thanksgiving, a nut (or Nutella!) cupcake recipe or any fall festivity.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white frosting; chocolate frosting; 2 Hershey’s kisses; 2 mini Nilla Wafers; pastry bag and round tip (No. 2 or 3, or just use premade icing in a tube or bag).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Use bit of chocolate frosting to attach mini vanilla wafer cookie to base of unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss. Use pastry bag or tube to add chocolate “stem” to wafer.

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.

February 21, 2008 is the night of a total lunar eclipse, and if you’re planning a big eclipse party, these cupcakes will surely “eclipse” all the other treats. If you’re reading this post-eclipse, not to worry. These cupcakes would be great for any sky-themed or solstice party. And don’t limit yourself to the shape shown. You could do a whole cupcake series featuring the phases of the moon.
What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; blue sugar sprinkles (or just use blue-tinted or chocolate frosting); yellow fondant, rolling pin; circle-shaped cutter; spatula or other tool to cut moon shape.
How to Make It: Frost cupcake and add sprinkles. Roll out yellow fondant. Cut out circle. Then use circle cutter or spatula to cut out part of the moon. If you don’t have fondant, try rolling out a yellow gumdrop or use fruit rolls.