Easy Cupcakes

Do you have candy hearts left over from Valentine’s Day? Use the green ones to make shamrocks for your St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes! (And if you bought an extra can of green frosting at Christmastime, you’re ahead of the game.)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white frosting; 3 candy hearts (Necco, etc.) or four if you want a four-leaf clover; green writing icing with round metal tip or icing in tube; rainbow sprinkles.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Arrange hearts in clover shape. Use green icing to “draw” a stem (optional). Sprinkle rim with rainbow sprinkles.

For St. Patrick’s Day or anytime you need a bit of good luck, make these easy cupcakes with Lucky Charms cereal on top. They’re magically delicious!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; marshmallow shapes from Lucky Charms cereal.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add Lucky Charms cereal. that’s it!

Planning a party for St. Paddy’s Day? Or just taking cupcakes to your kid’s school? Personalize them by writing guests’ or students’ names on each one.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; green frosting; pastry bag with couplers and metal tips #5 and #2 or #3. (You could get by with just #3, or icing premade in a tube).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Using pastry bag and #5 metal tip, make three circles to form shamrock in upper left area of cupcake. Switch to #3 or #2 tip and pipe shamrock stem and name.

Use two shades of green to make these St. Patrick’s Day shamrock cupcakes stand out. For a lucky variation, make four-leaf clovers instead!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; shredded coconut; green food coloring (liquid dye or paste); pastry bag with coupler and #5 metal tip.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Tint shredded coconut green and sprinkle on top of cupcake. Use pastry bag and metal tip to pipe 3 (or 4) flat circles, plus a stem, to make a clover.

Take a teddy bear and get him wearing the green! Voila, St. Patrick’s Day cupcake.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; chocolate frosting; 1 red hot candy (round); 2 red hot candies (heart shaped); 6 green mini M&Ms; 2 candy eyes or small white candies; pastry bag with coupler and #5 and #2 metal tips.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Use chocolate icing and pastry bag with round #5 tip to pipe a bear face, muzzle and two ears. Add eyes and red nose. Place 2 heart-shaped red hots with points facing to form bow tie. Arrange 3 green mini M&Ms in two areas to form shamrocks. Use #2 metal tip to add chocolate stem.

Sometimes, simplest is best. Especially when there’s a last-minute call for cupcakes for the school St. Patrick’s Day party, or for the after-work party where everyone’s bound to be a little tipsy anyway. These green jellybean cupcakes add sparkle without taking much time. The St. Pat’s liners are a nice touch, and available from Wilton.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green icing (I used Pillsbury’s holiday frosting); green sugar or sprinkles; green jellybeans (or go smaller with Jelly Bellys).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with or dip in green sugar. Add jelly beans.

You can make great St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes without any fancy fondant or funky tools other than a small, heart-shaped cutter. The secret is gumdrops. (However, we do have easy tips on fondant clover cupcakes, too.)
What You Need: 1 cupcake; white icing; a few large green gumdrops or spice drops; rolling pin or glass; small, heart-shaped cookie cutter; scissors or kitchen shears; a bit of flour or powdered (confectioner’s) sugar.
How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Flatten gumdrop to about one-quarter inch in height by rolling them with a rolling pin or the edge of a glass. Put a little flour or powdered sugar on the surface and roller if the gumdrops stick too much. Dip heart cutter in flour or powdered sugar to keep it from sticking and cut out 3 heart shapes. Use scissors, knife or spatula to cut small stem for clover. Arrange parts on cupcake.