Easy Cupcakes

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.

These cupcakes are a slight variation of back to school cupcakes recently shown in Family Fun magazine.

Back to school cupcake

The chalkboard is chocolate-covered graham cracker! I’m thinking of making a batch for my son’s preschool potluck. Instead of ABC you could write students’ names, school name, etc.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted yellow; chocolate-covered graham cracker (we used Keebler); white Good ‘n Plenty candy or Tic Tac; small red candy for apple (we used Runts); white writing icing in tube or pastry bag.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake with yellow icing. Holding chocolate-covered graham cracker horizontally, write ABC (or whatever you’d like) using writing icing. Stick on top of cupcake. Add Good ‘n Plenty for chalk and candy “apple.”

Monkey cupcake

I made several dozen monkey cupcakes for my son’s first birthday party three years ago. They come together very fast; the hardest part is cutting the Nilla wafers in half, but even that’s not so bad.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; Nilla wafers; blue M&Ms; Necco wafers (I used black but I think pink is a little cuter); black and red writing icing or gel (or icing in pastry bag or plastic bag); knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use butter knife or other tool to cut Nilla wafer in half for muzzle. Before placing it on the cupcake, pipe red mouth and black nostrils. Place on cupcake. Add 2 blue M&Ms, M side down, for eyes. Insert Necco wafers at an angle for ears.

Chick cupcake

There’s a whole flock of potential uses for these baby chick cupcakes: “chick flick” night, Easter, a farm party–the list goes on and on.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted yellow; 1 candy corn; 2 candy eyes (or use M&Ms or piping gel).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add candy eyes and candy corn for beak. That’s it!

Lion cupcake with licorice mane

This lion looks a little goofy but kids will love sticking in the pieces of the licorice mane.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted yellow; red licorice strings (the stiff kind); 2 Cherrios or other O-shaped cereal; 2 blue mini M&Ms; red candy such as Runts; red writing icing or gel in tube, pastry bag or sandwich bag with tip cut off; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place candy in center for nose. Add blue eyes (with Ms facing down). Draw red mouth using writing icing or gel. Cut licorice in various lengths and poke around edges of cupcake for mane. Add 2 Cheerios for ears.

Red, white and blue cupcakes

Want to make cupcakes for Fourth of July, Election Day or the Barack Obama or John McCain running mate announcement? Keep it simple with these quick cupcakes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; blue fine sugar; red coarse sugar; red star-shaped confetti; red hot cinnamon imperials candies. (Vary as desired, based on what you have on hand.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with blue sugar and then a little red sugar. Add star to center and red hots around the perimeter.

Pink pig cupcake

Whether you’re planning a farm themed party or just pigging out, these cupcakes will keep you in the pink.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted pink; 4 candy-coated licorice pieces (such as Good & Plenty); 2 brown mini M&Ms; circle-shaped fruit roll (such as Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-Ups Stackerz); black writing icing or gel in tube.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake pink. Arrange licorice pieces in 2 triangle shapes for ears. Add M&M eyes. Make 2 nostrils on fruit circle using black writing icing. Place on cupcake for nose.