Easy Cupcakes

This rattle cupcake, perfect for a baby shower, is a variation of a design seen in a Betty Crocker publication. Change colors and candies for a less feminine look, or for variety. These rattles would also be cute with a baby’s name written on them in icing.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting; lollipop stick; large yellow gumdrop; 5 small gummy candies; 5 purple candy-covered sunflower seeds; 1 small white candy; 1 white jellybean; length of pink gingham ribbon.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Insert lollipop stick into one side of cupcake, piercing through the wrapper. Stick other end into rounded part of gumdrop. Decorate with candies as shown, or use your imagination!

This happy green turtle cupcake is topped with tasty Tootsie Rolls and chocolate-covered raisins. Wearing plastic gloves, you can mold Tootsie Rolls, caramels, Starbursts, Airheads and other candies into all kinds of fun shapes. This design is similar to one I saw in a Betty Crocker publication.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted green; chocolate-covered raisins such as Raisinets; Tootsie Rolls (any size); toothpick.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Add 6 to 10 Raisinets to top for turtle shell “spots.” Wearing gloves, shape chunks of Tootsie roll into four legs, a tail and a head. Use toothpick to draw eyes and a mouth. Add to cupcake.

Mmmm… What could be more delicious than a chocolate monkey cupcake? Certainly not monkey brains; that’s gross. Seriously, though, kids can easily make these pretty primates.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; black writing icing; 2 chocolate candy “melts”; 2 brown mini M&Ms or other brown candy such as Raisinettes; chocolate sprinkles.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Position chocolate melts as ears on left and right side. Sprinkle chocolate jimmies near top for “hair.” Using writing icing in a tube to draw nostrils and mouth. Add chocolate eyes.

Here’s a cute little white mouse cupcake for any party, Christmas time, etc. Make a bunch of mice in different colors! The fuzzy look comes from “pulling” the frosting up with the edge of a butter knife or spatula. Also, get your melts from the supermarket bulk bin to save money while buying only what you need.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 2 white chocolate “melts”; 2 mini chocolate chips; pink jelly bean or other pink candy; black string licorice.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake with a thick layer of white icing (canned is fine). Use a butter knife or spatula edge and press lightly onto frosting and then pull up to create little peaks for a fuzzy appearance. Add wafer candies for ears as well as candy eyes and nose. Stick one end of licorice into back of mouse for tail.

For Easter or anything, these bright pink bunny cupcakes will be a hit with the kids.

What You Need: cupcake; pink frosting (strawberry in a can works well); 1 pink Mentos candy; 2 mini marshmallows; 2 pink Jordan almonds; 2 mini chocolate chips; 2 Tic Tacs.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Frost 3 sides of each mini marshmallow and place on cupcake for bunny cheeks. Add Mentos nose, Tic Tac teeth, mini chocolate chip eyes, and 2 Jordan almond ears.

Make the ears less pointy, and it’s a lamb! I modified this idea from a magazine. So cute for Easter.

What You need: cupcake; white frosting; mini marshmallows; 1 large marshmallow; 2 1/2 pink Jelly Belly jelly beans; 2 mini chocolate chips; kitchen shears.

How to Make it: Cut large marshmallow in half widthwise, pinch to form points, and add jelly beans to the sticky sides. Place near top for ears. Arrange mini marshmallows to form rabbit fur. Cut jellybean in half and place for nose. Add two mini chocolate chips for eyes.

You can get quite creative with this idea: decorate a chocolate candy Easter egg and place it upon a next of coconut grass.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; shredded coconut tinted green with food coloring; unwrapped flat-bottomed chocolate egg (found this one, wrapped in foil, by Russell Stover in my grocery store’s bulk foods section); various writing gels and other decorations.

How to Make It: Use gel or liquid food coloring to tint coconut green (a plastic zip-close bag works well for this). Sprinkle on cupcake. Unwrap chocolate. Use writing icing, candy confetti, and other edible treats to decorate your egg just how you like it. Place on top of cupcake.