Easy Cupcakes

It’s 105 degrees where I live, so the thought of the beach sounds refreshing. I’d even go for a tropical island, if it came with a cool ocean breeze. These cupcakes are perfect for a beach party, Hawaiian luau or birthday party.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white frosting; toast coconut flakes; 2 banana candies (such as Runts); black food-safe marker; paper umbrella.

How to Make Them: Toast coconut by spreading on cookie sheet and baking in 350-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes (be careful not to overcook!). Let cool. Frost cupcake. Use black food-safe marker to draw black lines and spots on bananas (optional). Sprinkle cupcake with coconut. Add bananas and umbrella.

Use food-safe pens to draw the spots on these M&M ladybugs and place them on piped grass!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted green; pastry bag and metal tip #233; large red M&Ms (such as mint or peanut butter variety); black food-safe pen.

How to Make It: Lightly frost cupcake green (optional). Use pastry bag and metal tip to pipe a lot of green grass. Use pen to draw dots and half-circle on M&Ms for ladybugs. Place ladybugs on grass.

Make a cute bear with a few candies and some Cocoa Puffs cereal!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; 2 black M&Ms; 1 blackberry candy; 6 Cocoa Puffs.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Arrange 3 Cocoa Puffs on each side of top of cupcake for ears. Add M&M eyes and berry nose.

So simple, yet they still make a statement. Turn the mouth up more for a more-traditional smiley, or even include sad faces if you’re so inclined.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; black M&Ms; black licorice strings (or black writing icing).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add eyes and mouth. That’s it!

Have a sports fan in the household? Foil-wrapped chocolate balls make for quick, easy cupcakes whether you’re into soccer, football, basketball or baseball. Also great for team sports events.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; chocolate sprinkles; foil-wrapped chocolate sports balls.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add chocolate sprinkles. Stack foil-wrapped balls, using frosting to stick together if necessary.

For any summer party, including Fourth of July festivities, consider these easy, somewhat abstract watermelon cupcakes. The “seeds” are chocolate sprinkles!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green cupcake liner; frosting tinted green; white frosting; red sugar sprinkles; chocolate sprinkles.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Drop and spread a dollop of white frosting to about half an inch from the edge. Sprinkle with red sugar, almost to edge of white. Add chocolate sprinkles for watermelon seeds.

With a 1M swirl tip and star sprinkles, you can make a simple yet pretty cupcake for the Fourth of July! With this technique, it’s easy to make a lot of cupcakes quickly.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white icing (if you like this look – shorter and softer – using canned Fluffy style icing and room temperature); star sprinkles; 1M swirl metal tip and pastry bag.

How to Make It: With 1M tip, apply icing in a circular motion, working inward and upward. Sprinkle with stars.