Easy Cupcakes

I got this Easter cupcake idea from the Reynolds company’s Web site (Besides foil, they make cupcake liners). Try it with carrot cake!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white (or cream cheese) frosting; 6 orange jelly beans; shredded coconut; green food coloring.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. In bowl or cup, use food coloring to tint coconut green. Arrange jellybeans in triangle shape to form carrot. Sprinkle coconut at the wide top for leaves.

Use jellybeans and a round candy to arrange a spring flower and finish it off with piped leaves.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; green frosting; 6 yellow (or any color) jellybeans; 1 orange (or any color) candy for center (I used a Runt); pastry bag and leaf tip, or tubed icing with leaf tip.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Arrange 6 jellybeans around center candy to form flower shape. Add green leaves.

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.

Whether you’re making Easter cupcakes or anytime carrot cake cupcakes, candy-covered sunflower seeds make for cute, quick “carrots.” Add some leaves and you’re ready for the Easter Bunny!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; orange candy-covered sunflower seeds; icing tinted green or gel or writing icing in a tube; #3 metal tip with pastry bag and coupler (or just use tubed icing).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Place candy-covered sunflower seeds all over the top. The pointy ends are the tips of the carrots. Add bit of green icing to wide end of each seed to make carrot.

Planning a rubber duck themed baby shower? Place candy ducks in the center of a frosted cupcake and surround the cupcake with stars, made simple with icing in a tube or aerosol can.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white frosting; candy rubber ducks (I get mine from Kake Kreations in Canoga Park, California, which also offers mail order); orange icing in a tube or aerosol can; star tip. I also used ducky cupcake liners from Wilton.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use tubed icing and star tip to pipe stars all around the cupcake. Place cupcake in center. Of course, you can make baby shower cupcakes in any color or to match other candy designs.

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.