Easy Cupcakes

For this little lion, all you need are candies — no special tips or tubes required. If you don’t have these exact candies, just pick something you do have.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted a deep yellow; chocolate sprinkles (mane); 2 large Wilton sprinkles (cheeks); 2 small white candies (eyes); brown mini M&M (nose); pink gel icing (mouth); 2 candy corns (ears); black food-safe pen.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle chocolate sprinkles around the entire edge of the cupcake for mane. Use black food-safe pen to write pupil on white candy eyes. Add candies to make face as shown.

Toasted coconut provides the perfect texture for this lion cupcake. Make some for your next zoo or jungle party!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; shredded coconut; 2 large yellow M&Ms; small pink candy; 2 brown mini M&Ms; black string licorice; scissors or knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Toast coconut (5-10 minutes in 350-degree oven). Once cooled, sprinkled coconut around perimeter of cupcake for mane. Add candy muzzle, nose and eyes. Cut licorice into four equal lengths for whiskers.

The standout feature of these cute lion cupcakes is in the mane. You’ll need a star tip (#22 is good), but making the mane is easy.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting (I used Pillsbury Spring frosting in a can); pastry bag and metal star tip, or use icing in a tube; 1 light pink and 2 dark pink jelly beans; chocolate sprinkles; 2 small green candies (these are by CakeMate, in the grocery store’s cake decorating section.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use star tip to pipe long stars around the edge of the cupcake, and then repeat farther inward on the cupcake. Don’t stop squeezing as you pull away, so the ends of the stars will have pointy tips. Place pink nose, green eyes and 4 chocolate sprinkles for face. Add 2 dark pink jelly beans for ears.

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.

All you need to top this easy lion cupcake is caramel corn, mini M&Ms and a tube of black writing or gel icing. These would be great for a jungle party or other kid event.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted deep yellow; caramel popcorn; 2 blue mini M&Ms; black writing icing or gel icing in a tube.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. (You should do the eyes, nose and mouth first so you don’t have to reach around the mane). Place 2 blue mini M&Ms, writing side down, for eyes. Use tube icing to draw nose and mouth (muzzle). Add caramel corn in a circle around the cupcake for mane.

These cupcakes are something to roar about: super easy and fun for kids, too.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); icing tinted yellow; yellow mini marshmallows; black licorice with candy coating; chocolate chip; 2 blue M&Ms.
How to Make It: Frost cupcake yellow. Place marshmallows around edge of cupcake. Add M&Ms for eyes and cupcake for nose. Arrange licorice for mouth.