Easy Cupcakes

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.

Turtles may move slowly, but these cupcakes are sure quick to make! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; 2 green sugar-coated fruit gel candies; 6 green M&Ms; black food-safe marker; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use food-safe marker to draw two dots on one gel candy for eyes and place near edge of cupcake. Use scissors to cut other gel into five triangular pieces, with one of the pieces being thinner for the tail. Arrange as pictured. Add M&Ms.

These bear cupcakes are super simple thanks to Nilla Wafers!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white frosting; 2 Nilla Wafers; 1 Junior Mint; 2 black or dark brown M&Ms; knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place Nilla wafer cookie toward bottom of cupcake for muzzle. Use dab of icing to adhere Junior Mint nose about 2/3 from bottom of cookie muzzle. Add M&M eyes. Cut another Nilla Wafer in half and place halves at top for ears.

These monkey cupcakes sport big ears, but they sure are tasty.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; Nilla wafer; blue M&Ms; food-safe pen; red writing icing; 1 Nutter Butter cookie; knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut Nutter Butter in half. Cut off 1/2 of Nilla wafer. Use food-safe pen to draw two nostrils near flat edge of Nilla wafer. Use red gel or writing icing to draw mouth and place on cupcake. Add M&M eyes. Add half of Nilla wafer to each side of face for ears.

Grrreast for a jungle or zoo party, or any time you want to “stick your neck out” when making cupcakes, consider these fun giraffe cupcakes.

What You need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; 2 thin pretzel sticks, 2 puffy cereal pieces (such as Cocoa Puffs or Kix); 1 pink Necco wafer; thin black licorice or black writing icing; 2 mini chocolate M&Ms; food-safe pens. (Instead of pens, you can try writing icing.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use dab of icing to attach puffy cereal to tips of pretzels. (You may want to cut the pretzels to make them shorter.) Let dry for a bit. Use food-safe pen to draw nostrils and mouth on Necco wafer. Arrange 6 licorice strands (or draw 6 lines with writing icing) for stripes and place wafer on top of them. Add M&M eyes. Insert pretzel horns.

No piping or fancy stuff is needed for this hoppin’ good frog cupcakes!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green icing; red string licorice; 2 green sugar-coated fruit gels 2 red M&Ms (mini or regular).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add green fruit gels near top of cupcake. Use dabs of icing to stick M&Ms to fruit gels. Add bit of licorice in smile shape.

My friend’s sweet little girl is having a puppy-themed birthday party and I suggested these easy puppy dog cupcakes. The ears and tongue are made from cutup fruit rolls!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; red fruit roll; Junior Mint, malt ball or other round brown candy; 2 blue mini M&Ms; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut fruit roll into ear and tongue shapes (you can do this freehand with kid-safe scissors or–adults only–a knife, and you can make a template from paper or cardstock first if you need to.) Bend short ends of ears slightly and insert each near top of cupcake. Add tongue to bottom. Place chocolate in center and add eyes. There are lots of variations you could make. Use white frosting and black gel icing for Dalmatian cupcakes and so on.