Easy Cupcakes

Valentine bear cupcake

Make these cute pink bear cupcakes for a Valentine’s Day party at your kid’s school, or for your sweetheart.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; frosting tinted pink (or just use Pillsbury’s Valentine frosting like I did); chocolate frosting (or black writing icing in a tube); 2 heart-shaped cinnamon candies; pastry bag and coupler; No. 12 metal tip; No. 5 metal tip; No. 1 metal tip. (No. 1 is for the eyes, nose and mouth.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Fit pastry bag with coupler and No. 12 metal tip and fill partway with pink icing. Squeeze in one spot near center of cupcake (don’t pull up) for bear head. Switch to No. 5 tip. Squeeze to create bear’s muzzle and ears. Use pastry bag and No. 1 tip to add features using chocolate icing. Add 2 heart-shaped red hots, points touching, for bow. For a girl bear, add a bow to her “hair.”

Wise owl cupcake

Here’s another cute cupcake from EasyCupcakes.com reader Emily K., who previously shared her fishbowl cupcakes. These owls would be great for a school party, graduation or anytime. (With white frosting, it could be a snowy owl for Harry Potter.)

What You Need: 1cupcake; tan frosting (tint white with chocolate, or chocolate with white); large twist pretzel; 2 green Runts candies or M&Ms; almond slices; candy corn.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Break off part of pretzel as shown and place near top edge of cupcake. Place green candies inside pretzel “glasses” for eyes. Add candy corn nose. Arrange almond slices near bottom edge for feathers.

Chocolate cat cupcake

These cat cupcakes remind me of Hello Kitty’s friend Chococat. I saw a similar design online, I think made by a dad with his kids, but can’t find it now, so if you see it please let me know so I can give credit.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; round chocolate-covered mints; stiff black licorice; black M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut mint like a pie and add two triangle shapes to top of cupcake for cat ears. Stick two 2″ pieces of licorice on either side of face for whiskers. Add two black eyes.

Chocolate teddy bear cupcake

These teddy bears will taste as good as they look, thanks to generous amounts of chocolate. They’d be great for a holiday party, baby shower or any time!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; 3 black M&Ms (or other candy); black writing icing; pastry bag and round metal tip #5 (or snip corner off of a plastic sandwich bag).

How to Make It: Squeeze bag with chocolate frosting to make a large dollop for bear nose and two smaller dollops for ears. Use black writing icing to “draw” mouth. Add M&Ms for eyes and nose.

Teddy bear winter picnic

Sure, teddy bears love their picnic cupcakes, but did you know they also like to party in winter?

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; coconut; red and green gummi bears, white gumdrops or spice drops covered with white non-pareils.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with coconut. Add gummi bears and “snow drift” gumdrops.

Monkey cupcake

I made several dozen monkey cupcakes for my son’s first birthday party three years ago. They come together very fast; the hardest part is cutting the Nilla wafers in half, but even that’s not so bad.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; Nilla wafers; blue M&Ms; Necco wafers (I used black but I think pink is a little cuter); black and red writing icing or gel (or icing in pastry bag or plastic bag); knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use butter knife or other tool to cut Nilla wafer in half for muzzle. Before placing it on the cupcake, pipe red mouth and black nostrils. Place on cupcake. Add 2 blue M&Ms, M side down, for eyes. Insert Necco wafers at an angle for ears.

Chick cupcake

There’s a whole flock of potential uses for these baby chick cupcakes: “chick flick” night, Easter, a farm party–the list goes on and on.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted yellow; 1 candy corn; 2 candy eyes (or use M&Ms or piping gel).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add candy eyes and candy corn for beak. That’s it!