Easy Cupcakes

Long strands of stiff licorice give this Halloween spider a spooky reach. Use chocolate frosting, sprinkles and M&M eyes to make him even tastier.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; chocolate sprinkles; black (or dark brown) M&Ms; black licorice (strand style); knife or kitchen shears.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with chocolate jimmies. Place two black M&Ms, letter side down, for eyes. Cut licorice into eight equal strands and insert into cupcake for legs.

The bee on these beehive cupcakes is similar to a design by Martha Stewart, but canned frosting makes the hive extra easy.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting in aerosol can with star tip; 2 yellow M&Ms; 2 black M&Ms; 2 short lengths stiff black licorice; 2 almond slices; black food-safe pen.

How to Make It: Affix star tip to canned icing and, using a circular motion, create tall beehive on top of cupcake. Using dabs of icing, assemble bee as shown, with M&Ms alternating and almond slice wings on either side. (Use food-safe marker for eyes.) Place near top of cupcake.

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.

Use candies of various shapes and sizes to make dragonfly, butterfly and bug cupcakes. Go with pastels or bright colors, but whatever you do, have fun!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; assorted candies such as jellybeans, Jordan almonds and candy-covered mints; food-safe pens.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Arrange candies on top. For dragonfly shown, make row of three pink jellybeans and position yellow Jordan almonds on each side for wings. Draw 2 black “eyes” on round candy and add for face.

Make an easy spotted spider cupcake for Halloween using nonpareil candies. (They’re chocolate wafers coated in little white ball thingies.)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; orange icing (we just used Pillsbury’s Halloween icing); 2 red hot cinnamon imperials; black writing icing or gel in tube.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use dab of icing to stick red candy eyes to nonpareil wafer. Place in center of cupcake. Use black gel or icing to draw eight legs.

Not all spider cupcakes have to have black spiders. Purple ones are great for Halloween, too, or any occasion.

What You Need: 1 cupcake, orange frosting (we just used Pillsbury’s Halloween frosting already tinted); purple gumdrop; purple and black gel icing in tube (we used CakeMate); 2 candy eyes (optional); toothpick.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use black gel in tube to “draw” three circles, one inside the other. Drag toothpick through gel, starting at the center, at several points to form web. (Wipe toothpick clean in between). Squish gumdrop a bit to make it flatter. Use gel to attach eyes and place in center of web. Use purple gel to draw legs.

It was my 3-year-old’s idea to add a licorice stinger to this bee cupcake.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted yellow; black writing icing or gel; round mint cookie (or similar dark cookie); Jordan almond (or gumdrop or other candy); bit of black string licorice.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use black writing icing and round tip to pipe 3 or 4 stripes on bee body. Cut cookie in half and place in frosting to make wings. Add bit of black licorice for stinger. Pipe 2 black eyes on almond and place on cupcake for head.