Easy Cupcakes

These pirate flag cupcakes use Wilton’s cupcake liners and flags, and are a quick way to complete the perfect pirate party. Little (and big) swashbucklers will love them. Also great for a Pirates of the Caribbean party or grownups’ event.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; Wilton cupcake liner and flag (sold in a set); chocolate sprinkles; pastry bag, 1M metal tip.

How to Make It: Use tip to make 1M swirl (squeeze steadily in concentric circles, starting at the rim of the cupcake and working inward and upward). Sprinkle with chocolate jimmies. Plant pirate flag on top.

One of the parents in my son’s kindergarten class made these awesome dragon cupcakes for her son’s birthday. (They could also be dinosaur cupcakes, with spikes for a stegosaurus, etc. Or, pair them with pirate cupcakes for an all-out boy theme.) She told me she used two different metal tips: a larger one to “flow” the dragon’s body and a smaller one. (Remember, multi-opening tip #233 is great for making animal hair or grass.) Consider a from-scratch icing recipe, because homemade icing is often thicker and easier to control than canned frosting.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; frosting tinted green; frosting tinted yellow; frosting tinted black (or premade in tube); metal tips; pastry bags; couplers.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Use large metal tip to “flow” green icing in shape of dragon. Taper off at tail by reducing the pressure as you squeeze. Pipe yellow points for spikes and two yellow dots for eyes. Add black pupils to eyes.

Looky, Wookiees, it’s Chewy cupcakes. OK, enough with the bad jokes. I made more than three dozen of these Chewbacca cupcakes for my Star Wars fan son to take to his kindergarten class — enough to span 12 parsecs. If you want to make these Chewbacca cupcakes more quickly, just skip the “furry” part and frost them in a smooth layer of chocolate. This is a variation of a Chewbacca cupcake I saw online.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; pastry bag and #233 metal tip; white or off-white frosting; pastry bag and small, round metal tip (#2 is good); 2 white M&Ms; 2 black M&Ms; black writing icing in a tube (or, use a black food-safe marker.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake with a thin layer of chocolate frosting. Put chocolate icing in pastry bag affixed with #233 metal tip. Use tip to make long strands that overlap for a furry effect. Squeeze a dot of black writing icing onto white M&Ms for eyes and place on cupcake. Add black M&M nose. Use white icing and round tip to “draw” a mouth and/or teeth.

So simple, yet they still make a statement. Turn the mouth up more for a more-traditional smiley, or even include sad faces if you’re so inclined.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; black M&Ms; black licorice strings (or black writing icing).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add eyes and mouth. That’s it!

These fun clown cupcakes are based on a design I saw a few years back in a Martha Stewart publication. The hat is a Bugle snack!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting color of choice; 1 large marshmallow; 1 small marshmallow; food-safe pens; mini jujubes in various colors; red M&M; 1 Bugle.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use food-safe pen to add dots for eyes to marshmallow as shown. Use dab of icing to attach red M&M for nose. Place marshmallow flat side down in center of cupcake. Surround with mini jujube fruits, larger side facing outward. Use icing to attach small marshmallow to end of Bugle, or just poke it on there. Attach Bugle to top of marshmallow for hat. You could also choose to decorate the hat.

Is there a Finding Nemo fan in your house? Planning a themed birthday party? How much simpler can it get than plopping a gummy clown fish on a cupcake and adding a few mini M&M “bubbles”?
What You Need: 1 cupcake; icing tinted light blue; gummy clownfish; blue mini M&Ms.
How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add fish. Add 3 blue mini M&Ms, upside-down so the writing doesn’t show, for bubbles.

Is there a special kitty you really love? One who you always want to say “hello” to? Try this cupcake on for size.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; 6 licorice candies; yellow M&M; 2 brown mini M&Ms; 2 pink Runts candies, or similar pink candies or Good & Plenties.
How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Stick 3 black licorice pieces on each side of face for whiskers. Add yellow M&M nose, mini M&M eyes and a pink candy bow. This cat rules Girl Nation!