Easy Cupcakes

I’d signed up to bring cupcakes to a pre-Thanksgiving “harvest” event at my kid’s school, and I realized I wasn’t going to have to time for elaborate decorations. Thankfully, premade sugar toppers in pumpkin and owl shapes (I’m pretty sure these are by CakeMate) and leaf-shaped sprinkles came to the rescue. Also, the simple 1M swirl technique adds class to any cupcake.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; 1M metal tip and pastry bag; premade pumpkin topper; leaf sprinkles.

How to Make It: Fit 1M tip into pastry bag. Working from the outside of the cupcake inward, squeeze steadily to create a swirly top. Sprinkle with leave sprinkles. Add pumpkin to top. That’s it!

A few weeks ago, Mentos asked to post my pig cupcake on its Facebook page. Of course, I was happy to share, and yesterday I came home to a FedEx envelope full of rolls of fruit and peppermint Mentos! Those got the creative juices flowing and thus this post begins a series of cupcakes featuring Mentos candies.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate or green-tinted frosting; 4 or 5 orange Mentos candies; green fruit leather or string; scissors or knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake with chocolate for “dirt” or green for “grass.” Cut 4 or 5 quarter-inch lengths of fruity string. Use tiny dabs of icing to adhere to tops of Mentos for pumpkin stalks. Arrange on top of cupcake. Fill in with curls of fruit string for vines.

A chocolate Twizzler makes a great tree! Whip up a forest of these autumn trees quickly for Thanksgiving or any fall festivities.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; chocolate Twizzler licorice; candy-coated sunflower seeds; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut length of Twizzler to slightly shorter than width of the cupcake. Use scissors to cut about four “branches” one-half to two-thirds of the way through the Twizzler. (It’s hollow.) Spread branches apart and place on cupcake. Sprinkle and/or place sunflower seeds on tree and ground for leaves.

These yummy acorn cupcakes are a variation of a design I saw in Woman’s World magazine. (You could also use a molded Tootsie Roll to form the nut.)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; chocolate sprinkles; Hershey’s Kiss; 1 caramel; toothpick.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake and add chocolate sprinkles around edge. Using clean or gloved hands, mold caramel into the shape of an acorn cap. Press onto wide end of Kiss. Use toothpick to press crosshatch pattern into caramel.

Shredded Wheat is the straw on these fun scarecrow cupcakes that are made using only candies and cereal — no fancy piping or icing in tubes!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; chocolate (or black) Twizzler; shredded wheat (I used spoon-size); 2 black or brown M&Ms; orange chocolate covered sunflower seed (or substitute mini M&M turned sideways); black shoelace licorice; scissors or knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Break apart shredded wheat and sprinkle or place at top and bottom for straw. Cut Twizzler into one length almost as wide as the cupcake and another length slightly shorter. Assemble as shown for hat. Place candy eyes, nose and mouth.

Add the look of “Indian” corn to your harvest table with these easy Thanksgiving cupcakes that look like an ear of dried corn.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; green sprinkles; assorted fall color Jelly Belly jelly beans; paper and scissors to make a template.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut a wedge shape from scrap paper to use as a template or “mask” and set it on the cupcake as you sprinkle the rest of the cupcake, forming a corn husk shape. Then remove paper and arrange jelly beans, either skinny side up (like this) or the other way.

Celebrate fall with these easy cupcakes that pair an edible rake with falling leaves. They’re great for harvest festivals and other autumn events.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting; stick pretzel; chocolate Twizzler; leaf-shaped sprinkles (such as by Wilton); scissors or kitchen shears.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Break about one-quarter of the pretzel stick off and discard (or eat). Cut about a 1-inch length of Twizzler. Insert scissors into Twizzler (it’s hollow) and make about six cuts around, about two-thirds up. Poke broken end of pretzel into intact end of Twizzler and fan out ends to look like a broom. Place on cupcake. Add leaves to “ground” and “air.”