Easy Cupcakes

Of all the things George Washington is remembered for, there’s always that darn cherry tree. Did it really happen? Who cares; any excuse to make cupcakes! Consider adding cherry flavoring or filling to these cupcakes to complete the feeling. You don’t have to wait for Presidents’ Day to make these cupcakes. They’d be great for any cherry themed occasion, from gambling to a kids’ party.
What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; pastry bag and 1M star tip; gummy cherry with stem.
How to Make It: First, make swirl with 1M star tip: While squeezing out icing, move arm in a circular motion and cover the top of the cupcake with a swirl of icing. Then, starting a little bit in from the edge this time, make a second swirl on top of the first one. Add gummy cherry and that’s it!

Did you know you can substitute applesauce for the oil in a cake mix recipe and end up with cupcakes that are lower in fat as well as especially moist? Complete the experience (or take a tongue-in-cheek jab at guests who don’t believe in crazy applesauce substitutions) by decorating your cupcakes like apples.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); icing tinted red; thick pretzel sticks; green icing and pastry bag with leaf tip (or just buy some of those sugared gel candy leaves).
How to Make It: It’s notoriously hard to get a good, deep red when tinting icing. It’s a good idea to use concentrated gel icing (as opposed to liquid drops), and spring for the No-Taste Red in the cake aisle, because red icing can taste funky when you’re using a lot of it. (You could also just go with green apples, or pink “Pink Lady” apples.) Frost cupcake. Break off end of pretzel and stick in cupcake for stem. Pipe green leaf using pastry bag and leaf tip, or simply add candy leaf.