Easy Cupcakes

Jack O' Lantern cupcake

Gel or writing icing already in the tubes make it easy for everyone to decorate jack o’ lantern cupcakes with their own creative twist.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; orange frosting; green and black gel or writing icing in tubes (We use CakeMate and Wilton). (You could also use a pastry bag with a round tip attached.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake orange, like a pumpkin. Let set for a few minutes. Use tubes to “draw” jack o’ lantern face.

Scarecrow cupcake with pretzel hat

I saw in a magazine where someone had used one of those waffle-looking pretzels as a scarecrow’s hat and just had to try it. The hair is crumbled-up shredded wheat. Great for Halloween or fall parties.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 1 square pretzel; spoon-size shredded wheat; 2 orange jellybeans (or M&Ms or other oval or round candy); red mini M&M or red hot or similar candy; 4 chocolate chips or 7-8 mini chocolate chips; black writing icing (optional).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Stick pretzel into top of cupcake for hat. Crumble up shredded wheat and place under “hat” for hair. Add jellybean eyes, red candy nose and curve of upside-down chocolate chips for mouth. Add pupils to eyes using black writing icing if you’d like.

Halloween owl

Cute yet slightly spooky, these brown owls are a “hoot” (sorry!) for Halloween parties. Just pop on a few candies and you’re done!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; 2 yellowish LifeSavers (banana, lemon or butterrum work well); 2 red hot candies (aka cinnamon imperials); candy corn (with yellow or brown ends; regular size or wide candy corn).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place 2 LifeSavers for eyes and use dab of icing to stick red hot in center of each. Add candy corn nose.

Purple spider cupcake

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.

Gravestone cupcake

Halloween is coming, and so are the ghosts and ghouls, rising up from the graveyard to bring you … cupcakes? Turn a chocolate-covered graham cracker into a gravestone with “R.I.P,” a party guest’s name or anything else you can fit on with writing icing.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; chocolate covered graham crackers; shredded coconut tinted green with food coloring (for grass); candy rocks. (You could also include a mellowcreme pumpkin).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake generously. Holding graham cracker vertically, use white writing icing in a tube or pastry bag to write “R.I.P.” or whatever you’d like. Insert cracker in frosting. Place tinted coconut and candy rocks around tombstone.

There’s gum on this cupcake, and we don’t mean gum paste! (Sorry, cake decorating joke). Gum from a roll makes the wrapping on this not-so-scary mummy.

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); white frosting; white or light green rolled gum; two blue M&Ms.
Make That Cupcake!: Frost cupcake white. Unroll section of gum. (Our gum was wider than we liked, so we used scissors to cut it in half lengthwise). Cut gum into various lengths and lay over top of cupcake, leaving space for 2 M&M eyes. You can lay the gum in longer-than-needed strips and trim with scissors while on the cupcake if you’d like. Add eyes and there you have it!

The moon on this cupcake, which is perfect for Halloween, is actually a banana candy!

What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); chocolate frosting; Junior Mint; brown M&M; bit of black licorice (for tail); black writing icing or gel and Runts banana candy.
Make That Cupcake!: Frost cupcake. Position Junior Mint as cat body and M&M as head. Use writing icing to draw triangle ears. Add black licorice for tail (or you could just draw the tail). Add banana moon and there you go! A fun cat for Halloween or anytime.