Easy Cupcakes

Here’s a classic from the EasyCupcakes.com archives. Vampire cupcakes!

Dracula himself couldn’t help but bite into these cupcakes, which are easy to make with just a few decorations.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; icing tinted green; black string licorice; white icing in pastry bag or tube with round tip; purple writing icing; 2 brown mini M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add M&M eyes and curve length of licorice of mouth. Use pastry bag or tube to pipe triangle-shaped teeth. With purple writing icing, draw hairline shape for widow’s peak like Dracula.

It’s been awhile since I’ve added new cupcakes to this site. As a test, I’m reposting a favorite Valentine’s Day cupcake recipe. I hope you like this cute butterfly made with a yogurt-covered pretzel!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting (use strawberry, or tint your own); 2 chocolate-covered pretzels in white, red or pink; black writing icing.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake pink. Position pretzels like butterfly wings. Use black icing to “draw” antennae between the wings.

When it comes to April Fool’s Day cupcakes, fake food is definitely the way to go. You can make all kinds of “dishes” that look appealing and unappealing at the same time: peas and carrots, potatoes and gravy, and so on. I decided on a fried egg cupcake, served up to my kid on the morning of April 1.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; yellow Starburst candy; microwave.

How to Make It: Melt some white frosting in the microwave for 5-10 seconds at about 30 percent power. (The time needed depends on your microwave, and the amount of frosting you’re melting.) Using a spoon, drop a dollop of frosting onto the cupcake and spread it around unevenly so it looks like egg white. Melt an unwrapped lemon Starburst candy in the microwave at 30 percent power for about 5 seconds. Using gloved fingers, shape the candy into an egg yolk and place on top of the egg white.

The yellow eyes and menacing teeth are the finishing touches on this creepy and cute furry werewolf cupcake.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; chocolate sprinkles; 2 Lemonhead candies; 3 black jellybeans; 5 white Tic Tacs; black food-safe marker.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Immediately sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles (they stick best if you do it right away). Use food-safe marker to draw on yellow eyeballs. Add jellybean nose and ears. Finish with white Tic Tac teeth!

This snowman gets his two-tiered appearance thanks to a fruit roll scarf and his texture from shredded coconut!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white icing; pastry bag and 1M swirl metal tip; 2 stick pretzels; red fruit roll; black candy berry or gumdrop; 2 blue mini M&Ms; 2 brown mini M&Ms; shredded coconut; knife or scissors.

How to Make It: Use pastry bag to make 1M swirl. (Instructions are on a Valentine cupcakes post.) Sprinkle with coconut. Cut thin strip of fruit roll and fold about 1/3 of the way down to create scarf for snowman’s neck. Add eyes, buttons and hat. Stick pretzel on either side of snowman’s body for arms.

For Thanksgiving or any fall party, consider these easy trees complete with autumn leaves. You’ll need a pastry bag and leaf-shaped sprinkles, which can be found in those multi-pack, seasonal sprinkle containers at grocery stores, or year-round and baking supply stores.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white icing; chocolate icing; leaf sprinkles; pastry bag; round metal tip (#3 is good).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Fill pastry bag halfway with chocolate frosting and attach tip and coupler. Squeeze lines to make a tree trunk and branches. Then, either sprinkle on leaves or place them deliberately.

These cupcakes are based on an idea in the latest Betty Crocker Supermoist cake periodical. They’re perfect for kids to make, with decorations you probably already have in your kitchen.
What You Need: cupcake; icing tinted blue; red fruit roll (we used Fruit By the Foot); teddy bear cookie such as Teddy Grahams; 2 goldfish crackers
How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut strip of fruit roll for bear’s raft and place on cupcake. Use dab of icing to stick bear onto raft. Add a couple of fish in the water.