Easy Cupcakes

No, not cupcakes made with chicken. A cupcake of a chicken. Enjoy them at a farm-themed party or anytime.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 2 red Swedish fish; 2 black (or brown, or blue) M&Ms; candied orange slice; kitchen shears or knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut tails and heads off Swedish fish (it won’t hurt them). Stick head into frosting at center top of head and put the tails, which are smaller, on either side. Cut triangle shape from orange candy for beak and place near center of cupcake. Place M&Ms, upside down, directly above beak.

Summertime, wintertime or anytime is right for polar bear cupcakes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; shaved coconut; blackberry-shaped gummi candy (or other black candy); 2 mini marshmallows; 2 blue mini M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle with coconut. Add eyes, ears and nose. That’s it!

Arbor Day is coming up (in 2009 it’s April 24), and after you plant a tree you can plant an apple tree cupcake in your belly. Also great for Earth Day, Johnny Appleseed celebrations or anytime, these cupcakes are easy and fun.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; light green frosting; green gel icing in tube; red mini M&Ms. (You could use red hots instead, but the colors tend to run after awhile.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Draw tree shape using gel icing. Add upside-down M&Ms for apples on the tree and ground.

Already-pink frosting and candies makes these pink kitty cupcakes extra easy.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting (strawberry and other pink-tinted frosting is sold in the can in the baking aisle, or use dye); 4 candy-coated licorice pieces; 2 brown mini M&Ms; 1 heart-shaped pink candy (ours is a Runt); 2 sour grapefruit slices.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add candies as shown for eyes, nose, whiskers and ears. There’s your kitty!

With candy-coated chocolate eggs, or pastel M&Ms, you can make spring butterfly cupcakes in seconds.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted green; 4 pastel candy-coated chocolates; green (or black) writing icing or gel.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Arrange candies as wings. (You can also decorate the wings with sprinkles or icing if you’d like). Use gel or writing icing to draw body and antenna.

Sometimes simple is best. If you have a bag of mellowcreme Easter shapes, some shaved coconut and green dye, you can make these cupcakes in minutes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting (it comes in a can, too) mellowcreme Easter bunny or other shape; shaved coconut; green dye.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Tint coconut green and place a bit in the center of the cupcake for grass nest. Add bunny.

Give your Easter Peep cupcakes more dimension by raising your chick up on a toothpick.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; shaved coconut tinted green; 1 Easter Peep chick; toothpick.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle coconut on cupcake. Stick Peep on toothpick and insert in cupcake. That’s it!