Easy Cupcakes

For a fun Easter cupcake, perch a Peep among a patch of cute carrots. I got the idea for the carrots from a Wilton design, but swapped out the candy bunny for a marshmallow Peep.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; 1 marshmallow Peep bunny; 5 to 7 candy corn pieces; green icing in tube with leaf tip attachment, or pastry bag with leaf tip and coupler attached.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. It’s easiest to arrange the candy corn first. Then, use leaf tip to squeeze small amount of green icing on wide part of candy corn for stems. Cut Peep at about the neckline (ouch!) and place near front of cupcake as shown.

If you’re pressed for time this holiday season but want cute, colorful cupcakes, candy corn and red hots may the be answer. Arranged just so, they look like flowers!

What You Need: white frosting; 6 Christmas candy corns; 1 red hot (cinnamon imperial).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place red hot in center of cupcake. Surround with candy corn.

What could be easier than arranging candy corn around a candy raspberry? (The hardest part might be finding the candies, but you can always substitute! Use another seasonal color of candy corn and put a gumdrop in the center instead.)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 6 pink candy corns (sold around Valentine’s Day and in candy shops); gummi red raspberry candy.

How to Make It: Place raspberry candy in center of cupcake. Surround with candy corn with the pointy ends pointing inward to form a flower shape.

All it takes is pastel colored candy corn and M&Ms (available around Easter time, or at specialty shops) to make pretty flower cupcakes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 7 pastel candy corns; 1 pastel M&M.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place M&M upside down in the center of the cupcake. Surround with candy corn, alternating colors, with the white tips facing inward toward the M&M center.

Spring is in the air, and so are butterfly cupcakes. There are probably as many ways to make butterfly cupcakes as their are butterflies, but this is one of the easiest.
What You Need: Cupcake; icing tinted lavender (or color of your choice); 4 springtime candy corn (sold around Easter and in candy shops); 4 pastel M&Ms of the same color.
How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Line up 4 M&Ms in the center of the cupcake. Add candy corn, points outward, for wings.

Candy corn makes a re-appearance come Valentine’s Day, but in shades of pink rather than Halloween orange. Use it to make easy cupcakes with a tasty topping.
What You Need: 1 cupcake (baked and cooled); frosting tinted pink; Valentine’s candy corn; red candy heart.
How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Immediately place candy corn end to end around rim of cupcake. Add heart candy to center of cupcake. That’s it!