Easy Cupcakes

I first saw this idea, using a circus peanut candy as a carrot, in Parents magazine. It’s so easy! If you don’t have stand-style licorice or fruit candy in green, just cut strips of a fruit roll.

What You Need: cupcake; white frosting; orange circus peanut; green fruit candy strips; something to poke a hole with (bamboo skewer, toothpick, etc.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Poke hole in end of circus peanut. Insert several strips of fruit roll.

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.

I got this Easter cupcake idea from the Reynolds company’s Web site (Besides foil, they make cupcake liners). Try it with carrot cake!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white (or cream cheese) frosting; 6 orange jelly beans; shredded coconut; green food coloring.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. In bowl or cup, use food coloring to tint coconut green. Arrange jellybeans in triangle shape to form carrot. Sprinkle coconut at the wide top for leaves.

Whether you’re making Easter cupcakes or anytime carrot cake cupcakes, candy-covered sunflower seeds make for cute, quick “carrots.” Add some leaves and you’re ready for the Easter Bunny!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; orange candy-covered sunflower seeds; icing tinted green or gel or writing icing in a tube; #3 metal tip with pastry bag and coupler (or just use tubed icing).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Place candy-covered sunflower seeds all over the top. The pointy ends are the tips of the carrots. Add bit of green icing to wide end of each seed to make carrot.

I made a batch of these cupcakes for my husband’s birthday using carrot cake mix and canned cream cheese frosting. I’m not a fan of carrot cake, but I thought these came out pretty cool, with very little effort.
What You Need: 1 cupcake; cream cheese frosting; icing tinted orange; icing tinted green.
How to Make It: I found a lot of fancy ways to make carrots using pastry bag tips, but it turns out you can make a really cool carrot just using a plastic bag with the corner cut off and “jiggling” it a bit as you draw the carrot. Make the leaves the same way, but cut a smaller hole. If you want to use metal tips, either with a pastry bag or prepackaged tube, try tip #3 for the carrot and #1 or a leaf tip for the leaves.