Easy Cupcakes

There’s no shame in using premade cupcake decorations such as those sold on a cardboard sheet by Wilton or CakeMate. But you can always dress them up by lining the cupcake with sprinkles or even peppermint bits.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; candy reindeer decoration; peppermint bits (sold in a shaker, or you can break up candy canes or Starlight Mints).

How To Make It: Frost cupcake. Place reindeer in center. Sprinkle peppermint around edges. That’s it!

Who needs fondant and fancy piping techniques when you have fruit rolls and mini M&Ms? These red poinsettia cupcakes will brighten up your Christmas cupcake array.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; red fruit roll; 3 yellow mini M&Ms; knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Using knife, cut fruit roll into 6 long triangle shapes for poinsettia petals. Arrange with wide ends toward center as shown. Place mini M&Ms in center.

Wrap up Starburst candies for a simple Christmas present cupcake. Kids will have great ideas for these — don’t stop with a teddy bear!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; holiday sprinkles; 2 Starburst candies; fruit roll in contrasting color; Teddy Graham cookie; knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle edges with holiday sprinkles. Unwrap Starbursts and cut thin strips of fruit roll to “wrap” packages before stacking on top of cupcake. Add Teddy Graham bear or other presents.

This cupcake is a holiday variation of a technique in which a toothpick is dragged through gel icing to create a pretty, swirly appearance.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; red and green gel writing icing; red cherry or sour ball; toothpicks.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Place red candy in center of cupcake. Use tube icing to “draw” a small red circle around the cupcake. Then draw a green circle around that and then another red one. Hold toothpick near innermost circle and steadily pull toward edge of cupcake. Repeat, using clean toothpick, about 7 times around cupcake.

These ornament cupcakes are fun and fast. Use your imagination and go crazy with all kinds of designs and candies.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting (I used Pillsbury in a can); chocolate frosting; pastry bag and round tip (#5 is good); mini M&Ms; bit of black licorice.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake with green. Pipe (squeeze out) a line of chocolate frosting, zigzagging back and forth a bit. Pipe round bit of chocolate near top of cupcake and stick part of a piece of licorice in it for “hanger.” Add M&Ms to middle area.

Chocolate sprinkles add texture to this reindeer cupcake.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; chocolate sprinkles; 2 stick pretzels; red-and-white candy-covered gumdrop (or red gumdrop, or cherry sour ball); red hot for tongue (some brands are a little heart-shaped, which is cute); candy eyes or mini M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add chocolate sprinkles. Place eyes, nose and mouth as shown. Stick pretzels near top for antlers.

You don’t have to get all three-dimensional to make a snowman cupcake. This easy snowman’s fruit roll scarf creates the appearance of a head and round body!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 2 green M&Ms; 6 brown M&Ms; red fruit roll; 2 mini pretzel twists; candy corn.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Using a knife or scissors, cut a strip of fruit roll and roll into a scarf. Place scarf about two-thirds of the way from the bottom of the cupcake so it separates the head from the body. Fold one end of the “scarf” over a bit. Add brown M&M mouth and eyes. Add candy corn nose. Add 2 green M&M buttons. Break pretzels in to shapes to look like stick hands and place on either side of snowman.