Easy Cupcakes

These sunflower cupcakes are especially easy if you use premade icing in an aerosol can like I did. Great for summer or anytime.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow icing in can or icing tinted yellow and pastry bag; leaf tip (comes with the can); mini chocolate chips.

How to Make It: Using yellow icing and leaf tip, make a layer of petals around the edge of the cupcake, and then a second layer overlapping that. Sprinkle chocolate chips in center.

For any summer party, including Fourth of July festivities, consider these easy, somewhat abstract watermelon cupcakes. The “seeds” are chocolate sprinkles!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green cupcake liner; frosting tinted green; white frosting; red sugar sprinkles; chocolate sprinkles.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Drop and spread a dollop of white frosting to about half an inch from the edge. Sprinkle with red sugar, almost to edge of white. Add chocolate sprinkles for watermelon seeds.

Grab a star tip and make a field’s worth of these sweet sunflower cupcakes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting (I used Pillsbury’s Spring frosting from a can); 3 brown M&Ms; candy spearmint leaf; scissors; pastry bag with coupler and star tip, or use tubed icing with tip.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use pastry bag or tube to make concentric rows of stars, working from the rim of the cupcake inward. As you pipe the stars, don’t stop squeezing as you pull away, so they form nice peaks. Leave small area not frosted in center of cupcake and add three M&Ms. Cut spearmint leaf in half or thirds (so it’s lighter and you can use it on two cupcakes) and place on edge of cupcake.

It’s supposed to more than 100 degrees in my town this week, so I figured it was a good time to post this sunshine cupcake. All you need are fruit gels, M&Ms and licorice (no piping, but you’ll need to get your scissors sticky!)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; yellow frosting (I used “Spring” frosting in a can); assorted sugar-coated fruit gels or gems; 2 black M&Ms; 2 small sections of black string licorice; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Cut fruit gels in quarters using scissors. Arrange gels, pointy side out, slightly overlapping the edge of the cupcake (eat the extras wedges!). Place 2 black M&Ms upside down for sunglasses and add black licorice to each side for frames.