How to Make Cute Cupcakes for a Party

Some of the cute cupcakes I’ve made for the grandkids have been inspired by two authors who are far cleverer than I.

In 2010, I received a review copy of What’s New, Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I didn’t have grandchildren at the time, so I shelved the book among the hundreds in my cookbook library.

Only when Miss T was born did I take a renewed interest.

My First Cute Cupcakes: Rubber Duckies

To make these cupcakes, you stack a doughnut hole on a cupcake for the head and add a marshmallow tail, using frosting for glue, then dip the whole thing into melted yellow frosting. The beaks and webbed feet are made with fruit chews. You’ll need the book for complete, how-to instructions.

This is a challenging first-time project; expect to end up with some reject ducks. But the rubber duckies are so adorable and such a showstopper, that as a grandma, I was thrilled to make them for our first grandchild.

Make Elmo Cupcakes for a Sesame Street Party.

There are many easier projects for a first effort. Some can even be done with grandkids.

It’s Not Chinese Takeout –They’re Cupcakes!

I made these for Miss T’s birthday this year from the same book. They’re simpler than the rubber duckies and they are eye-popping.

For the lo mein, top cupcakes with noodles made from frosting extruded through a zip-top bag with a hole snipped out of it. The broccoli and pork slivers are made from fruit chews (Jolly Rancher, Starburst, Laffy Taffy). The fried rice is puffed rice cereal mixed with frosting; the egg slivers and carrots are fruit chews; the peas are jelly beans.

The broccoli are fun to make and they add that extra touch of realism to the cupcakes. Don’t skip that step.

It’s worth sourcing out Chinese takeout containers for each cupcake. I bought 50 pint containers from Amazon when I just needed ten. I’m sure I’ll find other good uses for the remainder.

My Three Cupcake Books

While these cupcake books are ten or more years old, they’re still in print and still as exciting as ever. You’ll find complete, step-by-step recipes and detailed, instructional photos.

• Hello, Cupcake! is the first book of the series by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. It includes cupcake recipes and frosting recipes, as well as ways to doctor up cake mixes. The authors recommend canned frosting for the more elaborate projects, since it holds up better for shaping, tinting, and dipping. There are many good technique shots. Published in 2008 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• What’s New Cupcake? is the second book, and my favorite. There are more technique shots and tips and information about the various candies used in the projects. This book was published in 2010, also by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh My! copyright 2012, enables the authors to extend their magic to cookies and pie. Another book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

They authors have written other books since.

Rainbow Trout Cupcakes for an Octonauts Party

I made these cupcakes (I like to think of them as ocean fish) from Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh, My! for Little N’s birthday this year. Our gift was a complex Octonauts undersea toy set. I wanted to incorporate a Gup vehicle and an Octonaut from the set among the cupcake fish and Jell-O ocean waves on the cupcake tray.

The fish were easy to make with M&M’s for the scales and M&M’s Minis for fish features. I departed from the book and used a fruit rollup snack (I think, Organic Wacky Apple flat fruit) that I happened to have on hand to make the tail and fins.

Miss T was glad to help and together, we decorated all the cupcakes. It was a fun project and she was able to contribute in a meaningful way to her little brother’s birthday celebration.

Some Considerations

Before you proceed with these cupcakes, here are some things to consider:

• I do these cupcakes just for family birthday parties, so I’m not making a lot of them. If you have a big party, you’ll want to enlist some help because even the easiest designs will take some time.
• Each book features both simple and more complicated cupcake designs. I’ve found that the ones that require stacking parts and dipping in melted frosting (such as rubber duckies) tend to be more difficult, while ones that use frosting strings (such as the Chinese takeout) give the appearance of being difficult, when they are not.
• These cupcakes can grow to be a fairly expensive project depending on which design you choose, since some require a variety of candy.
• Leftover candy can be a challenge to dispose of if you hate waste. I don’t like to give them to the grandkids, because they’ll have had enough sweets eating cupcakes. I can’t donate them since packages are open. I used to send the extras for my husband’s office lunchroom, but now everyone works from home. I’ll be using some of the leftover candy to decorate mini gingerbread houses this Christmas. And I guess, some candy will be tossed.

For More Cute Cupcake Ideas

There are so many clever ideas that will inspire you from these books. And for more for cupcake inspiration, visit my Cute Cupcakes Pinterest board.

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