My husband finished his Master's degree this Spring. He's worked really hard, juggling his school, work, and family, and I cannot be prouder of him. Bakerella's candy cup caps inspired me to make these cupcakes to celebrate his achievement.



See my Chocolate Cupcakes recipe

DECORATING

WHAT YOU'LL NEED (see pic below):

- Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares
- Dark chocolate w/ peppermint center (or Reese's peanut butter cups)
- Xtremes sweetly sour belts
- Smarties
- White frosting
- Blue sugar crystals (optional)



DECORATING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut each the sweet sour belts candy into long strips of each color
2. Frost the baked cupcakes with white frosting
3. Sprinkle with blue sugar crystals
4. Place chocolate cups, topped with chocolate squares (using a little bit of frosting to "glue" them together)
5. Place the candy strip and a smarty on top (again, using the frosting as the "glue")

I can't get enough of cupcakes lately. I guess I'm just having too much fun decorating them. What do you think of this lamb on the grass cupcake? She's so cute I could just eat her up! Wait, I already did!



WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
- 1 baked cupcake, see my chocolate cupcake recipe
- White frosting (I used Betty Crocker's fluffy white frosting)
- 2 chocolate chip for the eyes
- Pink star confetti/sprinkles for the tiny nose
- large marshmallows (cut into thin slices using kitchen scissors) for the ears
- mini marshmallows for the hair
- coconut flakes
- green food coloring

MAKING THE GRASS:
Place coconut flakes in a small zip lock bag and add a drop of green food coloring. Mix well.

Nothing says Spring like blooming flowers and beautiful butterflies. These flower cupcake and butterfly cupcake are simply decorated with cut-up marshmallows, star confetti, and pretzel sticks.



WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
- 2 baked cupcakes, see my chocolate cupcake recipe
- White frosting (I used Betty Crocker's fluffy white frosting)
- pink food coloring
- 1 chocolate chip
- star confetti/sprinkles
- large marshmallows
- 2 pretzel sticks

DIRECTIONS:
Using kitchen scissors, cut marshmallows into thin slices. Assemble as shown in picture.

Inspired by my previous Blackforest Cake, I decided to create its mini version and make these blackforest cupcakes. It was super easy to decorate and so yum!



WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Baked chocolate cupcakes (see my chocolate cupcake recipe)
White frosting
Chocolate shavings (simply made using a chocolate bar and a vegetable peeler)
Cherries with stems, drained

DECORATING INSTRUCTIONS:
Frost the cupcakes with the white frosting. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and add a cherry on top.

It's that simple, I told you! :D

This burger cupcake looks like the real thing, doesn't it? They make a great dessert to any cookout or outdoor party. Scroll down to see the decorating instructions.



WHAT YOU'LL NEED: (to make 1 cupcake)

- 2 Vanilla cookies
- 1 chocolate covered cookie (I used a thin mint cookie)
- White frosting (I used Betty Crocker's fluffy white frosting)
- 1 baked cupcake, see my chocolate cupcake recipe
- red food coloring (or red icing)
- yellow food coloring (or yellow icing)
- green food coloring
- coconut flakes
- a zip lock bag
- dash of maple syrup or light colored decorating gel
- sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

1. Frost the cupcake with white frosting
2. Place a small amount of frosting in a small bowl and add red food coloring to make a red frosting mix (you can also use store-bought-red icing and skip this step). Repeat this step to make the yellow frosting (or you can use yellow icing)
3. Place some coconut flakes in a small zip lock bag and add a drop of green food coloring. Close the bag and shake well to mix and green-up the flakes.

ASSEMBLING THE CUPCAKE:

1. Place a vanilla cookie on the cupcake, top with a chocolate-covered-cookie (using a little bit of frosting to glue them together)
2. Place the green coconut flakes on top to resemble the lettuce
3. Place a small amount of red and yellow icing/frosting to resemble the ketchup and mustard
4. Place the second vanilla cookie on top
5. Brush the top of the vanilla cookie with the syrup or decorating gel and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Grilled corn on the cobs are delicious! But these corn-on-the-cob cupcakes are even sweeter! Scroll down to see how easy it is to make them.



WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

- Yellow and white jelly beans (I used the pina colada flavor for the yellows, and coconut flavor for the whites, which makes a great tropical-flavor combination!)
- White frosting (I used Betty Crocker's fluffy white frosting)
- 3 baked cupcakes, see my chocolate cupcake recipe
- 1 pretzel stick, cut in halves
- Optional: you can also add a yellow starburst candy and place it on the top of the corn to represent a piece of butter (I unfortunately didn't have one in my pantry or I would have done it)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Frost the cupcakes with white frosting
2. Arrange yellow and white jelly beans as shown in the picture
3. Arrange the 3 cupcakes as shown and attach 2 pretzel stick halves on the side of the third cupcake