Cupcake Decorating: Cute Monsters

One of my favorite cookbooks is not really a cookbook, but a cupcake decorating idea book published in 2010. It’s called, “What’s New Cupcake?” by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. With cake mix, cans of frosting, and candy, you can create some super-cute cupcakes.

I adapted the monster cupcakes above from this book. It’s one of the easier ideas.

For another easy cupcake decorating idea, try these Elmo cupcakes.

Cupcake Decorating Caveats

Here are some cupcake decorating caveats from the book’s authors: don’t use lighter cake mixes like angel food. Avoid ones with pudding in the mix. Both types don’t provide the firm base you will need for your decorations.

For frostings, they recommend Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Frostings for flavor quality, and for the texture that allows for easy styling.

How to Make Monster Cupcakes

What you Need:

• Cupcakes
• Vanilla frosting tinted with icing colors (I use Wilton), see note below
• Mini lollipops (Dum Dums) (two per cupcake)
• Gummy Rings (O’s) (two per cupcake)
• Mini candy-coated chocolates (M&M’s Minis) (two per cupcake)

To make the eyes: thread the stick of the lollipop starting from an inside edge of a gummy ring through to the outside edge, then gently coax the lollipop head into the hole of the gummy ring so it sits in the middle of the gummy ring. (See photo of the eyes above). Now with a dab of untinted frosting, affix the M&M in the center of the lollipop. Repeat to make two sets of eyes per cupcake.

To frost the cupcake: first spoon each color of frosting into a separate ziplock bag and snip one corner of each bag to create a small 1/8-inch hole. Now seal the bag and using it like a pastry bag, squeeze out strings of frosting to cover the cupcake completely.

To assemble the cupcake: insert two lollipop eyes into the top of the cupcake, using their sticks to secure the eyes in place.

Notes:

• 1 (16-ounce) can of frosting will frost 12 cupcakes.
• After reserving a couple of tablespoons as glue for the eyes, divide the remainder of the frosting among three bowls and tint each a different color.

If you plan to make these cupcakes, I highly recommend buying the book, because there are more introductory tips and tricks, as well as other amazing cupcake ideas to entice.

For these cupcakes, I made the cake from scratch using my favorite recipe, The Best One-Bowl Chocolate Cake from Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts by Alice Medrich. I used canned frosting for the frosting strings.