Fruitful Cupcakes

Everyday candies can provide a bushel full of easy decorating ideas! Create grape clusters with candy-coated dots, whip up a frenzy of fruit-shaped candies and deck the cupcakes with holly made of cinnamon drops and spearmint leaves.

Each Serves 1.

Step 1: Bake Cupcakes

Line muffin pan with baking cups. Fill 1/2 full with your favorite cupcake recipe or batter from a mix. Bake according to recipe instructions. Cool completely.

Step 2: Decorate Grape Cupcakes

Spatula ice cupcake tops smooth in green. Position candy-coated fruit dots to resemble grape cluster. Add tip 3 outline stems and tip 67 leaves in green.

Step 3: Decorate Holly Cupcakes

Spatula ice cupcake tops smooth in yellow. Cut spearmint leaves in half; position on cupcake. Add cinnamon drop holly berries between leaves.

Step 4: Decorate Fruits Aplenty Cupcakes

Spatula ice cupcake tops smooth. Position fruit-shaped candies on cupcake. Add icing leaves.

Ingredients and tools:

Standard muffin pan
Assorted pastel standard baking cups
8 in. Metal spatula
Kelly green icing color
Golden yellow icing color
Candy-coated fruit dots
Spearmint jelly leaves
Cinnamon drop candies
red, green and yellow gum drops
Fruit-shaped candies
Round decorating tip 3
Leaf decorating tip 67
Rolling pin
Scissors
Favorite cupcake recipe or mix

Techniques

Flattening gum drops

Recipes

Buttercream Icing

Idea Notebook

Alternate Idea — Decorate Apples and Pears Cupcakes

Spatula ice cupcake tops smooth. Cut gumdrops in half. Roll to form red or green "apples," cut slit in top and insert green gumdrop leaves. Roll green or yellow gum drop halves, then shape narrow end for "pears," cut slit and insert green gumdrop leaves. Position on cupcake.