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Mike Krautter
Our best cupcake decorating ideas transform a simple treat into something extraordinary. Some put basic frosting to elaborate use, turning a cupcake into an apple or mint-chocolate football field. Others require some piping skills to create a sunflower or a rose. But many of our cleverest cupcake decorating ideas don't rely on frosting for their good looks: Instead, they call for candy (or other edible add-ons!) to create snowmen, Thanksgiving turkeys, and more.
We suggest breaking out these inspired techniques ahead of a holiday or seasonal celebration—and we have almost all of them covered in our collection of cupcake decorating ideas. Among our favorite ideas for summer? Create a sunflower scene made out of frosting, grass patches, lady bugs, and all. Come fall, try a pumpkin cupcake topped with miniature marzipan pumpkins. For Valentine's Day, you'll find a few heartfelt, heart-shaped options that are as delicious as they are beautiful. And when Easter rolls around? Turn vanilla cupcakes into chicks, placing them atop coconut nests.
Whatever the season or reason, there's no limit when it comes to creative cupcake decorating. We hope these ideas will inspire you all year round.
Orange Curd Cupcakes
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You don't need piping skills to elevate simple cupcakes. Dehydrated orange slices make a spectacular topping when stood upright in vanilla frosting (and they're perfectly cheerful for summer!). If you want to get on Martha's level, pipe the icing with a star tip and then add the citrus slices.
Piped Rose Cupcakes
Break out your pastry bag to dress up ordinary vanilla cupcakes with a buttercream rose. Use a leaf pastry tip to spiral roses on top for a fun and easy floral-inspired design.
Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
Need another easy cupcake decorating idea? Each of these delightful strawberry shortcake treats comes with a sweet surprise inside: a homemade strawberry filling. Remove the centers of the cupcakes with a melon baller or teaspoon and spoon the filling in. Top with whipped cream and a strawberry slice for a sweet, summery finish.
Marzipan Leprechaun Hats
These marzipan-clad cupcakes are the cutest (and luckiest) of treats. They're sure to be the talk of any St. Patrick's Day celebration. If you're not celebrating everything green, you can tint the marizpan a color that suits your theme or occasion.
Pull-Apart Vanilla-Wafer Cupcake Cake with Berries
This is as easy as frosting a sheet cake, but way more impressive! Everyone will love the novelty of these pull-apart cupcakes. Rather than frosting each cupcake individually, arrange them in a rectangle (go three cupcakes wide by four cupcakes long) and smooth buttercream over all of them at once.
Martha's Sunflower Cupcakes
Use a piping bag and small leaf pastry tip to pipe buttercream into a sunny circle of petals for these sunflower cupcakes. Fill in the centers with candy-coated sunflower seeds. For another sunflower presentation using a different technique, take a look at this large sunflower made of mini cupcakes.
Spiced Cupcakes with Citrus Glaze
Decorating a stunning cupcake is as easy dipping the top, as this recipe proves. Mix a striking color palette of red, orange, and pink citrus glazes, then dip each dessert in a different color. Bonus points if you opt for an ombré presentation.
Blueberry Cupcakes
Fill a piping bag with cream cheese frosting and blueberry jam, then let the bag do the work of swirling the two colors together to create this pretty marbled effect.
Snowmen Cupcakes
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Kids will have fun stacking marshmallows to make these snowmen cupcake toppers. They can also add candy to create eyes, noses, and hats. For the ultimate cold weather snack, pair these frosty treats with hot chocolate.
Pumpkin Cupcakes
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While you can use this fun fall cupcake decorating idea on any dessert, we think the cream cheese frosting and easy-to-make marzipan pumpkins are especially good on moist pumpkin cupcakes spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
Owl Cupcakes
These adorable owls are a great cupcake decorating idea for kids. Have them twist open Oreos and top the insides with two M&Ms to create giant owl eyes. Then, use thinly sliced almonds to create a tuff of feathers—giving each owl its own character.
Chocolate Heart Cupcakes
Create two versions of these precious Valentine's Day cupcakes with one decorating technique. Use a heart-shaped cutter to stamp out chocolate hearts from half the cupcakes and fill the space with frosting for white hearts. You can frost the other half of the cupcakes and top with the stamped-out chocolate cake hearts.
Apple Cupcakes
Turn vanilla cupcakes into everyone's favorite autumn fruit using red, yellow, or green frosting to form the rounded shape. Each "apple" gets a pretzel stem and a leaf cut from sour tape.
Thanksgiving Cupcakes
With their toasted coconut feathers and gummy candy features, these are the cutest turkeys that ever graced a Thanksgiving table.
German Chocolate Cupcakes
Sometimes, two layers of frosting is better than one! Transform cupcakes into mini layer cakes by cutting them crosswise into two pieces. Reassemble the sliced cupcake spreading the sticky coconut-pecan frosting in between the layers and on top.
Coconut Nest Cupcakes
These cupcakes are perfect for Easter and other spring celebrations. Pile toasted coconut atop buttercream frosting to create a nest, then fill the nests with pastel chocolate eggs.
Football Cupcakes
For a tasty kick-off to football season (or perhaps a sports-themed birthday party), decorate a batch of these chocolate-mint cupcakes. Sprinkle the tops of frosted cupcakes with green sanding sugar to create an astro turf field. Trim Andes mints into a "football" shape and then use white sprinkles for the thread.
Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Multicolored Frosting
A stunning presentation doesn't always require fancy tools. Just dye traditional buttercream in an array of ombré-hued colors, frost the cupcakes with a spatula or knife, and arrange them into a pretty pattern. The result is eye-catching, but the process couldn't be simpler.
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