Cupcake Decorating Recipes

Did I take the easy way out here? Maybe, but I think these look fabulous. I've recently discoverd a wonderful new tool for icing - It's decorating tip # 12 (listed below), used here to make the orange swirl base. It's a plain circle tip that produces a thick line and looks nice in a circular pattern.

For the pick, I copied the Squidoo logo to a folder on my computer hard drive (right click on image and "save picture as"). Then I printed the logo using the Photo Printing Wizard and chose "Wallet Prints" size. I then printed it in color, cut it out to size and taped the logo to a toothpick. Nice!

Very simple and this idea can be used with almost any image.

Here I used one blue M&M (regular size) and several orange M&M Minis on a white frosted background. I also used some black icing for the detailing (see notes below).

See the texture in the white frosting? That comes from using Wilton decorating tip #21 (one of my other favorite tips).

Sharing a hint here:
I've recently discovered this product: Black icing in a tube. Red and Black icing are almost impossible to make using food coloring or gels. I'll never try to make black icing again! This ready-to-use tube CANNOT BE BEAT. It's perfect for small details. And the best part? The tube is designed to be used with decorating tips. Use a tip and a coupler ring and you are ready to go. Here, I'm using tip #3 for easy lines.

This method takes a few steps and supplies and produces a striking decoration. I can image making pink crown shapes for girls or blue and red stars for Fourth of July cupcakes. Maybe even a sparkly green shamrock for St. Paddy's Day.

You'll need:
white icing for the base color
white chocolate chips (for melting)
colored sugar sprinkles
piping bag (or ziptop freezer bag)

Here's how to do it:

1. Place wax paper over the image
2. Trace image with melted white chocolate chips (microwave at 10 sec. increments, and stir until melted and smooth)
3. Sprinkle with desired color sugar crystals immediately (while chocolate is still wet) and then harden in fridge.
4. After 20 minutes shake off any loose sugar and assemble any pieces with a dot of melted chocolate.
5. Add any final touches with colored icings.

I first thought this one would be just too strange. But the more I look at it the more I like it. Who said I had to use the entire logo...right? So I just used part of the logo.

For the orange base I (again) used the #12 decorating tip. For the blue, I used the #5 tip. The black outline and black pupil are from the Wilton pre-made icing tube (listed above) topped with a #3 tip. And the white "reflection" spot on the eye is a little dab of melted white chocolate.

Here's the progression of steps:

What are Candy Melts? They are disks of colored chocolate-like candy that melt easily in the microwave then re-harden in a desired shape.
For these decorations, I melted orange candy melts and, using a piping bag, traced the entire squid image on wax paper. Then I immediately added a blue M&M for the eye before the candy melt hardened and put the cute little squids in the fridge to firm-up. After about 20 minutes in the fridge I used my trusty black icing tube and added the eye and a dab of white melted chocolate for the eye "reflection".

If you have any questions or need help getting started, contact me by clicking on my name "puzzlemaker" in the top right corner. Then on the contact me button. Let's see what you've got.

The Cupcake Club on Squidoo is an ever-growing collection of the best cupcake recipes ever. It's also home for cute and unique decorating ideas, debates about chocolate vs. vanilla frosting, recommendations for the best kitchen gadgets, cupcake sightings at hot bakeries around town, colorful cupcake photography... If you've got a sweet tooth for cupcakes, you're in the right place. You can make pages for your favorite cupcakes (and even earn money from them).



Click the big cupcake you see at the right to learn more and get started.