Cupcakes for Kids

Chocolate Cupcakes

2008-02-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

"Chocolate cupcakes are the ultimate party food. Make some for your next party!"

PREP TIME	15 Min
COOK TIME	15 Min
READY IN	30 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING

Original recipe yield: 16 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.

Zucchini Brownies

2008-01-05T01:30:00.000-08:00

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 30 Min
READY IN 45 Min

INGREDIENTS

* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups shredded zucchini
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
*
* 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/4 cup margarine
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

Dinosaur Cupcake

2007-03-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
1 baked cupcake
White icing
Zip-top plastic bag
Shredded coconut
Green food coloring
Small plastic dinosaur (washed)

TO DECORATE:
Frost the cupcake. To make the "grass," place a handful of shredded coconut in the zip-top bag, add a few drops of food coloring, seal the bag and shake it. Cover the frosting with grass and top with a dinosaur.

TIP: For a sandy look, use crushed graham crackers or molasses cookies instead of tinted coconut. Small rocks can be made out of chopped nuts.

Dogs and Burgers

2006-12-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

2 vanilla wafer cookies
1 Keebler Grasshopper cookie
Yellow and red icing in tubes
Green tinted coconut
Slices of green gumdrop (optional)
Orange juice or lemonade concentrate
Sesame seeds
1 baked cupcake
White icing
Multicolored nonpareils

TO DECORATE:

To build the hamburger, start with an upside-down vanilla wafer. Add a dab of icing to attach the Grasshopper cookie, then a squirt of yellow icing, a squirt of red icing, a sprinkle of tinted coconut, and 2 thin slices of a green gumdrop for pickles (optional). Top with the second vanilla wafer cookie, right side up (glue on with icing if needed). Rub the top "bun" with juice concentrate, then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Frost the cupcake with white icing, place the "burger" on top, and sprinkle on nonpareils.

HOT DOG

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 circus peanut
1 caramel square
Yellow icing in a tube
Green tinted coconut
Cut-up green gumdrop (optional)
Orange juice or lemonade concentrate
1 baked cupcake
White icing

TO DECORATE:

For the bun, cut a wedge in the circus peanut. If the caramel is soft, roll it into a hot dog shape. If it's hard, first soften it in your hand or in a microwave for a few seconds. Caution: the caramel can get hot! Place the "hot dog" in the bun and squirt on a squiggly line of yellow icing. Garnish with green gumdrop "relish," if you wish. Frost the cupcake with white icing, place the hot dog on top, and sprinkle on nonpareils.

Wizard Hat Cupcakes

2006-08-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 oz) box cake mix or 1 recipe for 2 (8-inch) round layer cakes

1 (16-oz) can frosting or 2 cups of your favorite frosting

1 (2-lb) box ready-to-roll white fondant icing

2 (12-count) boxes sugar cones

1/4 cup jam or jelly

Powdered sugar

1 (4 gram) container navy petal dust

1 (2 gram) container Aztec-gold luster dust

Clear-colored flavored extract (like lemon)
Line muffin tins with muffin cups. Prepare batter according to directions on box. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake according to package directions. Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tins to cool completely on a wire rack.

While cupcakes cool, prepare hats. Using a sharp, serrated knife, trim about 1" from the wide-end of the sugar cones; set aside. Sprinkle a work surface with powdered sugar. Pull off about a ping-pong ball-sized piece of fondant and knead until pliable. Cover remaining fondant with plastic wrap. Sprinkle work surface with powdered sugar and roll fondant into a 5-inch round, ј" thick (do not flip fondant over). Using a sharp paring knife, trim off edges to make into a triangle. Lightly brush one of the prepared cones with jam. Place fondant, powdered sugar-side up, onto a piece of wax or parchment paper. Position a trimmed cone at the edge of triangle, about Ѕ-inch from tip and carefully roll fondant around cone. Trim off excess. Shape tip as desired. Repeat with remaining cones and fondant.

Mix navy petal dust with a few drops of extract. Stir until evenly combined. Add extract a drop at a time until desired consistency is reached (should be thin enough to paint smoothly, but thick enough to cover cones evenly). Paint cones with a small, flat brush. Dry completely (about 3 to 4 hours). Apply second coat, if needed.

To make the brim, tear off a small piece of fondant. Roll into an even shaped log, about Ѕ-inch in diameter. Spread bottom of cones with more jam and attach brim to cone. Remember to match seams of brim with seams of hat. Hold a toothpick at an angle and gently press into brim to create fabric-like texture.

Mix gold luster dust with extract until desired consistency is reached. Paint the brim and accent hat with stars and lightning bolts. Dry completely.

To assemble cupcakes, place a layer of frosting on cupcakes and top with wizard hats.

Star Cupcakes

2006-07-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

18 cupcakes

Ingredients :

1 (18.25-oz.) box cake mix or 1 recipe for a 13x9-inch cake

1 Ѕ cups white frosting

1 lb. fondant (ready-to-roll icing)*

blue food color

red food color

special equipment: mini-star molds baking pan

Spray inside of baking pan with non-stick vegetable spray. Dust lightly with flour, shaking out excess. Prepare batter according to package directions. Fill each star with ј to 1/3 cup batter. Bake as directed. Cool stars for 5 minutes in pan. Using a thin-bladed knife, loosen edges of stars from pan. Carefully turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Wash pan and repeat until batter is used up.

Trim the bottoms of the stars so they lay flat. Spread a thin layer of frosting over each star. Next, take a ball of fondant, about 2 Ѕ-inches in diameter and roll out into a circle, about ј-inch thick. Carefully drape over star and gently press sides and top smoothly onto cupcake. Trim edges and repeat with remaining cupcakes and fondant.

Divide remaining frosting in half and color one half red and the other half blue. Place into separate piping bags fitted with decorating tips (i.e., no. 16 star tips). Decorate as desired.

*You can also substitute your favorite frosting for the fondant. Simply frost and decorate cupcakes as desired.

Camouflage Cupcakes

2006-06-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 (18.25 oz) box cake mix or 1 recipe for 2 (8-inch) round layer cakes

1 (16-oz) can frosting or 2 cups of your favorite chocolate frosting

1 cup ready-to-roll white fondant icing

Powdered sugar

Green food color

Red food color

Directions

Line muffin tins with muffin cups. Prepare batter according to directions on box. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake according to package directions. Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tins to cool completely on a wire rack.

While cupcakes cool, divide fondant equally into three pieces. Cover two pieces with plastic wrap. Knead remaining piece until soft and pliable. Add a drop of green food color to fondant. Continue to knead until color is evenly incorporated. Roll into a smooth ball and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat process with second piece of fondant, adding more green food color to make it darker than the first piece. With the last piece of fondant, use green and red food color to make it brownish-green.

When cupcakes are cool, frost tops with chocolate frosting. Lightly sprinkle a clean work surface with powdered sugar. Roll out one of the colored fondant pieces until 1/4 to 1/8" thick; do not turn over. Cut into irregular, camouflage-type shapes using a sharp paring knife. Repeat with remaining fondant pieces; sprinkling work surface with powdered sugar as needed. Place fondant "camouflage" decoratively on frosted cupcakes.

Teddy Bear Cake

2006-06-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

Prep. Time: 1 hour (Ready in 3 hours 30 minutes)

Makes 12 Servings

Ingredients

CAKE:

1 (18.25-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury® Moist Supreme® Yellow Cake Mix

1 cup water

1/3 cup oil

3 eggs

FROSTING:

1 (16-oz.) can Pillsbury® Creamy Supreme® Vanilla Frosting
Brown, yellow and pink icing colors (not liquid food color)

DECORATIONS:

Toothpicks
Pink decorator sugar
3 round chocolate jelly candies

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 1 1/2quart casserole, one 10oz. custard cup and two 6oz. custard cups.
In large bowl, combine all cake ingredients; beat at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at high speed. Pour 1/3 cup batter into each greased and floured 6oz. custard cup, 1/2 cup batter into 10oz. custard cup and remaining batter into 1 1/2quart casserole.
Bake at 350°F. until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Bake cakes in custard cups for 18 to 22 minutes; bake cake in casserole for 45 to 55 minutes. Cool cakes in cups and casserole for 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire racks; cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.
In small bowl, tint 1 1/4 cups of the frosting with brown and yellow icing colors to make desired brown color for bear; blend well. Tint remaining frosting with pink icing color to make desired color for collar and hair bow; blend well.
With serrated knife, trim 1/2 inch off top of casserole cake to level; set trimmings aside. Place casserole cake, cut side down, on platter or foilcovered cardboard. Trim tops of custard cup cakes to level; set trimmings aside. Cut 1/2 inch off one side of each 6oz. cake; set 1/2inch pieces aside.
With small amount of brown frosting, attach trimmed 6oz. cakes to casserole cake for bear ears, securing with toothpicks. With small amount of brown frosting, attach 10oz. cake to top of casserole cake, setting off center, for muzzle of bear. Frost entire cake with brown frosting.
With trimmings from casserole cake, cut ruffled collar. Attach collar to bear, securing with toothpicks. For hair bow, use any remaining trimmings and attach to bear with toothpicks. Frost collar and bow with pink frosting. Sprinkle with pink sugar.
Place 2 chocolate candies on bear for eyes. Cut remaining chocolate candy and place on cake for nose and eyebrows as shown in photo. Remove toothpicks before serving.
HIGH ALTITUDE (ABOVE 3500 FEET): Add 1/3 cup flour to dry cake mix; increase water to 1 1/4 cups. Bake as directed above.

Flower Flyer Cupcake

2006-05-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Tint a small amount of vanilla using green icing color. Brush mixture on lollipop sticks to color stems; let dry. Roll out pink fondant 1/8 in. thick. Cut flowers using Cut-Outs. Brush tops with water; sprinkle with pink sugar. For flower centers, roll small balls of yellow fondant and attach with damp brush. Let dry. Cut spearmint leaves in a smaller teardrop shape. Attach leaf and flower to stem with dots of buttercream. Tint a portion of white fondant orange (combine Orange and Red-Red Icing Colors for orange shade shown). For ladybug, shape into a 1/2 in. oval shape. Let dry. Using black FoodWriter, draw head, wing outline and spots. Bake and cool cupcakes. Pipe tip 233 pull-out grass in green buttercream. Insert flowers on stems; position ladybug. Tint a small amount of vanilla using green icing color. Brush mixture on lollipop sticks to color stems; let dry.

Bee Cupcakes

2006-05-27T01:07:00.000-07:00

• 1 cupcake
• Yellow frosting
• Black licorice, twist and whip
• 1 chocolate wafer, halved
• 1 large Black Crow licorice, halved
• 1 large yellow gumdrop, halved

Step 1: Frost the cupcake in yellow icing, adding stripes with the black twist licorice.

Step 2: Make wings from the wafer halves, adding a design with a writing tip. Support the wings with icing blobs.

Step 3: Attach the halved Black Crow licorice to the gumdrop for eyes, with the whip licorice--dipped in frosting--for antennae