Look at me on a roll with all these posts this week! Definitely the post-CS and Halloween spirit! As I mentioned in my Fall Favorites post, I wanted to use this weekend to practice some cupcake decorating. After browsing Pinterest, I decided to attempt some monster cupcakes. They require super simple piping techniques, perfect for a beginner, and come out with excellent results! And they're a super fun craft to do with kids. I had a really fun time making some monsters with my younger brother.
Here are the supplies I used. It may seem daunting, but don't worry you don't need all these things! The only things that are essential to making these monster cupcakes are buttercream/decorating icing, a few decorating tips, and candy eyeballs.
The Cupcakes -- You can make the actual cupcakes using any recipe you have lying around. To keep things simple, I chose to make yellow cupcakes from a box. The Duncan Hines box mix make really delicious cupcakes!
Cupcake Icing -- This is the most important part and makes the difference between 'meh' vs. artisan cupcakes. You don't want to get just a regular can of frosting from the store!!! I cannot stress that enough. I've tried to decorate cupcakes in the past using the cheap $2 frosting cans and the results have been disappointing. That type of icing is super runny and it's literally impossible to decorate with it. You want a stiff icing that can hold a pattern, which is crucial to cake decorating. I would recommend going out and buying icing that is specifically meant for decorating. You can also make your own buttercream icing. But if you're lazy like me, try the Wilton White Decorator Icing from JoAnn Fabrics (also sold at Michael's). It was my first time using it and I was really happy with the results!
Decorating Tips -- I only used 3 types of tips for my cupcakes, but I've pictured a bunch of different tips to show you that there are endless varieties when it comes to cupcake decorating! The 8-pack decorating tip pack pictured above is from Walmart for only $3! Plastic tips are just as good as metal ones in my opinion. JoAnn Fabrics has a wall of different icing tips, many of which are only $0.99! For the cupcakes pictured above, I used an open star tip (purple icing), a grass tip (teal icing), and a closed star tip (pink icing). Again, you can get creative and use different types of tips to get different effects! I definitely LOVE the grass tip for making hairy-looking monsters! If you're new to cupcake decorating and have no idea what each tip looks like or the designs it makes, check out this video. She does an excellent job of explaining basic piping tips and techniques!
Decorating Bags -- I like using decorating bags specific for cake decorating since they are super sturdy. They're relatively cheap too. However, you can also get away with using Ziploc bags if you don't want to invest in fancy decorating bags.
Food Coloring -- You can get a variety of different food coloring gels at craft stores, but you can also use whatever you have lying around and get creative with coloring! A few of my friends have used jelly, fruit syrup, etc instead of actual food coloring in the past.
Candy Eyeballs -- from JoAnn Fabrics for only $4.99! They have small ones and large ones. I chose the large ones for regular-sized cupcakes. Try the smaller ones for cookies or mini cupcakes.
Once you have all of your materials, now's the fun part! Get creative with the piping and try out different ones in different shapes and colored icing. I used the open star tip to make the purple monster, and the grass tip to make a fuzzy hairy monster, which was my favorite. I had a few writing gels I had lying around to make mouths with, but you can use chocolate frosting plopped in a plastic bag to make mouths with. The most important part is remember to have fun and share this memory with loved ones! :)
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