In a hurry, but want something fun and festive to serve as a Halloween dessert? Cupcakes of any flavor can be made quickly from a mix, or from a favorite recipe from scratch; some bakeries even sell plain unfrosted cupcakes ready made. Halloween cupcake liners and black sanding sugar are both readily available in grocery, craft stores, and restaurant supplies; check the inventory on your pantry shelf to make sure they are available. What follows are three easy, quick decorating ideas for Halloween cupcakes. A quick trip to the grocery store for canned frosting, assorted cookies and candies, and writing icing (in the cake aisle) is probably necessary, but that can be done a week or so ahead so they’re on hand when needed. If there are kids, round them up; they’ll want to help because these are really fun.

Spiders:

Canned Vanilla Frosting
Canned chocolate Frosting
Black Licorice Strings
Devil’s Food cookie cakes
Black Sanding Sugar
Red Writing Icing (in tube)

1. Frost cupcakes with white frosting.
2. Press four 3” licorice strings on each side of the cupcake.
3. Spread a little chocolate frosting over a Devil’s Food Chocolate Cookie Cake and sprinkle with black sanding sugar; press into the frosting to make the spider’s body.
4. Spread a little chocolate frosting over a chocolate covered peanut; sprinkle with sanding sugar and press into the frosting to make the spider’s head.
5. Make two eyes using the tube of frosting.

Eyeballs:

Canned Vanilla Frosting
Red Writing Icing (in tube)
Green Gummy Lifesavers
M&M’s or Reese’s Pieces

1. Frost cupcakes with white frosting.
2. Make squiggly lines from the center to the outside of cupcake to look like bloodshot eyes.
3. Press a green gummy lifesaver in the center.
4. Put a little frosting on the M&M and place in the middle of the lifesaver.

Owls:

Canned Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate or Vanilla Sandwich Cookies
Candy Corns
Whole Cashews
Reese’s Pieces

1. Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
2. Split the cookies and place two cookies with frosting on each side of the cupcake (eat the other sides or frost with some canned white frosting).
3. Press a Reese’s Piece in the frosting on the cookie to make the eyeball.
4. Press a whole cashew under the eyes for the beak with the pointed end facing down.
5. Press two candy corns for the eyebrows (Do Owls have eyebrows? I don’t really know, but the candy corns look cute anyway).