ladybug cupcake..

Look at this cupcake..isn't it the sweetest cupcake? I know someone will love to make this or to eat this cupcake. Is there any Ladybug out there? =) At first when I was looking at the picture, I thought it would be complicated to make this cupcake. But when I actually read the steps on how to make it, it is very easy. For sure I'm going to try out this recipe and give it to my nieces and nephews. Kids would love to have this cupcake.

Ladybug Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 12 chocolate (or other flavor) full-size cupcakes
• 1 package Oreo Cakesters
• Red candy melts (I used about 1/2 bag)
• Black M&Ms
• Canned vanilla frosting, half colored green and half left plain
• Mini Oreo cookies
• Black licorice

And here are the steps:

Started with Chocolate Cupcake...any of your fave recipes.

• Separate one of the chocolate cookies from an Oreo Cakester and split it in half. These will be the ladybug wings.
• Do the same with the remaining half and discard the filling. (I chose Oreo Cakesters because they are much easier to cut than regular Oreos. They require a bit more care because they are softer, but I found them much easier to work with. They also happen to be the perfect size for fitting on top of the cupcakes.)

Repeat this process until you have 12 sets of wings.

Melt red candy melts in the top of a double boiler.

• Carefully dip the top side of each cookie half into the melted red candy to coat evenly. I found the best method for handling this step was to place the cookie half face down in the red candy melts, then gently remove it using two forks (one to tip it out of the candy, one to hold it) so that as little candy melt gets onto the bottom side of the cookie as possible.
• Gently shake the fork holding the cookie half to remove excess candy, if necessary. Transfer to a work surface and top with black M&Ms. (I tried many different candies for the ladybug spots including mini M&Ms, chocolate chips, and jelly beans, but ultimately chose regular black M&Ms for size and color.) Allow the candy to set completely before proceeding.

• Using a plastic bag with the corner cut off, pipe two large blobs of plain frosting onto a cupcake. This will be used to “glue” the wings on. Place the wings on the cupcake, all the way to one side of the cupcake so that there will be room for the head. Squeeze another blog of frosting in front of the wings, where the head will be.
• Before placing the head on the cupcake, cut two short pieces of black licorice and stick them in between the cookie pieces of the mini Oreo to look like antennae. (I could not find regular black licorice so I had to make due by cutting small pieces of black Twizzlers.) Once the head and antennae are assembled, place the head on in front of the wings.

Using another plastic bag with the corner cut off and filled with the green frosting, pipe small blobs of frosting around the front of each ladybug to look like grass.

(source from here)