Clown Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• Make cake mix as directed on box, using water, butter and eggs. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake and cool as directed for cupcakes.
• On surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar, roll each color fondant to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut 12 (2-inch) triangles from each color.
• Frost cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Use black decorating gel to draw eyes and mouths on cupcakes. Place red candies on cupcakes for nose. Place fondant triangle on each cupcake for hat; decorate hats with yellow decorating icing. Attach star tip to tube of red decorating icing; pipe onto cupcakes next to hats for hair.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line cups with paper liners.
• Combine butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat using an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Alternate adding flour mixture and all the milk in small amounts, mixing well after each addition.
• Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
• Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Beat using an electric mixer until creamy. Add confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons at a time and mix. Add vanilla extract after 1/2 the confectioners' sugar has been incorporated.
• Frost each cooled cupcake with a layer of cream cheese frosting. Place 2 chocolate chips for eyes, 1 red M&M® candy for the nose, and 1 gummy worm for the mouth on each cupcake. Place 2 rows of orange M&M's® on top to make the hair.

Steps:

• For the eyes: Place the malt balls cut side down on the work surface. Add a mini chocolate chip as a pupil to each ball by gluing with a little buttercream. Set aside.
• For the mouths: Place the small orange gumdrops on the work surface standing upright. Snip each gumdrop with scissors straight down three-quarters of the way through the candy to make the open mouth.
• For the tails and fins: Cut each orange gumdrop fruit slice in half horizontally to make 2 thinner slices. Cut 12 of these pieces in half crosswise to make fins. Make tails from the remaining 12 slices by cutting and removing a wide "V" into the concave side of the candy. Set aside.
• For the stripes: Unroll the licorice and cut twelve 2 1/2-inch strips and twelve 3-inch strips. Separate the two sides of each strip.
• To assemble: Frost each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons buttercream. Arrange a long and a short piece of licorice across one end of each cupcake, placing the longer piece toward the middle and the shorter piece toward the edge, about 1/4 inch apart to make a stripe. Repeat with another set of licorice pieces across the other end of the cupcake. Trim the licorice pieces so that they are even with the edges of the cupcake.
• Attach the eyes, mouth, fins and tails by pressing gently into the frosting. Carefully sprinkle with orange nonpareils, leaving the 2 white stripes between the licorice pieces free of orange. Repeat steps for all cupcakes.