Nothing is more special and thoughtful than a homemade birthday cake and you certainly don’t have to be a professional cake decorator to create a stunning and tasty birthday treat. Birthday cupcakes are an adorable and novel approach to supplement the traditional birthday cake. With a little creative thinking and motivation, you can say goodbye to plain supermarket cakes and expensive cake toppers by using hard ring shaped candies, jelly beans and other visually interesting confection to create charming decorations and cleaver candle holders.

Here as some super scrummy and delightfully simple cupcake ideas to help you create special birthday party for your loved ones.

6 Best Birthday Cupcakes

1.      Golden Birthday Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 Box of yellow cake mix
• Eggs, vegetable oil and water as described on the cake mix packet
• 2 containers of frosting
• 1 tablespoon of edible gold cake decoration luster dust

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat standard oven to 350°F, but if you are using dark or nonstick pans, 325°F is the recommended temperature. Line 24 standard muffin cups with metallic gold baking cups. Make cake mix and pour into cups, bake as described on the box, then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow it tocool.

Step 2: Using a star tipped frosting bag pipe frosting onto cooling cupcakes and allow frosting to set. This may take approximately 2 hours, be sure to test that the frosting is set. If frosting is still wet and smears to the touch, allow longer to set.

Step 3: Once the frosting is set, apply gold dust to the frosting gently with a soft artists brush until a shimmering gold sheen is achieved. A second layer of gold dust can be applied for extra luster and shine.

Step 4: Store cupcakes loosely and evenly spaced in an airtight food storage container, preferably a purposed designed cupcake keeper.

2.      Colorful Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 bowl of chocolate cupcake mix
• 1 lot of Buttercream frosting mixture
• A variety of Gel color pastes

Directions:

Step 1: Line mini muffin tins with mini baking cups or liners

Step 2: Fill cups or liners 2 thirds full of batter. Bake for 10 minutes or until a skewer when pushed into the cupcake come out clean. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.

Step 3: Divide frosting into bowls and using gel color paste, color individually by dabbing a little of the gel colorant in one of the bowls and using a plastic spatula, combine to create a smooth even colored frosting. Add further drops of colorants and combine one at a time to create a stronger color. Repeat with other colors and bowls of frosting.

Step 4: Apply tinted buttercream to cooled cupcakes with piping bag or spatula.

3.      Ball Game Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
• A box of yellow cake mix
• 1 cup of water
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
• Vanilla frosting
• Easy Flow decorating icing
• Food Coloring

Directions:

Step1: Preheat standard oven to 350°F, 325°F if using dark or nonstick pans. Line 24 standard muffin cups with baking cups.

Step 2: Put chocolate chips in a small bowl mix in one teaspoon of cake mix. Beat left over cake mix, eggs, oil and water with an electric beater for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chip mixture. Fill baking cups 2/3 full of mixture.

Step 3: Bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean after being pushed into the cupcakes then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool.

Step 4: Individually decorate cupcakes

• Baseballs: Apply vanilla frosting then apply piped black red or blue icing in aches across the white frosting to create the seams of the baseball. Then pipe smaller lines across the seams to create stitches.
• Basketballs: Separate some of the plain icing and color orange with red and yellow coloring. Apply orange frosting to the cupcakes then pipe black icing lines, 1 across straight across the center and curved lines running perpendicular to the first line.
• Soccer Balls: Apply white vanilla frosting. Create a black pentagon in the center with black piped icing. Pipe rows of icing into the center of the pentagon crating seams. Spread icing carefully to fill the pentagon shape.
• Tennis Balls: Add green and yellow color to the vanilla frosting then apply to cupcake. At last, pipe white icing in arches to create seams.

4.      Bug Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• Eggs, vegetable oil and water as described on the cake mix packet
• Whipped fluffy white or vanilla frosting
• Assorted candies
• Fruit by the chewy fruit snack rolls cut into strips
• Black decorating gel

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat standard oven to 350°F, 325°F if using dark or nonstick pans. Line 24 standard muffin cups with colorful baking cups. Make cake mix and pour into cups, bake as described on the box, then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool.

Step 2: Apply white frosting, add candies and decorate with the gel to create bumpy bug bodies. Stick 2 lines of 3 snack strips on each cupcake to create legs.

5.      Hot Fudge Sundae Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• Eggs, vegetable oil and water as described on the cake mix packet
• 20 waffle ice cream bowls
• 1 ¼ cups hot fudge topping
• Canned Whipped Cream
• Confetti sprinkles
• 20 maraschino cherries with stems

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat standard oven to 350°F, 325°F if using dark or nonstick pans. Line 24 standard muffin cups with baking cups. Make cake mix and pour into cups, bake as described on the box, then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool. Set aside 4 cupcakes for another use.

Step 2: Remove baking cup or paper liners and apply one tablespoon of hot fudge topping onto each cupcake. Place cupcakes in waffle bowls and top with sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries.

6.      Beary Fun Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 Box of Yellow cake mix
• Eggs, vegetable oil and water as described on the cake mix packet
• 30 to 36 Flat bottomed ice cream cones
• Vanilla frosting
• Food coloring and assorted candies and decorations of your choice

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat standard oven to 350°F. Make cake mix and pour into cones, place in bases of standard muffin trays. Remember to put the leftover batter in the refrigerato before you get ready to bake the remaining cones.

Step 2: Bake for about 25 minutes, then gently place onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool, which may take 1 hour.

Step 3: Frosting and decorate the cupcakes then store them loosely covered.

Here is a video showing how to make birthday cupcakes easily: