Rubber Ducky Cupcakes

There’s been a lot of cool science news recently, so I’ve fallen behind on posting new cupcake recipes. I thought I’d post instructions on how to make your cupcakes look like rubber ducks. (This is based on the design from the book Hello Cupcake, What’s New, which I love!) You get a huge sugar high from eating one of these, and an even bigger one if you snack on the starbursts and M&Ms that are the wrong colour, lick the frosting off your fingers, and eat the extra Timbits, marshmallows, or starburst molding failures J

Decorating Supplies:

Vanilla frosting (I use Betty Croker, do NOT use whipped)
Yellow food colouring
Mini M&M’s (brown, blue and green)
Marshmallows
Orange starbursts         
Plain Timbits
Vanilla cupcakes in yellow or white liners (start with more than you want because it takes some practice to get them looking the way you want)

 Prep Stuff:

Bake the cupcakes as described and let them cool completely.

Cut the marshmallows in half diagonally.

Cut the starbursts in half and microwave for a few seconds at a time until you can mold them into beaks (or feet). I found it helpful to make a pointy end that could be stuck into the Timbit.

Assembling the Duckies

1.      Once they have cooled, ice the cupcakes and place the marshmallow at one end and the Timbit at the other to make the head and tail of the duck. Use the frosting like glue to help hold them in place.

2.      Put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

3.      Microwave the frosting until it is runny and use the yellow food colouring to dye the frosting.

4.      Carefully dip the cupcake into the frosting and let excess frosting drip off.

5.      Carefully add the starburst beak and M&M eyes now OR wait until the frosting has hardened then add them at this point, whatever works out better for you. You may need to use a dab of frosting to hold the M&Ms in place. I stick the pointy end of the beak into the Timbit to help it stay in place

To make upside down duckies:

Place the marshmallow in the opposite orientation from the original ducky. Once it has been dipped, carefully place the starburst feet on either side of the marshmallow tail. You may need a small dab of icing to help them stick in place.

The placement of everything is really important, and it took several tries to get it right. The cupcakes look really good when they are done, but there were a lot of casualties in the process!