These cute and easy garden bug cupcakes topped with homemade fondant icing bugs are sure to be a hit with the kids!
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Today I've got a super cute (and totally delicious!) garden bug themed chocolate cupcakes recipe to share with you. These easy bug cupcakes are simple to make and perfect for kids parties and other special occasions, especially if your little ones love bugs, insects or mini beasts!
In case you missed my last post about it, We Bake is the community that rewards you for baking and is the first baking social media, a platform that celebrates baking but also coaches and motivates bakers of any level to do more of what they love. I'm really enjoying using the We Bakes community both to share my own bakes and to see all the awesome creations from other bakers all over the country.
You can create your own profile to share recipes, tips and advice with fellow bakers, follow other bakers and even win prizes and get access to exclusive events! It's something of a mix between Facebook and Instagram, but with 100% baking content.
The We Bake website offers lots of really useful advice and fun inspiration as well as some great challenges and rewards, like the Half Term Bake Brighter Days community challenge that I mentioned above. It's a great opportunity to get baking with the kids and as you can see from my recipe, you can get as creative as you like! You’ve got lots of chances to win if you enter this challenge too, as We Bake is giving away a £50 Red Letter Days Voucher every day.
I asked my 8 year old to help me bake something special this weekend for Daddy, who had just arrived home from a week's work abroad. We decided on the garden themed cupcakes to welcome him home as he loves his gardening! We had a lot of fun baking the cupcakes and then creating the icing bug decorations for them together.
We each took 6 cupcakes to decorate each and I loved seeing what my son came up with - he decorated the cakes in the photo above completely by himself. From the swirls of icing to the mini beasts on top they really were created with love!
I took step by step photos of my bug decorations so you can have a go at recreating them yourself or with your kids. There were quite a lot of photos and instructions and this blog post was getting rather long so I've shared the instructions for making the bugs in a second blog post here: How to Make Fondant Bug Cupcake Toppers.
Garden Bug Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients (makes 12):
- 125g butter (softened) or margarine
- 100 g soft brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 125 g plain flour
- 1 sachet/ 25 g Dr. Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa Powder
- 2 sachets/ 10 g (2 tsp) Dr. Oetker Baking Powder
- 50g Dr. Oetker Dark Chocolate Chunks
To decorate:
- Dr. Oetker Easy Swirl Chocolate Cupcake Icing
- 1 pack Dr. Oetker Regal-Ice Ready to Roll Coloured Icing
- Dr. Oetker Regal-Ice Ready to Roll White Icing
- Dr. Oetker Wafer Daisies
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4/350°F). Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cases.
Pop the butter or margarine into a mixing bowl then add the sugar and eggs. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder on top. Using an electric whisk on a low speed, gently blend the ingredients together. Increase the mixer speed and whisk for a few more seconds until well mixed.
Add the chocolate chunks to the bowl and gently fold in until well distributed in the cake mixture.
Divide the cake mixture equally between the muffin cases and smooth over the tops. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Whilst the cakes are cooling, create your fondant bug toppers ready to decorate them. You'll find my instructions for making the icing bug toppers here.
Once cool, decorate each cake with a swirl of Dr. Oetker Easy Swirl Chocolate Cupcake Icing, then top each cake with a fondant icing bug or some Dr. Oetker Wafer Daisies.
I’ve just posted this recipe on my We Bake profile so members can make it at home. Check it out here, become a We Bake member and let me know how you find it!
If you enjoyed this recipe you might also like these fun cupcake ideas:
Or for even more easy cupcake ideas, check out our Cake & Cupcake Recipes section here on the blog.
Grace
Disclosure: This blog post was commissioned by Dr. Oetker in support of the We Bake community. I was compensated for my time and the cost of ingredients, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Garden Bug Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 125 g butter (softened) or margarine
- 100 g soft brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 125 g plain flour
- 1 sachet/ 25 g Dr. Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp (10g) Dr. Oetker Baking Powder sachets
- 50 g Dr. Oetker Dark Chocolate Chunks
- Dr. Oetker Easy Swirl Chocolate Cupcake Icing
- 1 pack Dr. Oetker Regal-Ice Ready to Roll Coloured Icing
- Dr. Oetker Regal-Ice Ready to Roll White Icing
- Dr. Oetker Wafer Daisies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4/350°F). Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cases.
- Pop the butter or margarine into a mixing bowl then add the sugar and eggs. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder on top. Using an electric whisk on a low speed, gently blend the ingredients together. Increase the mixer speed and whisk for a few more seconds until well mixed.
- Add the chocolate chunks to the bowl and gently fold in until well distributed in the cake mixture.
- Divide the cake mixture equally between the muffin cases and smooth over the tops. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Whilst the cakes are cooling, create your fondant bug toppers ready to decorate them. You’ll find my instructions for making the icing bug toppers here.
- Once cool, decorate each cake with a swirl of Dr. Oetker Easy Swirl Chocolate Cupcake Icing, then top each cake with a fondant icing bug or some Dr. Oetker Wafer Daisies.
I hope you enjoyed this fun cupcake recipe, do please pin it if you did!
Julie McPherson says
These are just too cute for words, they would be perfect for childrens birthday parties. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor.
Isabelle Payne says
Just tried these as I needed inspiration, they were perfect for my niece's birthday party. Everyone commented on how cute they looked and how good they tasted! Thank you.
Grace says
Thank you for commenting, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed them!