Cupcake Decorating Ideas
To save you dollars from buying professionally made cupcakes, try making your own using these great cupcake decorating ideas. MegzCakes has many cupcake decorating ideas to share from our own creations to inspiration we have derived from others. Any celebration, birthday, holiday or for any day in particular, you will find fun, cute, different cupcake decorating ideas to make your event special. Check out our Cupcake page and Occasions pages for more great cup cake pictures to inspire you!
MegzCakes Quick Links
- Cupcake Pans
- Free Cupcake Decorating Ideas
Cupcake Design Ideas By Category
Cupcake Pans
It all starts with a recipe and a cupcake pan! Below you will find a few traditional and fun cupcake pans and cupcake cake pans that can assist in making these fun treats from home.
Click here for more cake and cupcake pans
Cupcake Decorating Ideas
Cupcakes can be found with many differnet styles and flavours. There is no end to the ideas for cupcakes in terms of decorating ideas, for example spell out different sayings
like 'Happy Birthday', 'Thank You', or even 'Get Well Soon'. You can also shape the cupcakes into shapes other than traditional round, make squares instead! Use your favorite
cookie to decorate the top, we could go on and on.
Here are some of our great cupcake decorating ideas!
Cupcake Designs Using Buttercream Icing
Classic Buttercream Cupcake Swirl
These cupcakes are the easiest to create and yet still makes a pretty cupcake for any occasion. Using different colour pearls
or other sprinkles and changing the cup they sit in can create many different designs or themes.
How to make the a buttercream swirl for cupcakes
This is a very easy cupcake decorating idea, Use Wilton piping tip 1M to pipe on the swirl. Starting from the outside first will create the peak effect.
Easy Flower Effect Cupcake Design
Use Wilton piping tip 1M to pipe on the buttercream icing, start in the centre of the cup cake pipe on the icing, and by working your way outside, you will create this flower effect for a different yet simple cupcake design idea.
Buttercream Rose Cupcakes
These rose cupcakes make a pretty display and taste great! They are not hard to create with some practice with the rose. To learn how to make a rose check out the video below. Once you have iced on your roses, with green buttercream icing and Wilton piping tip 70, pipe the leaves around the rose to cover up the rest of the cake. Watch the video below for more on how to make a buttercream rose.
Sports Themed Cupcakes
Sports cupcakes are a common party theme dessert. These are not hard to decorate but easy to impress!
In this example, Megzcakes uses buttercream icing colored to the sport of the ball. Spread icing on top of cupcake then use Wilton
piping tip 2 or 3 depending on the size of your cupcake and the sport to pipe the lines on the ball.
Another decorating idea would be to use the correct color of sprinkles (orange, white etc) on top of the icing to create a textured look.
For the lines and stitches you can use black liquorice and/or pipe on the lines and stitches using buttercream icing.
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Cupcake Designs Using Fondant Icing
In addition to the many designs for cupcakes using buttercream icing, Fondant icing can create a different look and style to your next round of cupcakes. Using fondant can allow for a flat surface on the top of your cupcake which is excellent for writing a special message. Fondant shapes is a very easy cupcake decorating idea that is truly endless with possiablites, any shaped cutter and you have a new cupcake design. And of course when considering decoraitng ideas with fondant we can't forget about flower cupcake ideas. See our examples pictures below...
How to Add Fondant to Cupcakes...
Start by adding a layer of buttercream icing to the top of your cupcakes. You can add as much or as little icing as you like. Using a circle shaped cutter, cut out a piece of fondant for each cupcake. Decorate the fondant circles to match your particular theme. When ready, brush the back of each circle with a little water and stick to the top of the cupcake and your done!
Superhero Cupcake Decorating Idea
The principle behind his cupcake decorating idea is easy to achieve. These cupcakes have a layer of buttercream icing under a piece of fondant that has been decorated, in this case to like superhero logos. To create the spiderman logo as an example, we used small pieces of white fondant for the eyes and piped of the rest of the mask using black buttercream icing. The other logo's were used by cutting out the symbols from separate pieces of fondant to form the logo. Using the basic concept and a little imagination you can create an awesome cup cake for any occasion and theme.
Fondant Shaped Cupcake Designs
Use a different shaped cutter for a different cupcake design. Hearts, stars, letters and anything else you can think of all make for easy cupcake decorating ideas.
Sesame Street Cupcake - Fondant Shapes
These cupcakes are another easy decorating idea for your little ones party. MegzCakes used a Sesame Street ice cube tray found
at the dollar store to create the character heads. There are many different silicone ice cube trays you can find in stores today that
will give you different shapes and characters. These are great moulds for fondant or gum paste.
Start by spreading icing on top or use a piping tip to swirl on a layer of icing to your cupcakes. Next, press a small ball of fondant
into the mold and smooth flat then press out. Brush a small amount of water onto the back of the of head and press into the icing. There
you have an easy way of creating unique cupcakes!
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Happy Birthday Cupcake Ideas
Birthday Cupcakes with Fondant
This is an easy way of making fun, unique cupcakes for any birthday party. Each cupcakes can have a personalized message or just one letter like the example pictures below. You can easily change the colors and words to match the theme of your occasion. Spread a layer of buttercream icing on top of the cupcakes. Roll out your choice of colored fondant and cut out circles in the diameter of the cupcake. Brush water on the bottom of the the circle and stick on top of the icing. Now you have a flat surface to create any words or design for your special occasion and you'll be sure to impress!
50th Birthday Cupcakes
The best way to make sure everyone knows that your friend or family member is turning 50 is making cupcakes with the number 50 on it so you can't miss it!
In this example MegzCakes used Wilton piping tip 199 and swirled desired colors on in different patterns keeping it as flat as possible. With Wilton piping tip 5 to 7,
pipe the numbers on as big as the cupcake in a bright color! Optional, you can add sprinkles as well. Simple, easy and very satisfying. Enjoy!
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Cupcake Decorating Ideas - Using Accessories
Cupcake accessories can include a number of items such as candy, sprinkles, pearls, flowers. Another fun decorating accessory can include cupcake holders and wrappers, you can find themed holders to match the party or just fun and cute shapes, animals, colors and more to bring a smile to a lucky someones face. Over the next few weeks we are working on adding to this section, for now is are a couple ideas...
Cookies and Cupcakes -- Sunflowers
These cupcakes are a nice decorating idea for any party. You will need to purchase Oreo cookies for the centers.
Using Wilton piping tip 16 to 21, start piping with stiff buttercream icing from the edge of the cupcake. Squeeze
icing out on a parallel angle to the surface to create a short strip of icing forming a point at the end as seen in the picture.
Repeat all the way around, overlapping the previous row, until you've reached the cookie. Add another layer of petals until you've reached the top
edge of the cookie. Add more petals where necessary to make it even.
To make petals more realistic, use a leaf Wilton piping tip 66 and again start from the edge of the cupcake and work your way around until you reach the cookie.
Another idea for the center is to use chocolate coated sun flower seeds.
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Cupcakes Ideas for Special Occasions
Here are a few cupcake decorating ideas for special occasions that we have made for both customers and our own personal family holidays.




