How to Decorate Cacti Cupcakes

Theme parties can be a way to enhance the fun and enjoyment of the guests, whether the guests are children or adults. You have a chance to show your creativity and festive side when decorating for the event, and that includes the food. Decorating cacti cupcakes for a cowboy party, a Southwestern party, or just for someone who loves the South, is easy enough that even a beginner can do it. If you're uneasy about your decorating skills, practice a couple of times first so you'll feel more comfortable when decorating for the event. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Cacti Made With Frosting

Bake cupcakes according to the directions on the box and let cool completely. Frost each cupcake with a light-colored frosting. Use a color that will show good contrast with green, such as white or beige.

Make green frosting by mixing blue and yellow food coloring with white frosting. Use a couple of drops of food coloring at a time and mix until you're satisfied with the shade of green. You can always add more food coloring to alter the color.

Spoon the green frosting into a baggie. Twist the baggie closed on top and make sure all the frosting is pushed tightly down to one corner of the baggie. Hold the baggie closed with your hand.

Snip off about 1/4 inch of the corner of the baggie. Position the opening over the top of a cupcake.

Squeeze the bag gently from the top to dispense the frosting. Use your other hand to guide the direction of the frosting. Make the arms of the cactus first by making one "L" shape left of center on the cupcake, then make a reverse "L" shape right of center on the cupcake. Leave about 1/2 inch of space between the horizontal lines of the "L" shapes.

Position the frosting bag about 1/2 inch from the top of the cupcake and ensure you'll be dispensing near the center of the cupcake.

Dispense the frosting in one vertical line from the top of the cupcake to about 1/2 inch from the bottom edge. As you use frosting, twist the top of the baggie to push the frosting downward.

Make brown frosting by mixing three drops each of red, blue and yellow food coloring to about 12 oz. of white frosting. Spoon icing into a clean baggie. This frosting will be used to make needles on the cacti.

Twist the top of the baggie until all the frosting is tightly packed into one corner of the baggie. Snip off just the very tip of the corner of the baggie with scissors.

Make needles on the cacti by randomly positioning the hole in the baggie on the green frosting and dispensing a dot about 1/16 of an inch in circumference. Stop squeezing the bag.

Slowly lift the frosting bag straight up to make the point of the needle. The frosting at the tip of the opening will slightly pull out and you should have a nice, pointy needle. Repeat as many times as you wish on each cactus.

Cacti Made With Sugar Crystals

Make cupcakes according to the directions on the cake mix and let them cool completely. Frost the cupcakes with a light-colored frosting of your choosing.

Place the cactus-shaped cookie cutter in the center of the top of a cupcake. Gently push down until there is a seal between the cookie cutter and the frosting.

Spoon green sugar crystals inside the cookie cutter until you cannot see the frosting inside the cookie cutter. Tap the sides of the cupcake to ensure even distribution of the sugar crystals.

Pick up the cupcake at the bottom with one hand and place the tips of your fingers of the opposite hand very lightly on the top of the cookie cutter. Turn the cupcake upside down and gently shake to remove excess sugar crystals. Turn the cupcake right side up.

Remove the cookie cutter by grasping the sides and slowly pulling it straight up.

Tips

- To make a light-colored frosting other than white, mix food coloring into white frosting. For example, one drop of red, blue and yellow food coloring added to a can of white frosting will make the frosting beige.

- To add texture to frosting cacti, use a toothpick to make shallow lines in the frosting.

- To make the brown frosting used for needles thicker, add powdered sugar to the frosting until the frosting is a stiff consistency so the needles will stick out.