Insect cupcakes

You may remember I've taken a few cake decorating classes in the past (OK, more than a few) - I did a short four-week course before I started this blog, and I have one remaining post that I never got around to publishing. Now that the letter for this month's Alphabakes is I, there's no better time than to share my insect cupcakes with you. They also make me think of the onset of spring so they would be a nice little bake for Easter.

These are very simple to make once you know how. You need your cupcakes to be flat, so if they have come out domed you will need to level them.

Bee cakes: cover the cupcake in black roll-out icing and make stripes from yellow. Add eyes.

Ladybirds: cover half the cupcake in black and half in red, and make black dots and eyes.

Dragonflies: roll a small piece of icing for the body. Use a heart cutter to make a pair of wings and cut in half. Separate the two halves out and stick on one side of the body. Repeat on the other side. You can also use a tiny piece of straight spaghetti to make antennae.

Roses: Roll a small piece of pink icing to make a bud shape. We used leaf plunger cutters to cut out green icing.

Flower (in centre of pic): Use a small heart cutter to cut out several hearts, and arrange around a centre point to make petals.

Butterfly: I brought a small set of butterfly cutters with me and layered them to create this cake.

I am sending these to Alphabakes, which I am hosting this month; do join in!

I'm also sending these to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Kate of What Kate Baked and Karen of Lavender and Lovage, as their theme this month is cupcakes and muffins.