Beehive Cupcakes

"A fun way to play up your everyday cupcake."

ingredients and directions:

• 1 box (18 oz.) your favorite cake mix
• 3 cups prepared vanilla frosting
• Yellow food coloring
• 24 pieces SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures
• ½ cup orange STARBURST® Brand Jellybeans
• 1 tube chocolate decorative frosting, with plain tip
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies
• Resealable plastic bag
• 24 paper cupcake liners classic
• 2 12-cup muffin tins
• 3 pieces construction paper, in bright, spring colors (orange, pink, green, etc.)
• Serving tray, optional

• Yield: Makes 24 cupcakes.
• Prep Time: 20 min.
• Bake Time: 21-25 min.
• Decoration Time: 30 min.
• Difficulty: Challenging

• 1. Line the 2 muffin tins with the paper cupcake liners. Prepare the cake mix and bake according to the package directions.
• 2. Let the cupcakes cool to room temperature.
• 3. In the meantime, tint the frosting with yellow food coloring to the desired shade. Dab a teaspoon of frosting on the bottom of each SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures and place one on top of each cupcake.
• 4. Frost the top of the cupcake, covering both the cupcake and candy. This will help support the frosting beehive.
• 5. Spoon the remaining frosting into a resealable plastic bag. Using scissors, snip a small corner of the bag. Pipe the frosting in a spiral fashion, starting at the bottom of the hive and working your way up to the top.
• 6. Place jellybeans randomly around the cupcake hives, and gently squeeze the chocolate frosting in a zigzag pattern on top of them.
• 7. For the bee’s wings, place an almond slice on both sides of each jellybean.
• 8. To serve, create flower cut-outs from the construction paper. Place the flowers on a table or serving tray, put a hive on each flower, and sprinkle with M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies.  http://brightideas.com/bright_idea.aspx?ID=41