SALT LAKE CITY — A cupcake is just a blank canvas for delicious creativity. I wanted to make cute, Easter-worthy treats that would take these little blank canvases into spring. I thought I would stop with the fluffy Easter bunnies, but I couldn’t resist some little yellow chicks as well.

Easy is the key here. There are no complicated directions or hard-to-find ingredients; just simple candies, sprinkles and frosting.

I started with my favorite Vanilla Cupcakes recipe and a double batch of my Fluffy Vanilla Frosting. Both are simple, basic recipes that even the kids can help with. I love a good cake mix though, so feel free to reach for a box of your favorite flavor and bake it up. Tint one batch of the frosting yellow for the chicks. You’ll end up with about 2 dozen cupcakes, 12 bunnies and 12 chicks.

Fluffy Bunny Cupcakes

• Vanilla cupcakes (Recipe: Tarateaspoon.com)
• Fluffy vanilla frosting (Recipe: Tarateaspoon.com)
• Regular marshmallows
• Mini marshmallows
• Pink jellybeans
• Pink sanding sugar
• White sprinkles
• Black decorator icing

Directions: Mound and smooth three or four tablespoons of frosting on top of a cupcake. I added the marshmallow ears first, then covered the entire thing with white sprinkles. I love the bunny ears made from marshmallows and wanted to use them on these little guys. You simply cut a marshmallow in half diagonally, then dip the cut side in pink sugar. The sugar sticks to the soft insides. I did have to put a little cooking spray on my scissors so the marshmallows didn’t stick with each cut.

I cut a mini marshmallow in half for the bunny cheeks, used a jelly bean for the nose and piped black decorator icing on for the eyes. Just use the black icing you find in the baking section at the grocery store, nothing fancy. It usually comes with some basic piping tips, and I just used the smallest, plain tip for the eyes.

Like I mentioned, I couldn’t resist a baby chick cupcake too! Especially when I saw the Chiclets gum at the store. The orange Chiclets are perfect for little beaks! If your store doesn’t have Chiclets gum, get creative and use what you can find; you could use Airheads candy, or an orange M&M.

Fluffy Yellow Chick Cupcakes

• Vanilla cupcakes (Recipe: Tarateaspoon.com)
• Fluffy vanilla frosting (Recipe: Tarateaspoon.com)
• Yellow food coloring
• #807 plain piping tip and bag
• Yellow sprinkles
• Clear sanding sugar
• Orange Chiclets gum
• Black decorator icing

Directions: I tinted my frosting yellow and piped it on the cupcakes in a simple spiral using the large plain piping tip. Cover the top with yellow sprinkles for that feathery poof and sprinkle the entire thing with sanding sugar. Add your orange beak and black eyes and you’re done.

Enjoy these darling little treats for your spring events. Check out TaraTeaspoon.com for more festive deserts and cupcake creations.

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Tara is a Utah native who has been a food editor for Martha Stewart and Ladies’ Home Journal. She contributes delicious recipes to websites and cookbooks from her home in New York City, and has appeared on the Today Show and Studio 5. Find more great ideas on TaraTeaspoon.com.

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