How to Make Beach Themed Cupcakes With Crab and Turtle Decorations

This Instructable will teach you how to make yummy cupcakes and frosting from scratch, as well as create edible gummy toppers that look like crabs and turtles. They are easy to make and take approximately 2 hours in total, this includes bake time and decorating. These cupcakes make wonderful party treats, and are fun to make with friends and family or just because. I hope you enjoy this fun tutorial!

Note: Some of the pictures appear cut off just click on them to view the full image.

Step 1: What You Will Need

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of softened butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Frosting:

3 tablespoons of softened butter
1 egg white
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon of water

Gummy Decorations:

A little bit of frosting (set aside from the frosting recipe)
Graham crackers
Green and orange fruit slices
Green and orange gumdrops
Peach rings
Toothpicks

Equipment:

Cooling rack
Mixing bowls of all sizes
A non serrated knife or clean food safe scissors
Hand or stationary mixer
Cupcake pan
Cupcake liners
Rubber spatula
Storage container
Plastic sandwich bag
Plate
Hot pads

Step 2: Get Oven Ready

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Set out cupcake pans and line them with the cupcake liners.
Set aside the readied pan for later.

Step 3: Mix Together the Cupcake Batter

Dry Ingredients:

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Wet Ingredients:

Mix together the milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Set aside for later use.
In a separate large bowl, use the mixer on a low to medium speed to beat the butter and sugar together.
- Tip: It should look light and fluffy.
Mix in the eggs one at a time in the same bowl.
- Tip: Make sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding the next.

Combining the Ingredients:

Use the same large mixing bowl from before to alternate adding small parts of the dry mixture and the wet mixture that was previously combined.

Tip: Again make sure you full incorporate each addition to the batter before you add more.
Tip: The consistency of the batter will vary between thick and thin as you alternate the dry and wet ingredients respectively.

Step 4: Bake the Cupcakes

Pour the Batter and Bake:

Scrape the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula to make sure everything is mixed well together.
Pour or scoop the batter into the lined cupcake pans.
- Tip: Fill each cupcake until it is no more than 3/4 full. Start with half full then go back and fill them again until you run out of batter making sure they are evenly filled.
Place Cupcakes in the center rack of the oven
- Warning: Chance of burns when putting cupcakes in and out of the oven, use oven mitts.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on your oven).
- Tip: A good way to check if cupcakes are done is to stick a toothpick in the middle and then take it out to see if it comes away clean then its good, if it has batter on it then they are not done.
Place cupcakes aside on a cooling rack to cool before decorating.

Step 5: Mix the Frosting and Topping

While your cupcakes are baking and cooling you can make the frosting.

Frosting:

Get a medium sized bowl.
Put the sugar, butter, water, vanilla, and egg white in the bowl.
Slowly mix together the ingredients until the powdered sugar doesn't fly everywhere.
Mix the ingredients at higher speeds until it is light and fluffy.
Set aside a small amount of frosting to act as glue for the eyes of the animals.

Color and Texture:

Put graham crackers into a bag and crush them up until they are at a sand like consistency.
- Tip: Start off with around three graham and add more if needed.
Pour the crushed graham crackers onto a plate so they are ready for the decorating steps.
Set aside some frosting to dye blue to have an ocean colored frosting to go on the cupcakes.

Step 6: Make the Decorations

Sand:

Frost the top of the cupcake.
Roll the frosted cupcake in the plate of crushed graham crackers.

Turtles:

To make one turtle you need a peach ring, two gumdrops, and a fruit slice.

Put one of the gumdrops into the center of the peach ring for the body of the turtle.
Place the other gumdrop on the outside of the peach ring for the head of the turtle.
Cut the fruit slice in half.
Take one half and cut along the middle the long way (see image above).
Cut those two new half's in half again but this time at an angle along the short way (see image above).
Cut three smaller triangles one equilateral and two isosceles these will make the tail and the two back fins.
Place the pieces of the turtle onto the frosted cupcake.

Crabs:

To make one crab you need two gumdrops, one fruit slice, a half of peach ring, and two toothpicks.

Cut the tooth picks in half so you have four pieces of toothpicks.
Stick the two gumdrops on two of the toothpicks, one gumdrop per toothpick piece. These will be the eyes of the crab.
Stick the other ends of those same toothpicks into the top of the fruit slice (the flat side).
Place two drops of frosting on the gumdrops, one on each eye.
Stick the candy eyes onto the now frosted gumdrops.
Cut a peach ring in half.
Cut the half of peach ring in half again making two claws for the crab.
Stick the two claws onto the ends of the remaining two toothpicks.
Stick the toothpicks into the sides of the fruit slice.
Place the curved side of the fruit slice on to the frosted cupcake.
- Tip: If the crab is having trouble staying on the cupcake then use another toothpick in the bottom to stick into the cupcake for stability.

Step 7: Congratulations You're Finished

Now that you're finished, you should have fun and cute beach/ocean themed cupcakes like the ones above for any event! Have fun sharing this delicious tasting desert while impressing your friends and family.

Optional: