Thanksgiving Cupcakes

While pumpkin pie may be synonymous with Thanksgiving, cake lovers will enjoy having an alternative option to the traditional dessert. Cupcakes decorated with holiday motifs add festive flair to your Thanksgiving setting.

Chocolate ganache-topped cupcakes serve as a base for several festive designs made using fondant and buttercream frosting. Round tips and petal tips will come in handy for making the pilgrim's hair, hat, and collar, as well as the cornucopia and turkey feathers. Make any fondant pieces, like the pumpkins, the day before so they have time to set before adding them to the cupcakes.

Playing and watching football often go hand-in-hand with Thanksgiving. Celebrate your love of the game with cupcakes topped with miniature footballs. Purchase themed wrappers and picks to make decorating easy, or make your own footballs out of chocolate fondant and white royal icing.

A pretty cupcake doesn't have to be a lot of work. To create simple yet lovely designs, fit three decorating bags with shell tips and fill with your favorite fall colors. Pipe into a striped design and top with sprinkles. This is also a great job for kids who want to help in the kitchen.

Cake pops are the latest cake-craze to hit the decorating world, and they really allow decorators to show off a stunning finished product. Mix cake with frosting and shape to create your desired design. Allow them to harden in the fridge or freezer and then dip into melted candy coating before adding candies, fondant pieces, royal icing details, and other items to create the right look. Turkeys, apples, corn, pumpkins, and cornucopias are all options for the holiday.

Brightly colored fall frosting provides a base for traditional holiday icons that are inserted into the tops of these cupcakes. Make the picks yourself by printing out Thanksgiving clip art and adding to toothpicks; alternatively, make toppers out of rolled fondant decorated with edible paint or markers.

Gobble up these frosted turkey cupcakes! To make them, follow these instructions:

1. Frost cupcake in chocolate ganache or buttercream.
2. Add red buttercream to a decorating bag fitted with a petal tip and make the red row of feathers.
3. Add orange buttercream to a decorating bag fitted with a petal tip and make the row of orange feathers slightly below the red ones.
4. Add yellow buttercream to a decorating bag fitted with a petal tip and make the row of yellow feathers just below the orange ones.
5. Use a large round tip with beige buttercream to create the turkey body.
6. Use small decorating tips to add facial details and legs.

Skip the multiple frosting bags and instead use candies to create turkeys on top of cupcakes. Follow these easy instructions:

1. Frost cupcakes with chocolate buttercream.
2. Place seven to eight pieces of candy corn at the back of each cupcake with the tips inserted in the frosting and cupcake until they stand up their own.
3. Use white fondant and black royal icing to make eyes.
4. Use royal icing to add the eyes to a chocolate candy disk.
5. Place candy disk in the center of the cupcake.
6. Add a candy corn to the front of the cupcake with the tip pointed out to represent the turkey's beak.

For elegant Thanksgiving cupcakes, create fondant autumn leaves to top each cupcake. A simple cupcake with neutral icing helps focus the eye on the stunning leaf with color gradients and delicate veining. Choose a base color for your fondant and add swirls of color using edible paint. Cover the leaf in edible glitter and top your cupcake.

Autumn leaves don't need to be homemade to look good. Instead, purchase leaf toppers that have an additional motif in a contrasting color to provide all the decoration you need. These are handy because they can be used year after year.

Create a dreamy look by placing pumpkins in a cloud of fluffy white frosting. This is a great option if you prefer whipped frosting over buttercream. Make pumpkins using orange fondant and add ridges with a dull fondant knife. Top with green fondant stems and buttercream leaves. Place on top of white frosting and serve to hungry guests!

Not every cupcake needs to be professionally decorated. If you're offering a pumpkin-flavored cupcake , consider hinting at what's underneath the frosting by dusting the top with a little pumpkin pie spice. It adds a boost of flavor, cuts down on your decorating time, and adds a little something extra to an otherwise plain cupcake.

These delicious pumpkin cupcakes utilize rounded cupcake tops. To decorate, follow these instructions:

1. Frost cupcakes in a thin coat of orange buttercream.
2. Add orange buttercream to a pastry bag and make several lines from the center to the edges to resemble a pumpkin's ridges.
3. Sprinkle the entire cupcake top with edible orange sprinkles.
4. Cut green apple licorice into 1/2 inch pieces and place in the top center as stems.

Create a happy pumpkin by following these simple directions:

1. Fit a large round tip onto a decorating bag with orange frosting.
2. Make a big mound of frosting on top of a chocolate-ganache covered cupcake.
3. Allow to set and then add piped details for the face using thinned buttercream or royal icing.

When it comes to a Thanksgiving dessert, cupcakes really do take the cake. Consider making a Thanksgiving cake or cupcake to replace or supplement your traditional pies.