Pupcakes at the LA County Fair!

This year's LA County Fair offered a fun class on how to decorate cupcakes to look like dogs, or "Pup"cakes!  I watched the demos and made some notes so I can try this at home. My pictures are of the ones the instructor created, since I didn't get a space in the class to make my own.

 

 Chocolate Lab

For the cute Chocolate Lab, place 1/2 of a marshmallow on top of the cupcake before frosting to form the snout.  Use brown M&M candies for the eyes and nose.  The tongue is formed from 1/2 of a pink Starburst, flattened and shaped with a score in the tongue.  Fold it slightly in half before bending.  The ears are formed from a Tootsie Roll.  Just smoosh it to shape.

Sheepdog

The little Sheepdog has no eyes or nose, just lots of icing fur!  For the ears, use tiny triangles of Oreo.  Mix grey and white icing in the piping bag for fur (the instructor's pictured here did not have the two toned icing).  Use 1/2 of a Starburst for the tongue and shape it appropriately, with a small score for the bend in the tongue.

Yorkie

The Yorkie uses a mix of chocolate and vanilla icing in the piping bag.  Insert a large triangle of Oreo cookie as the forehead at an angle, with the plain side to the front.  You may need to cut a slit in the cupcake to insert the oreo.  Place a marshmallow in front of the Oreo to form the snout.  Use small pieces of Oreo to insert ears slightly in front of the large triangle of forehead.  Pipe a mustache over the marshmallow, then pipe the surrounding areas.  Use M&M candies for the eyes and nose.  Use 1/2 of a starburst for the tongue as you did with the other cupcakes.  Use the other piece of starburst to form a bow for the hair on the forehead.

For more cute Pupcake ideas, check out this article from Parents Magazine.

What kind of creative cupcake decorating ideas have you actually experimented with?  Where did you get the ideas?  What kind of icing works best for this type of decorating?  Have you ever tried to do puppies, and if so what breeds?  If you have any other breeds, please leave me a comment below.  I may put together a class to fund my dog's vet bills, so I could really use the suggestions!