Flamingo Cupcakes

These bright, bold flamingo cupcakes bring a touch of tropical whimsy to your kitchen. The heads and wings of these pink flamingos are made from Candy Melts candy and are perfect for summer gatherings. The nonpareils give these treats a fun crunch and a textured look that will impress everyone you show. For a taste of the tropics, pair with pineapple or coconut-flavored cupcakes, or just use your favorite mix!

Skill LevelBeginner

Ingredients & Tools
Instructions

Instructions

Flamingo Pattern

Click to mark complete

Make flamingo bodies. Print multiple sets of the flamingo pattern template. Place on sheet pan and cover with parchment paper. Note: You’ll need two flamingo heads per cupcake.
Melt the white, black and bright pink Candy Melts candy, separately, according to package instructions.
Prepare parchment triangles or decorating bags with melted candy; if using bag, snip ¼ in. tip off end.
Following template, carefully pipe the black beak section on all, then the white section. Chill until set, approximately 3-5 minutes. Once the beak is set, pipe the head and neck in pink, extending neck approximately 1 inch for insertion into cupcake, and sprinkle immediately with pink nonpareils. Chill until set, approximately 5-10 minutes.
Once candy has set, pipe eyes with black Candy Melts candy. Using a small amount of pink candy, stick two pieces together to create a double-sided topper.
Bake Cupcakes. Prepare cake mix according to recipe instructions. Bake and cool cupcakes in white cupcake liners.
Create Wings.To create wings, pipe a 1 in. dot of bright pink Candy Melts candy onto a piece of parchment. Swipe with angled spatula to form feathers, with the longest being approximately 3 in. Swipe wings alternating to the left and right for matching sets. Each cupcake needs two wings. Chill until set, approximately 5-10 minutes.
Tint Icing. Tint approximately 4 cups of icing pink using pink icing color. Prepare disposable decorating bag with pink icing; snip ½ in. off end of bag.
Decorate Cupcakes. Place pink nonpareils in shallow bowl.
Pipe a mound of icing onto each cupcake, then dip cupcake into nonpareils to cover the top. Insert flamingo head into side of cupcake and place candy wings on either side.