How to Decorate a Puppy Dog Cupcake in 15 Steps

I recently attended a cupcake decorating class at the Cupcake Cupboard on the Liberty of the Seas Royal Caribbean cruise.  At that class, we turned our cupcake into a puppy dog that was filled with an amazing amount of delicious icing.  Not only was the cupcake good, it was very easy to make, too! 

Make your cupcakes a day in advance, according to the directions on the box.  Each puppy dog requires two cupcakes in the flavor of your choice.  (I would use white or brown cupcake wrappers vs a pattern design.)

 

You will also need to gather your supplies:

• icing, in a piping bag
• wide star based decorator’s tip
• toothpick(s)
• a pair of mini M&M’s or candy buttons for eyes
• candy lime
• black jelly bean for nose
• (2) yellow and (1) red gumdrop candy for mouth
• chocolate sprinkles for accents on mouth and eyes

Start by taking one of the two cupcakes and gently removing the wrapper.  (Set the second cupcake aside for now.)

With a knife, use a back and forth motion to gently remove a thin bottom sliver from the cupcake you just unwrapped.

  Stand the cupcake upright and use that same back and forth motion to slice off 1/4 of the cupcake, as shown below:

 Set the first cupcake aside so you can start decorating!  Now, we will work with the cupcake still in the wrapper.  Let’s call that cupcake #2. 

Use the icing to pipe stars around the outer edge of the cupcake. 

Make a second layer of stars, continuing until the entire top of cupcake #2 is filled.

Take cupcake #1 and place it on top of cupcake #2, with the flat side down and the top facing you.  Insert a toothpick down the center for support (optional – just don’t forget it’s there when you eat it!)

 Pipe a row of stars at the base where cupcake #1 is touching cupcake #2, starting in the very middle front, piping stars 1/2 way down each side.

Pipe a second row of stars directly above the first row.
                 

 Using the icing as “glue”, take a small dab or star of icing and attach the lime to the enter of the cupcake, right above the stars you just added.

Make stripes of icing, starting at the top of the lime, working your way to the tip top of the cupcake.  Notice the icing stops at the 1/2 way point.  (See next picture.)

Continue to pipe lines (or stripes) side by side, until you are at the base row of stars you just added.

Continue to pipe lines down the other side, just as you did the first.

Now you will pipe the puppy dog’s mustache, which is in the shape of a sideways “S”.

Start at the base of the lime, which will be completely covered. 

Work with one side at a time, then move onto the next.  In the end, you want three rows of “S” on each side.

Place the jelly bean in the center of the mustache, representing the dog’s nose.

Place the two gumdrops at the top of the cupcake, representing the dog’s ears.

Using the icing, pipe lines around the gumdrops you used for the ears.  Simply pipe a line on each side of the gumdrop, coming up in the shape of a tent (or triangle) then add two lines from behind.  This will provide the support and “fur” for the puppy dog’s ears.

Finish the fur by piping straight lines or curls to the back of the cupcake.  See picture above – then add fur to match the picture below.

Finish the puppy dog by adding the mini M&M’s or candy buttons for eyes, sprinkles for the eyebrows and mouth and 1/2 of the red gumdrop for the tongue!