Cupcakes for friends

Last weekend we had a few people over for a Bon Voyage BBQ for Joe and Megan before they left for their new home on the lake. Joe smoked a pork butt all night and day and it was scrumptious!

Parties are a great time to test cupcake ideas... so I did. Brightideas.com has an adorable Beehive Cupcake recipe that I've wanted to try for a while. Their icing is piled up like a hive, propped with a mini-Snickers. I thought that was a little too much icing even though I'm a big icing fan.


So I used my Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cupcake Mix for the occasion (thanks Mom!). The cupcakes were so moist and yummy and while the icing hives were small, everyone thought the bees were cute. That is, once I explained that the jellybeans and almond slivers were supposed to be bees.

I also made plain vanilla cupcakes for those that aren't fans of coconut. These were decorated like Razorback rears. The pink candy = squiggly tail and ears. See?! I made the "B's" and pig decor with pink candy melts, chocolate melts, and plastic candy making bottles. I drew designs on wax paper and chilled it overnight. I loved spending the evening in the kitchen! I wish I could practice more and improve on each attempt, but it's not often you have 10-15 people to eat the final artwork!