Graduation Cupcakes!

I didn't do a post this morning, because today was my twin brothers' graduation party and I spent the morning decorating cupcakes for it. I ended up making cupcakes with little graduation caps on top. :) I got the idea from the Kraft Foods website, but their recipe was a little complicated so I simplified it slightly. They turned out so good I decided to do a little tutorial on my blog in case anyone is in need of an easy graduation dessert. :) This is what they look like when they are done:


Graduation Cap Cupcakes
Things you will need:

• 18 cupcakes in paper or foil cupcake cups
• 1 container of chocolate frosting
• 18 mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
• 2 packages of Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Filling Squares (there should be about 9 in a package)
• 1 small package of Reese's Pieces or M&M's
• 1 package of Twizzler's Pull-N-Peels

Step One: Making the Tassels



1) Take one pull-n-peel and cut it into three pieces.



2) Each pull-n-peel has nine separate "threads".



Pull all of the eight outside threads away from the middle.



But leave an inch connected at the bottom.



You should end up with this:



3) Cut all of the loose ends to the point where all of the threads connect. *Make sure you do NOT cut the center thread!*



4) Press the bottom piece together near where you cut them to make sure they are sticking well to the middle thread. Your finished tassel should look like this:



If you want to make the string longer for a cake or some other use, you can cut the pull-n-peel in half (instead of thirds) or leave it whole instead.

Step 2: Prep Work

1) You need at least 18 cupcakes in cupcake cups. (You can do more then 18, but you will need to increase the amount of Ghirardelli Squares you have.) Frost the cupcakes, but make sure you have at least a 1/2 cup of frosting left when your done, so you can use it to secure the candy.

2) Unwrap all the candy you are going to need. You can do this as you go if you want, but it's easier if everything is ready ahead of time.

*Note: When I made my cupcakes 2 of the Ghirardelli Squares were broken inside their wrappers and I couldn't use them. If you need a certain number of cupcakes with decorations you might want to buy extra squares just in case.*

3) Put the leftover chocolate frosting in a ziplock bag and snip a small piece off one of the bottom corners. This will serve as a piping bag and make it easier to put dabs of frosting where you need them.

Step 3: Assembling

1) Put one mini Reese's cup upside, on top of a cupcake.

2) Put a dab of chocolate on top of the mini cup. *Make sure you use enough chocolate to hold on the Ghirardelli Square.*

3) Put a Ghirardelli Square upside down on top of the mini cup.

4) Put a dab of chocolate in the center of the square.

5) Stick the string from the tassel in the chocolate dab, then add another dab to the top of the string.

6) Push a single M&M or Reese's Pieces onto the chocolate dab. This secures the tassel to the top of the square. Your finishing piece should look like this:

I hope you liked my tutorial. And I hope you have a sweet day! :)

P.S. Making the tassels leaves you with quite a lot of extra twizzler strings.



You can use them as writing or decoration on another cake. Or you can do like I did, and just eat them. :)