Smiles you can count on!

I made these Sesame Street cupcakes several years ago for a birthday party. They were such a hit, that I thought I’d post them here. I don’t have a tutorial, but here are some tips:

Many of the mouths are Oreo cookies, cut in half.
The large eyes are marshmallows, cut in half (and then snipped a tiny bit on one side, so that they stick together).
The smaller eyes are white M & Ms or gumballs.
The noses are peanut M & Ms (Ernie and Elmo), gumballs (Grover) or Jordan almonds (Bert). (You could probably substitute jelly beans for some of these.)
Bert and Ernie’s ears are Wilton Jumbo Confetti Sprinkles.
The Count’s nose and ears are fondant.
Big Bird’s beak and topknot feathers are candy melts, piped onto wax paper and then inserted into the cupcakes.
Bert, Ernine, and the Count are iced smooth with a spatula. When doing Bert, make the icing in sort of an elongated oval instead of round. (Someone later suggested I could have tried to actually bake those cupcakes in the oval shape… but I’m not sure how I would have done that!)
Grover and Elmo are iced with a star tip.
Oscar and Cookie Monster are iced with a grass tip.
Big Bird was iced with a U-shaped tip… but I think you could get the same effect from a round tip. Just pipe dots and drag them inward. Start at the edge and work your way toward the middle. Although his facial features are centered, notice that there are only two rows of feathers above his face (which look slightly longer) and three rows below (that look shorter).

Be warned that these cupcakes are quite time-consuming, especially if you do lots of different characters. Also be aware that whenever you create licensed characters like these, you must never sell the products. Only use these designs for home baking, for your own family and friends.

Have a Muppet-licious day!