Pull Apart Beach Cupcakes Recipes

SHARK BEACH PULL-APART CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners; fill 9 with yellow liners and 15 with blue liners. Prepare the cupcakes according to the package directions. Transfer to cooling racks and cool completely.
• For the frosting: Color 3 cups of the frosting with blue gel food coloring until sea blue (12 to 14 drops). Color 2 cups of the frosting with yellow food coloring until pale yellow (2 to 3 drops). Keep the remaining 1 cup frosting white and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a medium petal tip.
• Arrange the cupcakes in a 4-by-6 grid on a cutting board or a flat square serving platter, keeping the yellow liners together to make the sandy beach and the blue liners together to make the water. There will be 1 yellow liner in the row where the blue and yellow meet; keep it to the far left.
• With an ice cream scoop, scoop balls of blue frosting on the blue-lined cupcakes and yellow frosting on the yellow-lined cupcakes. Smooth the frosting across the cupcakes with an offset spatula so the blue and yellow almost meet; the line where they touch should be a gradual diagonal that looks like the shoreline when a wave comes in.
• Set aside 6 teddy bears. Put the rest in a food processor and process to crumbs. Reserve about 1/4 cup or so of the crumbs to anchor the palm trees later. Sprinkle the remainder over the yellow frosting to make sand.
• Pipe waves of white frosting along the shoreline where the sand meets the surf.
• Break off one end of the pretzel rods to make two 5-inch rods; discard (or eat) the smaller pieces from each rod. Cut the spearmint leaves in half crosswise and roll them out to flatten slightly. Press 3 leaf pieces into the broken end of each pretzel rod to resemble palm tree leaves. (If you have having trouble getting the leaves to stick, you can brush with a tiny bit of water at the spot where they adhere). Press 2 chocolate-covered peanuts on top of the leaves to make coconuts.
• Stick the trees into the sand in the spaces where the cupcakes meet. Spoon the remaining graham cracker crumbs around the bottoms of the trees to anchor them. Add a chocolate-covered peanut under each as a dropped coconut.
• Cut the sour candy strip into 4 equal pieces. Arrange on the sand for beach towels and lay a bear on top of each one.
• For the surfboards, unwrap and flatten the fruit roll up rounds. Fold each into quarters and press to adhere. Cut a 2 1/2-inch oval surfboard shape from each. Cut the black licorice into strips for lines on the surfboards (2 lines per board), but don't stick them on yet.
• Place the surfboards on a piece of parchment and microwave just until warm, about 10 seconds. Press on the licorice lines and microwave just until they stick, about 5 seconds more. Press a standing bear on each for a surfer and let cool. (You can put in the freezer to hasten the process.)
• Place the surfing bears on the water. Place the sharks on the water. With the remaining white frosting, pipe waves in front of the boards and in random spots around the rest of the ocean.

PULL-APART BUTTERFLY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Stir 5 drops red food color and 5 drops yellow food color into vanilla frosting to make orange frosting; set aside.
• On large serving tray or cookie sheet covered with foil, arrange 24 cupcakes as shown in diagram. Frost center body of butterfly and antennae with chocolate frosting. (Push cupcakes together slightly to frost entire body and antennae, not just individual cupcakes.) Frost remaining cupcakes with orange frosting for wings. (Push cupcakes together slightly to frost entire wings, not just individual cupcakes.) Pipe chocolate frosting outline on wings, if desired. Decorate butterfly with candies and sugar. Store loosely covered.

PULL-APART VANILLA-WAFER CUPCAKE CAKE WITH BERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together cookie crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat butter with granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating until combined after each addition. Fold in coconut.
• Divide batter among cups. Bake until cupcakes are golden brown and centers bounce back when gently pressed, 22 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely in tin on a wire rack.
• Add 2 tablespoons water to a small saucepan. Sprinkle with gelatin; let stand until thick, about 5 minutes. Gently heat over medium until gelatin has dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool 5 minutes (but don't let it set).
• Beat together cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until very soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Add gelatin mixture; beat on medium until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute more.
• Remove cupcakes from tin and arrange on a platter in a three-by-four rectangle. Spoon frosting over each row of cupcakes; using an offset spatula, smooth to cover tops, forming a rectangular shape. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours. Sprinkle with berries before serving.

PULL-APART SPIDERWEB CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• Mix and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• On large round platter or pizza pan, arrange cupcakes, placing them close together. In medium bowl, mix food color and frosting. Spread frosting over cupcakes and spaces in between to create 1 large circle of frosting. Squeeze 1 large dot of black gel in center of frosting. With gel, draw concentric circles around the dot, spacing them about 2 inches apart. To create the web design, drag a toothpick from the center dot to the outer edge of the circle, about 12 times. Place plastic spiders on web. Store loosely covered.