Easy DIY Shopkins Cupcakes

When my daughter requested a Shopkins birthday, I was excited to create some easy DIY cupcakes. These cupcakes are so simple, tasty and beautiful. Our guests loved to eat them, and the kids had so much fun choosing their own. We made strawberry and vanilla cake, with vanilla frosting. Did you know that 115 million Shopkins have been sold around the world? I guess my daughter is not alone in her love of these cute little characters.

What you need:

You will need color cups, Shopkins and sprinkles. We had 20 children rsvp to the party, so we bought a 20 pack of Shopkins. The Shopkins double as an extra favor! One little girl ran up to me and said she had really wanted the piano. It was very sweet.

I like the color cups shown here because the colors stay bright after baking. They are found in most grocery stores. Shopkins are multi-colored and bright, but these cups take it down just a bit. You do not need to go crazy with fluorescents to have a great Shopkins theme. I also like any cake mix that adds oil. After some experimentation, I find these are the softest.

Making cupcakes with kids

I always have a grand plan. This time my plan was I was going to let Giselle make the cupcakes herself. Bless her heart, she made her first batch without the water. I know, what kind of mother doesn’t double check her work? They baked and baked and came out like pudding cake! {Don’t try this at home!} We had a great laugh and then made another trip to the grocery store.

Frosting… need I say more?

After we made another few batches of cupcakes and let them cool. We got to make and then decorate with the frosting.  I have made this recipe so many times. It always comes out amazing. I

Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted!)
3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk

Instructions
Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed. Add 3-4 cups of powdered sugar at a slow speed until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. After the sugar and butter are creamy, set mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. Add up to a cup of powdered sugar or a tablespoon of milk until you reached the right consistency.

Plan for a batch of frosting for each cake mix.

I am completely obsessed with my Stainless Pastry bag from Kuhn Rikon. I am not a baker, or even good with my hands, and my cakes always turn out so pretty.  We bought ours at Sur La Table, but they also have them on Amazon. Kuhn Rikon is a Swiss company that has been producing cookware since 1899.

Shopkins Easy DIY Cupcakes

Now you can sprinkle and adorn your cupcakes with your Shopkins.  Make sure you do both right after frosting.  The buttercream will harden a bit left out room temperature. Do not put in the fridge.

The children were delighted, and the cupcakes tasted amazing. We didn’t spend a lot of time this year and yet it was a great success.

You may also like to try:

Poppy corn bag filled with fresh popped popcorn.

My littest loving the Cookie Cookie Shopkins pinata

How I pulled together a Shopkins theme without too many bright colors.