Creative Cupcakes for the Gal (or Guy) On-the-Go

Ben's Kettlebell Kupcakes!

Yesterday was my dear boyfriend Ben's birthday. Because the weekend was totally busy and I was with him all day Sunday--and because he was home when I left early in the morning on Monday, and then home again when I returned late Monday night--I didn't have much time to prepare without him knowing. But, thanks to a quick cupcake idea and my own sneaky birthday surprise prowess, I was still able to bring some Kettlebell Kupcakes (came up with that name myself!) to CrossFit last night in celebration of his birthday. Because it was SO easy (only took 20 minutes to do!), I thought I'd share my fantastic new cupcake idea--perfect for anyone who wants to bring a personalized, celebratory treat but doesn't have time to do all of the baking and icing...

1. Pick up a package or two of Whole Foods Two-Bite Cupcakes. They come in vanilla and chocolate and are made with cage-free eggs and no hydrogendated oils, which I think is SO IMPORTANT. Also, they taste really good for store-bought cupcakes!

2. Pick up some icing in the color that you desire. I was lucky enough to score some Whole Foods icing...they don't sell icing in the aisles, but when I asked someone if they carried it, he went back into the bakery and brought me an entire cup of their healthy (haha!) icing. It was so nice!! Plus, he only charged me $2 for the entire cup :)

3. Grab an icing bag, which makes things so much easier. You can also just go the icing-in-a-tube route, but it's a lot more fun + you feel like a baker when you use the bag :) Plus, icing that's not in a tube tastes a LOT better and is a lot more fresh. Again, I was gifted my icing bag from Whole Foods (best quick shopping trip ever!), but you can buy them at the grocery store.

4. Decorate your cupcakes with a SIMPLE design! Although mine are no work of art (my bag didn't have a point so I struggled with making the shapes), they were fun, personalized, and yummy! And it's always the thought that counts, anyways :) PLUS, they took me only 20 minutes to decorate--that includes the time spent putting the icing in the bag, cleaning up, and packing up. Ben left for work at 7:40, I had to leave at 8, and I was able to do all this and get out the door in time for my meeting. Yay for easy creativity!

Kettlebells are a bit deformed, but you still get the idea!!!

Other ideas for quick, simple ways to decorate your mini cupcakes?

-Write a letter on each cupcake, spelling out a word or words that mean something to the person (or the event).
-Pick something simple or personalized that the person loves and just do a quick drawing/outline of that item. No problem if you're not at artist--look at my kettlebells! Totally rough but get the point across.
-Place the person's favorite candy (jelly bean, m & m, skittle) in the middle of each mini-cupcake for an even easier bit of decoration.
-For a yoga-inspired cupcake, draw the OM symbol on each cupcake :)
-For your workout enthusiasts, you can also draw dumbells or their ball of choice for their sport, etc.

For some fun ideas and examples of NOT simple but TOTALLY CREATIVE cupcakes, see below :) Click on a picture to enlarge and view slideshow...

Amazing, huh??? Almost as good-looking as my Kettlebells :)

Have a *sweet* day!

Namaste,
Mary Catherine