These Easy Graduation Cap Cupcakes are perfect for celebrating a graduation! Customize with your favorite cupcake flavors and frosting flavor and decorate these graduation cupcakes to match your school colors easily!
Graduation Cupcakes
The school year is almost over and for some parents, you are starting to plan your child’s graduation party. Whether your child is graduating from kindergarten, high school or college these Easy Graduation Cap Cupcakes are sure to be a hit. They are very simple to make with the addition of some candy to the top of the cupcake flavor of your choose.
When you are having a graduation party having things easy peasy is important. There is a lot of planning that goes into planning a graduation party so anytime things can be made easier it will save a lot of stress and time. These graduation cupcakes are super easy to make!
Having a graduation party? Check out these easy party recipes!
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings
- Chocolate Covered Oreos (in your school colors)
- Taco Cups
- Fruit Salad with Marshmallows
Can I make them ahead of time?
You can make these cupcakes ahead of time. I would suggest sticking to 2 days before hand so they are at their best for flavor. You can also make the cupcakes and freeze them and then on the day of the party decorate them.
How to Freeze Cupcakes
You will want to freeze them without any frosting on them. Wrap them individually with plastic wrap and freeze on a baking sheet. Then once they are solid store in a zip close freezer bag. They will keep for up to 2 months when frozen.
To thaw, simply remove them from the freezer and defrost. Then frost as normal.
Variations of this recipe
The great thing about these easy graduation cupcakes is that you can use any flavor cupcake or frosting for them. If you are using a white frosting then you can color the frosting to match your school colors easily. If you want to have more fun you can color the vanilla cupcakes to be the color of your school too!
Change up the cupcake flavor. For my graduation cupcakes I made, I used my favorite vanilla cupcake, however you can also make these with any cupcake flavors. Here are some yummy cupcakes you could use to make your graduation cupcakes – These are some of our Favorites!
- Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
- Blackberry cupcakes
- chocolate cupcakes
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Strawberry cupcakes
- Peanut butter cupcakes
- Angel Food Cupcakes
- Lemon Cupcakes
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Mocha Cupcakes
- Blueberry cupcakes
- Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
- Lemon blueberry cupcakes
Change up the frosting flavor. I used vanilla buttercream frosting, but you can use any white frosting for this cake. It is important that it is white so you can dye it the colors you need to. If you are looking for other white frostings, we love almond buttercream frosting and Marshmallow Frosting.
Check out this list of amazing cupcake frosting recipes, including Caramel Buttercream, mint buttercream and more, to find one that you think would be your favorite.
How to Store Cupcakes
It is best to store cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter. Cupcakes are best to be enjoyed with in 48 hours of making them. They won’t be bad to eat after 40 hours but they will start to dry out and not be as fresh.
After frosting cupcakes you are ok to store them on the counter for a day or 2 but after that they should be stored in the fridge.
If you are storing them unfrosted you can store them in an airtight container or a plastic bag. If you are storing them with frosting on top I suggest using a cupcake storage container.
How to tell when cupcakes are done baking
I like to use the toothpick test when I am making cupcakes with the kids because it is easier for them to see and learn. But if you have been making cupcakes for a while you may not want to use that method.
If you are wanting an even easier method, the cupcake bounce done method as we call it is even easier. Pull the tray of cupcakes out from the oven and lightly press on a cupcake in the middle of the baking pan. If if bounces right back and no finger print is left behind then your cupcakes are done. If there is a finger print you need to bake them for a few more minutes.
Easy Graduation Cap Cupcakes Tips
Candy Tassels. For the tassels on the cap, I used Twizzlers Twisted Strawberry Blast Pull N Peels. Thankfully Twizzlers have different colored pull n peels so you can match the tassels to your school colors.
Gel food coloring is best. Use gel food coloring when coloring the buttercream to match your school colors.
Use a light colored frosting. I personally prefer to use vanilla buttercream frosting, however there are TONS of frosting flavors you can use! My one recommendation for choosing cake flavor combinations is to skip the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, the graduation caps will blend into the frosting and not be as propionate as they would be on other color frostings.
Bring ingredients to room temperature. Cupcakes will bake best when the ingredients are brought to room temperature before mixing the cupcake batter.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely. Before frosting the cupcakes let them cool completely. If you frost cupcakes while they are still warm then the frosting will melt.
Do not over mix. Over mixing the batter will lead to having tough and flat cupcakes. When making cupcakes you have to be careful that you don’t over mix the batter when you are folding in the flour mixture. If you over-mix your angel food cake batter your cupcakes will turn out flat. You want to mix everything just until mixed, over mixing will cause you to have rough and tough cupcakes. We all know that the best cupcake are light and fluffy.
Fill the cupcake liners appropriately. You do not want to over fill the cupcake liners. Follow the directions for the specific cupcake recipe, if the recipe doesn’t tell you how full stick to the 2/3 full rule. Which is roughly 3 tablespoons of cupcake batter per cupcake liner.
Use the best kitchen tool for filling liners. If you are working with a thick cupcake batter then you want to use a spoon or a cookie scoop to fill the cupcake liners. If it is a thin cupcake batter then use a bowl with a spout or a glass measuring cup to pour in the batter.
Use quality cupcake liners. While you might not think it matters a cupcake liner but having a quality cupcake liner will make it so your cupcakes don’t stick to the wrapper and peel off nicely so you can see the perfect cupcake in it.
Graduation Cap Cupcakes Supplies
Graduation Cap Cupcakes Ingredients
- 24 cupcakes
- Buttercream
- 1 cup Chocolate candy melts
- 24 Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares
- 24 REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
- 24 Twizzlers Twisted Strawberry Blast Pull N Peels
How to Make Graduation Cupcakes
Check out here to learn How to make a cupcake swirl, you will want to have an awesome cupcake swirl!
Bake your cupcakes and let them cool. Make your frosting while you let the cupcakes cool.
Place your piping tip into your pastry bag and then fill the bag with your buttercream.
Swirl the buttercream onto each cupcake.
Melt your chocolate as per the directions on the packaging.
Add a dot of the melted chocolate to the bottom of the unwrapped reese’s top with a square of the unwrapped Ghirardelli chocolate with the face down. Add another dot of chocolate to the top of the square place two three inch pieces of the peeled twizzler into the chocolate dot.
Place the chocolate graduation cap to the top of the buttercream.
Easy Cupcake Recipes
- Boston Cream Cupcakes
- Samoa Cupcakes
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
- Dirt Cupcakes
- Salted Caramel Cupcakes
- chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes
- Chocolate Caramel Turtle Cupcakes
- Salted Caramel Cupcakes
- Unicorn Poop Cupcakes
Graduation Cap Cupcakes
Equipment
- Pastry bag
- large tip
- Glass mixing bowl
Ingredients
Graduation Cap Cupcakes Ingredients
- 24 cupcakes
- Buttercream
- 1 cup Chocolate candy melts
- 24 Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares
- 24 REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
- 24 Twizzlers Twisted Strawberry Blast Pull N Peels
Vanilla Cupcake Recipe Ingredients
- 1.5 cups self-rising flour
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Homemade Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Butter
- 1.5 cups Shortening
- 2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- 3 pounds Confectioners sugar
- 3 tablespoons hot water
Instructions
How to Make Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake pans with your choose of cupcake wrappers.
- Place your self-rising flour, cake flour, and sugar in the bowl of your mixer. Mix them together for a minute or two until they are well combined.
- Cut your butter into tablespoon pieces. Slowly add your butter into the flour mixture one piece at a time continue mixing until you have reached the texture of sand.
- Pour half of your milk into the flour mixture and mix just until the milk is incorporated. Use your rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of your bowl. Add your remaining milk and the vanilla to your batter and mix until combined.
- Slowly add in one egg at a time to the cake batter, making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next egg.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling them 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the cake pans so the pan that was on the top rack is now on the bottom and the pan that was on the bottom is now on the top rack. Continue to bake for another 10-13 minute until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cupcake.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack until they have reached room temperature.
How to Homemade Buttercream Frosting
- Place butter and shortening together in the bowl of your mixer. On medium speed mix them together until it is all creamed together.
- Turn the mixer to the lowest setting and slowly add the powdered sugar.
- Once all the powdered sugar has been added and mixed well add the vanilla extract and hot water(if you need to thin out the buttercream frosting)
- Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and continue mixing until the frosting is light and fluffy.
How to Assemble Graduation Cap Cupcakes
- Check out here to learn How to make a cupcake swirl, you will want to have an awesome cupcake swirl!
- Bake your cupcakes and let them cool.
- Place your piping tip into your pastry bag and then fill the bag with your buttercream.
- Swirl the buttercream onto each cupcake.
- Melt your chocolate as per the directions on the packaging.
- Add a dot of the melted chocolate to the bottom of the unwrapped reese’s top with a square of the unwrapped Ghirardelli chocolate with the face down. Add another dot of chocolate to the top of the square place two three inch pieces of the peeled twizzler into the chocolate dot.
- Place the chocolate graduation cap to the top of the buttercream.
Nutrition
34 Weight Watchers Smart Point per cupcake
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