Scarecrow Cupcakes

I saw these cupcakes in a Woman's World magazine recently and thought they were adorable!




The Ingredients
cupcakes:
1 cup Reese's Pieces candies chopped
1 pkg (18. 25 oz. yellow cake mix)
Water, eggs, and oil
frosting:
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
4 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, from 2 (16 oz.) packages
3 Tbs. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
decorations:
Blue, golden yellow and orange concentrated food colorings
Rainbow Twizzlers Twists
6 flat-bottomed ice cream cups
2 1/2 cups All-Bran cereal
24 brown mini M &M's
Toothpicks
12 pieces candy corn
Chocolate sprinkles
Jumbo leaf-shaped sprinkles
1 Tbs. light corn syrup



Directions
Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
Mix candies with 1 Tbs. cake mix; put aside.
Prepare remaining cake mix with water, eggs, and oil following package
directions. Stir in candies.
Divide among liners.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool.
Frosting:
On medium-high speed, beat butter until fluffy.
On low, gradually beat in confectioner's sugar, then milk and vanilla until combined.
On medium-high beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (Or use this recipe for frosting - yum!)

Reserve 1 tsp. frosting.
Tint 1 1/2 cups frosting blue, 1 1/2 cups frosting yellow and remaining frosting orange with food coloring.
Transfer 3/4 cups each yellow and orange frosting to separate pastry bags fitted with rose tip (such as Wilton #104); reserve. Spread blue frosting over 12 cupcakes; spread remaining yellow and orange frosting over 6 cupcakes each.


Constructing the Cupcakes



For each patchwork "hat", cut 9 (3/8" long) pieces of desired color Twizzlers. Arrange pieces, on top third of 3 yellow and 3 orange cupcakes, pressing into frosting.
For "hat brims", cut 2 1/2 "x 1/4" strips from Twizzlers press onto cupcakes below "hats."
Tuck cereal into frosting around Twizzlers hats and along edges of cupcakes.
On orange and yellow cupcakes:
Press on M&M's "eyes"; for "pupils", using pick, dot M&M's with white frosting.
Press on candy corn "noses."
Press on chocolate sprinkles "mouths".
Place "head" cupcakes, on sides on top of the blue cupcakes with "face" forward (about 1" in from the front edge), press down to attach.
Tuck cereal into frosting along top edge of hatless "heads".
For each cone "hat", trim and discard wide top end of ice cream cone. Pipe frosting "brim" along edge. Invert onto "head".
Pipe frosting "collars" around "heads."
Tuck cereal around "collar."
Decorate with leaf sprinkles, brushing with corn syrup to attach to "hats."


This recipe from Woman's World Makes 12 scarecrow cupcakes.

Photo Credit: Woman's World Magazine