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How to Make Cute Campfire Cupcakes

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Follow this easy tutorial make cute campfire inspired cupcakes. They’ll be a hit at campouts, bbqs, hot dog roasts, or lumberjack themed parties!

Close up of cupcake decorated with chocolate covered pretzel and buttercream campfire.

Making your own cute cupcakes doesn’t have to be hard. The cute campfire cupcakes come together in just a minute or two and anyone can do it.

They are precious for all sorts of party themes and you can make them so much more affordably than ordering a cake.

I actually made these cupcakes for my dad’s birthday. We had a party for him the weekend after Thanksgiving, but with all of the holiday craziness I haven’t had a chance to share them.

Cupcakes topped with yellow and orange frosting fire and chocolate covered pretzel twigs.

These started with some inspiration from Pinterest. I was looking for ideas for something a bit more masculine to make for him.

With all of the cooking I already had on the agenda for the holiday itself and plans to make a roaster full of homemade chicken and egg noodles, I wanted to keep the treats simple. But it was a milestone birthday for him, so I wanted them to be fun as well.

two campfire cupcakes with a mini marshmallow on a stick ready to be roasted

There were all sorts of ideas that would have been perfect for him in other stages of his life. Baseball themed cakes or gold designs might have been perfect before.

Now he is pretty much a country boy homesteader. But he loves to host bonfires, so when I saw some fire inspired cupcakes I was excited to make them.

He loves chocolate dipped pretzels, so I did some pretzel sticks in dark chocolate for the twigs.  Then I made a batch of semi-homemade white cupcakes.

orange and yellow swirled frosting piped on top of semi-homemade white cupcakes

White cake and white frosting is his favorite combination and he particularly likes the texture of that particular recipe. However you could just as easily make some easy chocolate cupcakes or a box of your favorite mix.

Then whip up a batch of your favorite decorating frosting. I used sweetened condensed milk buttercream, but classic American buttercream or even decorator’s cream cheese frosting would be great.

Make about half of the frosting orange and the rest yellow. Then fill up a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip.

bowls of yellow and orange buttercream frosting ready to be piped onto cupcakes.

You can alternate spoonfuls of each color, or try to keep one color on either side of the bag. It doesn’t have to be perfect,it just gives the fire a little life and variation.

The cupcakes I found on Pinterest had the twigs arranged on the outside of the fire. So I tried several different variations of that method.

In the end, none of them turned out quite like I had envisioned. So I altered it to match my vision of a campfire.

cupcake with dollop of frosting in center and chocolate dipped pretzel sticks fanned around.

To do the same just start with a small dollop of frosting in the center of the cupcake. Add several pretzel sticks, breaking some as necessary to create your desired look.

Now pipe a quick swirl of the yellow and orange frosting on top. Voila! You campfire is ready!

If you want to roast marshmallows and hot dogs over your fire, I don’t blame you. Just put mini marshmallows, or pink or red Mike & Ikes on toothpicks and you’re ready to roast!

campfire cupcakes with pretzel twigs, and candy marshmallow and hot dog decorations.

Everyone thought these cupcakes turned out pretty cute and I would  say I agree.  Plus they were really fast and easy to put together, so that is a win all the way around.

What are your favorite cute cupcake decorating ideas?  I’d love to see pictures on social media, tag me so I can see!

If you want a big cake, check out our camping cake tutorial. The birthday candles make a fun campfire as well.

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Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies

Monday 10th of February 2020

You are soo creative! These are so cute!

Carlee

Wednesday 12th of February 2020

Thank you so much!

Amy

Monday 27th of January 2020

Now those are cute cupcakes. And they would be so easy to make with the grandkids.

Carlee

Wednesday 12th of February 2020

They are fun and easy, it would be a fun project to do together.

Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen

Monday 27th of January 2020

Oh my gosh, Carlee! These are so cute! I can't believe how easy they are to make, either; my decorating skills are almost nonexistent but I think I could make these!

Carlee

Wednesday 12th of February 2020

Mine are lacking as well, so I love coming up with super easy ways to make something cute!