Graduation Cap Cupcakes

This mini-mortarboard cupcake idea is a simple yet clever way to celebrate your star student’s academic achievements. We love these for a pre-k and kindergarten graduation party, but high school or college grads will appreciate this cupcake as well.

Supplies

Your favorite cupcake mix or recipe made from scratch
Plain white homemade or store-bought icing
Black fondant (You can dye your own, but it’s often easier to just buy it already colored)
Gold or yellow fondant (or other edible embellishments for the tassle)
Scissors
Plastic sandwich bag

Directions

On parchment or waxed paper, roll out the fondant into a 1/8 inch thick sheet. Cut one 2x2” square for each of the cupcakes you are decorating out of the fondant. Using the scraps, roll a pea-sized ball for each mortarboard and slightly flatten. These will serve as the buttons on top of each hat.

Let the squares and the cap buttons dry overnight.

Bake a batch of your favorite cupcakes and frost each with a small mound of plain white frosting, reserving a small amount of the frosting for piping the tassels (if you have to).

Anchor each cap in the center of a cupcake. Using a small dab of frosting, attach a mortarboard to each cap and position on top of the cupcake. Allow to dry.

Tint the remaining icing with a few drops of food color making sure to mix until the color is even throughout. If you prefer, you can use yellow fondant or other edible material to make the tassles.

Fill small plastic bag with colored icing and snip one of its corner just enough to create a writing tip. Pipe a pea-sized dot onto the center of the mortarboard and a flowing line to one of the square’s corners creating your tassel. Allow icing to set before serving.

Graduation cap cupcakes are the most popular decorating theme for grad party sweets and can be made in a number of ways.

More Grad Cap Cupcake Resources:

Chocolate Graham Cracker Grad Caps: Kraft Food's has a great idea of turning a cupcake upside down and using a chocolate-dipped graham cracker as the cap top. Strips of fruit roll up and a jellybean make a perfect tassel.

Peanut Butter Cup Grad Caps: Check out this how-to video to make mini peanut butter cup and chocolate graham cracker mortarboards to top cupcakes.

Happy Face Grad Caps: Wilton has instructions for cute Happy Face grad cupcakes that's sure to put a smile on your guest of honor.