From Batter to Ladybug Beautiful

• 1). Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  
  
• 2
  Chocolate cake is a good choice for a ladybug design.Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images
  
  Decide on a flavor for your cake and prepare your batter.
  
  You can use a convenient box cake or a favorite recipe made from scratch.
  
  
• 3). Line a cupcake tin with paper cups.
  
  Fill with your prepared batter and bake for the required time, usually around 25 minutes. Use an ice cream scoop to maintain a consistent size.
  
  
• 4
  It's important to cool your cupcakes completely before frosting.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Remove the cupcakes from the oven, place on wire racks until entirely cool.
  
  
• 5). Prepare your frosting as desired.
  
  A good, standard, simple butter cream frosting requires 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cup butter, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 2 to 3 tbsp. of water or milk if needed for consistency. Store-bought frosting will certainly suffice, but it must be white for coloring.
  
  
• 6). Divide your frosting accordingly.
  
  The majority of it needs to be red, for the ladybug's body, with a bit of black, and a very small amount of white. Blend the dyes into the frosting thoroughly to prevent streaking. Choosing how much color to add is a personal preference; for a ladybug the colors should be bold.
  
  
• 7). Arrange the cooled cupcakes tightly together on a serving platter in a circle, to resemble a ladybug's body. The size can be from very small to quite large, depending upon your desire and the number of cupcakes baked. A standard box cake should yield between 16 - 24 cupcakes. Cover the entire surface of the combined cupcakes with the red frosting using a spatula or knife.
  
  
• 8). Use a photo, a drawing, or your imagination, to create the features of your ladybug.
  
  Start with the black frosting. With a pastry bag and a medium sized, circular piping tip, place a line down the center (back) of your cupcake cake. If you'd like your ladybug to have open-shaped wings, create a thin, long triangular shape at the base of the back, towards the middle, connecting to the center line. Make a head with a half circle. Apply the black ladybug dots on the body. While working with the black, draw antennae if you choose.
  
  
• 9
  There are many ladybug images available to assist you in designing your cupcake cake.Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Apply little white eyes, with a fresh pastry bag and a small amount of white frosting, using either the same sized piping tip as with black, or larger. Place black dots in the center of the white eyes. Eye lashes can be applied (in black) for a fun and feminine touch; or a smile is a nice feature as well.