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My cute food compulsion

By Krissy Tripp

Published Sept. 17, 2010

I try to eat healthy, I really do, but I have a weakness for cute food. What do I mean by that? My childhood was filled with Goldfish, Teddy Grahams and decorated gingerbread men. I've since ditched the Teddy Grahams and gingerbread cookies and settled on whole wheat Goldfish, but one adorable treat still gets to me: cupcakes.

These treats come loaded with calories, but it only takes one to satisfy my sweet tooth.

My recent addictions to TLC's "Cake Boss" (I have yet to catch an episode of "Cupcake Wars") and Cupcakes Take the Cake on Blogspot have me cooking and experimenting in the kitchen.

One of my favorite experiments was s'more cupcakes. I didn't really follow a recipe, but there are plenty out there, and most of them say something similar. Create a graham cracker crust using graham cracker crumbs, butter and a bit of sugar. Mash it together and create cupcake cups by pressing the crust against the edges and bottom of a non-stick cupcake pan. Then fill the cups with whatever milk chocolate cake mix you like best. After the cupcakes have baked and cooled, top them off with marshmallow fluff, which comes in jars. If you don't have an icing bag to put the fluff in, cut a very small opening in the corner of a Ziploc baggie to have an instant pretty swirl. Finish it off with a small Hershey's bar section and you have yourself a s'more cupcake. If you want to toast the top of the marshmallows, put the cupcakes in your oven on broil.

I've also tried creating candy-inspired cupcakes. For Reese's, I use chocolate cake mix with a peanut butter filling, then a glob of chocolate icing coated with peanuts.

Are candy canes more your thing? Buy mint extract, add a teaspoon to a white cake mix and top with red icing.

If fruit-flavored snacks are more to your liking, try making fruit-flavored icing and putting it atop white cake mix. You could even try filling the cake mix with that fruit. I've done this with strawberries and chocolate cake mix to create a chocolate-covered strawberry cupcake.

No matter what creative flavors you're trying with cupcakes, the real treat is always decorating. You can create easy, homemade icing with powdered sugar and cream cheese. Extracts can be added if you want a specific flavor. Then, using either a plastic bag with a hole or actual icing decoration bags (usually about $5 for a package), create a beautiful swirled top. You can even try using more than one color for extra swirl.

I've also been known to kill time on a Saturday by making icing pictures with friends. Cheap cupcake mix and a bottle of easy decorating icing are perfect for this activity. Flex your creative drawing abilities, and let the person with the best design eat first.

If icing doesn't do it, you could always try cutting out fondant and creating professional style cupcake art. It doesn't really matter which flavor you're using; the best way to make a cupcake is to flex your creativity and have some fun with it.