Beach Cupcakes

These delightful beach cupcakes are a true taste of summer! With their vibrant blue waves and adorable clamshell sitting on the beach, they are sure to bring a touch of beachy fun to any gathering.

These beach cupcakes are the perfect treat for sunny days and special occasions.

Whether you're hosting a beach-themed party or simply want to bring a taste of the seaside to your dessert table, these cupcakes are a delightful choice.

The combination of fluffy vanilla and funfetti frostings, along with cute fish sprinkles and clamshell decorations, makes these cupcakes a fun and irresistible treat for kids and adults alike.

These would pair excellently for a party with our fish cupcakes.

Ingredients

Cupcakes: Here we're focusing on decorating already made cupcakes, so whip up a batch of cupcakes from your favorite recipe or cake mix. We used chocolate cupcakes but you can use any flavor you'd like.

Nilla Wafers: These classic cookies provide a delicious crunch and serve as the base for the clamshell decorations. They add a hint of nostalgia and a satisfying texture to the cupcakes.

Chocolate Pearls: These white and silver pearls not only add a touch of elegance to the cupcakes but also provide a delightful burst of chocolate flavor in every bite.

Blue Frosting: Tinted with a vibrant shade of blue, this frosting represents the waves of the ocean, creating a beautiful visual contrast on the cupcakes. We used the funfetti blue frosting for our cupcakes. But you can easily turn any vanilla frosting blue with a little bit of gel blue food coloring.

Pink and/or Purple Frosting: These tinted frostings add a pop of color to the clamshell decorations, making them look adorable and inviting.

You'll also need:

• Vanilla frosting
• Fish sprinkles (optional but give that beach theme)

Equipment

Piping Bags and Open Star Piping Tip: These tools help create the rippled wave effect on the cupcakes, adding a whimsical touch reminiscent of beach waves.

Instructions

Ready to get started making these beach themed cupcakes!

First, grab 24 Nilla Wafer cookies from the box. Take the remaining cookies and pop them into a zip-top plastic bag, giving them a satisfying crush until they become fine crumbs. Keep them aside for now, we'll need them soon.

Now, it's time to get creative with the clamshell decorations. Grab a disposable piping bag or a zip-top freezer bag with a corner snipped. Fill it with the lovely pink and/or purple frosting.

Pipe a small dollop of frosting onto the center of the Nilla Wafer.

Then gently press a chocolate pearl onto the edge.

Complete the clamshell by adding another Nilla Wafer on top. Let them rest aside, looking absolutely adorable.

Next up, let's focus on creating the beach on the cupcake. Take each cupcake and generously pipe white frosting over one half, creating a delicious mound of sweetness.

Dip the frosting into the crushed Nilla Wafer crumbs, ensuring it's coated with a sandy texture. It's like creating your own little beach masterpiece!

Now, let's bring the ocean to life. Fill a piping bag with blue frosting and attach an open star tip for a magical touch.

Start piping across the uncovered half of each cupcake, forming beautiful ripples that resemble gentle waves.

Finish it off by sprinkling fish-shaped sprinkles on top, because every beach needs some playful sea creatures.

To complete the beach cupcakes, add a tiny amount of frosting to the bottom of each clam cookie.

Gently press them into the "sand" area of the cupcake, creating a cute and charming scene.

Enjoy these beachy cupcakes that are sure to make waves at your next party!

Top Tips

To achieve perfectly crushed Nilla Wafers for the sand on the cupcake, place them in a zip-top plastic bag and crush them using a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy glass.

If making your cupcakes at home, be sure to let them cool completely before you start icing them. Otherwise the frosting will start to melt off.

Choose bright fun cupcake liners. We originally baked our cupcakes in plain white cupcake liners but popped each one into a bright blue one making for an even better presentation.

Substitutions

• If you don't have Nilla Wafers, you can substitute them with graham crackers or another type of cookie with a similar texture.
• We used chocolate cupcakes for a neutral base, but you can add more fun by dying vanilla cupcakes blue or using your favorite cupcake flavors.

Variations

• Tropical Twist: Add a tropical twist to these beach cupcakes by incorporating pineapple or coconut flavors. Consider using pineapple tidbits as a garnish or adding shredded coconut to the frosting.
• Seashell Surprise: Hide a small candy seashell or pearl in the center of each cupcake before baking. It will create a delightful surprise when bitten into.