Wizard Cakes

When Keesha Morris wanted a treat for the first meeting of her Cub Scout group in Bountiful, Utah, she decorated ice cream cone cupcakes to look like her Scout troop. The result was so terrific that her daughters had her bake another batch to decorate as princesses. We've transformed these versatile cupcakes once again, this time for a Wizard Party.

To bake ice-cream-cone cupcakes, use your favorite box mix (not the "add butter" kind). Place flat-bottomed ice cream cones in a cupcake tray and fill three-quarters full. Bake as directed. These cupcakes are best made the same day since they get soggy after 12 hours.

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 baked ice cream cone cupcake (see directions, above)
Skin-tone icing (mix red food coloring and cocoa powder with white icing for fair skin; mix cocoa powder or brown food coloring paste with white icing for dark skin, etc.)
Sugar eyes (or mini jawbreakers)
Colored icing in a tube (for hair and details)
Red shoestring licorice or fruit leather
Scissors
Sugar cone
Candy stars
Edible glitter or coarse colored sugar
Mini pretzel sticks
Star-shaped sugar cake decorations

TO DECORATE:
Place a big scoop of icing on top of the cupcake to make the head, smoothing as much as possible. Add sugar eyes, icing "hair," a licorice or fruit leather "smile" and any other details you like. To make the wizard's hat, use scissors to cut a sugar cone down to 2 inches (a parent's job). Coat with icing and decorate with candy stars, edible glitter or colored sugar. For the magic wand, coat a mini pretzel stick with icing, sprinkle with edible glitter or colored sugar, and attach the sugar star with a dab of icing. To finish, place the hat on the head, arrange the wand nearby, and, presto, you're done.

Tip: If you use melted white chocolate rather than icing for the hats and wands, they can be made a week in advance and stored in an airtight container.