A quick and easy Shamrock Cake made from cupcakes, this is a perfect St. Patrick’s Day treat. One cake is made from four cupcakes, so one box of cake mix can make six of these cakes. Alternatively, you could make one shamrock as a centerpiece and arrange individual cupcakes around it.
You will need the following ingredients and supplies to make this cake:

• 1 Box of cake mix (and the ingredients needed to prepare it)
• 3 Cans of white frosting
• Green food coloring
• Green sugar crystals
• Wooden skewer or toothpick
• Aluminum foil or a marble*
• Baking cups*

*If you have a heart-shaped cupcake pan you won’t need these.

Prepare your cake batter according to instructions on the box.  If you don’t have a heart-shaped cupcake pan, while your oven is pre-heating tear 3 inch strips of aluminum foil and roll them into balls.If you have marbles, skip that step.  Fill your cupcakes halfway with the batter.  I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure and fill them.  Then place your aluminum foil ball or marble between the baking cup and pan.  You can get detailed instructions for this from Instructables – Make Heart Shaped Cupcakes Without a Special Pan but I’ll warn you here that the marbles will get very hot so be sure to let them cool before handling.

While your cupcakes are cooling, dye your frosting green and then refrigerate it until ready to use.

When your cupcakes are completely cooled, take them out of the baking cups.  Frost the sides of the cupcake first, this way you can hold it between your thumb and forefinger and make less of a mess.  once the sides are frosted, arrange three them on your serving board or plate to form the leaves of the shamrock.  Cut one cupcake in half to use as the stem and use the remaining half to fill in the hole that will be left in the middle.  You will probably need to shape and cut away a lot of the 4th cupcake to make the stem look right and to fit it in the middle.

Frost the entire cake and use the skewer to define space between the leaves and score lines in the leaves.  Then sprinkle green sugar crystals over the entire cake.  I was very heavy handed when it came to the sugar, but you can use less.  Then touch up any spots you need using your toothpick.

That’s it, a simple, fast and fun St. Paddy’s dessert.

Baked by The Happy Housewife

Thanks to her post and pictures I was eager to see the other cakes in this book, so I downloaded my copy.  At just $4 it’s a steal.  The e-book is well-written and the cakes follow my Simple Cakes Philosophy. Even better, the ideas are all inspired by children.

Check out the original Happy Housewife Star Wars Cake post for more pictures, decorating tips and information.