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Agnes Hsu

Dinosaur cupcake cake

Create a fun dinosaur cupcake cake with bright frosting and playful details kids will love. Perfect for birthdays, parties, or baking together.
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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 17 Cupcakes (baked and completely cooled, any flavor you like – quantity depends on your dino shape)
  • Light green buttercream frosting (store-bought is fine see notes)
  • White frosting
  • Orange frosting
  • Black frosting
  • Blue fondant
  • Piping bags
  • Large rosette tip (like Wilton 1M or similar)
  • Small star tips (for details and accents)
  • Small round tip (or snip the bag) for eyes and mouth
  • Large platter or cake board

Method
 

  1. Step 1: Bake and Cool Your Cupcakes

    Bake your cupcakes and allow them to cool completely. Warm cupcakes and buttercream are not friends, patience pays off here!
  2. Step 2: Arrange the Cupcakes into a Dinosaur Shape
    On a large platter or cake board, arrange your cupcakes to form the dinosaur’s body, head, and tail. The body should be the largest section, with a smaller head at one end and a tapered tail at the other. See the photo for reference.
  3. Step 3: Pipe the Light Green Buttercream Rosettes
    Fill a piping bag fitted with a large rosette tip with light green buttercream. Pipe rosettes over the body, head, and tail, starting in the center of each cupcake and swirling outward so the rosettes blend together.For the base of the head, pipe one large rosette across two cupcakes to help the head look smooth and connected. For the end of the tail, we did a sort of half rosette with the end tapered out. 
  4. Step 4: Create the Dino’s Face
    Using white frosting and a small star tip, pipe the white of the eye onto the head. Add claws along the body and feet using the same white frosting and star tip. Switch to black frosting to pipe the pupil of the eye and add simple mouth details to give your dinosaur some personality.
  5. Step 5: Add Orange Back Details
    With orange frosting and a small star tip, pipe small dots and tiny rosettes along the dinosaur’s back. These little pops of color add texture and make your dino extra playful.
  6. Step 6: Make and Add the Fondant Spikes
    Roll out blue fondant and cut or shape small triangle spikes. Let them sit for a bit until they firm up, this helps them stand nicely. Once set, gently place them along the dinosaur’s back, starting at the head and continuing down to the tail.

Notes

*store-bought frosting can be soft for piping. You can add ½-¾ cup of sifted powdered sugar to one can of frosting to stiffen it up. Mix well with a blender until fluffy. Add a few pinches of salt to balance the sweetness.

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