Easy DIY Speckled Mermaid Cupcakes
Mermaids are HUGE right now, so why not put them on your cupcakes? Mermaid cupcakes are a HIT with anyone who loves mermaids. Here’s how to make gorgeous mermaid tail cupcakes even if you aren’t good at decorating desserts!
Even though these mermaid cupcakes are so wonderfully over the top, they’re super fun to make. But they’re also much easier than you may realize. In fact, the kids can even help make them!
Take your cupcakes to a new level and make them into mermaids! Mermaids are extremely popular right now, and this recipe gives you a step-by-step process for how to make these tails from scratch, color them, and even how to speckle them!
They are so much fun! Plus, they’re perfect for birthday parties, pool parties, or any day you want to make extra special! (and much easier to make than you may think)
Are you planning a little mermaid birthday party? You’ll want this unique recipe for impressive final results!
An interesting fact about me: my family has 6 (SIX!) close family birthdays in just one week in April. We call it our “birthday season.” With so many birthdays comes…a LOT of cake!
And I’ve been having so much fun sharing some fun cake recipes lately. You might not have realized it at the time, but it was with our birthday season in mind. 😂
If you love these mermaid cupcakes, don’t miss our Rainbow Unicorn Cupcakes, Very Berry Chantilly Cake, or Strawberry Cheesecake Poke Cake. (and keep an eye out for some amazing Cakesicles!)
How let’s make some mermaid tail cupcakes!
Ingredients For Speckled Mermaid Tail Cupcakes
Here’s everything you’ll need for these gorgeous mermaid cupcakes, all listed out!
Cake
- yellow cake mix – boxed cake mix is perfect to make easy cupcakes
- eggs
- water
- oil
Edible Mermaid Tails And Decorations
This is what you’ll need to make your own unique candy mermaid tails as mermaid cupcake toppers:
- white chocolate melts
- variety sprinkles
- Mermaid tail candy mold
- Purple petal dust
- Pink petal dust
- Gold petal dust
- Lemon juice
- Small paintbrushes
Vanilla Frosting
Gather these ingredients to make your delicious homemade frosting!
- butter
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- vanilla
*NOTE: for the complete list of ingredients, including the amounts needed, please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post!
How To Make Mermaid Cupcakes
I’m the queen of multi-tasking, but I find that it’s best to tackle these cupcakes one section at a time. This process for this cupcake recipe looks long, but I PROMISE that it isn’t hard!
Cupcakes
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, oil, water, and cake mix and blend until cupcake batter forms.
- Place cupcake liners in the muffin tin and fill 3/4 full with batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 21 minutes.
- Allow your vanilla cupcakes to cool before frosting.
Frosting
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the butter and cream cheese until completely combined.
- Continuing to mix, add 1 cup powdered sugar at a time until combined.
- Add the frosting to the top of cupcakes.
Mermaid Tails
- Melt your candy melts according the directions on the bag.
- Add the melted candy to your silicon mold. I used a squeeze bottle for less mess and easier distribution.
- Allow it to completely cool. Once they are cool, remove them easily by popping them out onto a hard surface.
- In a small bowl, mix a drop of lemon oil to a shake of one color of the petal dust. Mix together with the paintbrush. It should be a thicker consistency and not too thin. If too thin, it will be too watery for the dust to stick to the chocolate.
- Paint the tail/ seashell/ starfish. It will seem like it’s thin on the chocolate and that it won’t stick. Make sure the chocolate is evenly coated and covered. It will stick!
- Continue steps 4 – 5 with each color at a time in a different bowl!
- Allow to dry completely. Should take about an hour.
Putting These Gorgeous Mermaid Cupcakes Together
- After your cupcakes have cooked, add your frosting to the top of each cupcake (you can pipe your frosting or use a knife!).
- Add your desired amount of mermaid sprinkles to your cupcakes.
- Take a mermaid tail, and stick the base of the tail into the center of your frosting.
- Add a starfish or seashell to the left or right of your tail on top of the cupcake.
- Enjoy the magic of mermaids with these fun mermaid cupcakes!
Recipe Notes And Tips
The hardest part about making these mermaid cupcakes is the mermaid tails.
But the truth is that they aren’t hard so much as they are a little time-consuming to make. The mermaid tail silicone mold is SUPER EASY to use and totally worth the time for that mermaid fan in your life!
Grab a mermaid tail mold and a separate seashell mold, if needed! (If you’re planning to make a batch of cupcakes for a party, I HIGHLY recommend doing this!)
I recommend letting your future mermaid cupcakes cool completely before frosting them. You do NOT want runny warm frosting – it’s a mess.
Mermaid Cupcakes: Variations To Try
Add “sand”: If you want mermaid cupcakes with sprinkles, go for it. Another option is to create “sand” by crushing Nilla wafers. All you have to do is spread a thin layer of frosting on your cupcakes and dip them in the Nilla wafers. You could also frost the cupcakes and sprinkle the sand over the top.
Sprinkles: when it came to the sprinkles, I searched long and hard to find just the right variety. I’m super happy with my choice because they look so amazing! You can grab the same type of sprinkles yourself – they’re worth every penny!
Cupcake liners: you can see from the pictures that I went with simple cupcake liners because I didn’t want to risk detracting from the overall look of these beautiful mermaid cupcakes. However, if you want a slightly different look, you could easily grab one of these cute mermaid cupcake liners!
Frosting: I used white frosting, but you can add a teal color if it fits your personal preferences. Or use food coloring to make pink frosting or purple frosting – almost anything goes!
Flavors: You can use ANY frosting and cupcake flavor that you want for these – they all taste great! I went with a simple vanilla/vanilla combo for this one just to really highlight to mermaid theme for the cupcakes. But you can do anything your tastebuds – or mermaid fans – crave!
These easy Mermaid Cupcakes make the perfect birthday celebration cupcake! Easy to make, fun to decorate, and delicious to eat…isn’t that the recipe of a perfect party food?
Treat your own little mermaids to some fun and unique cupcakes!
More Delicious Desserts
- The EASIEST Rainbow Unicorn Cupcakes
- How To Make Apple Nachos
- Very Best Fresh Berry Chantilly Cake
- How To Make Cheesecake Strawberry Poke Cake
- How To Make Rainbow Jello Squares (+ Video!)
Pin For Later!
Mermaid Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 box of yellow cupcake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of oil
- 2 12 oz bag of white chocolate melts
- 1/2 cup of variety sprinkles
- Mermaid tail candy mold
- Purple petal dust
- Pink petal dust
- Gold petal dust
- 1 TBSP Lemon juice
- Small paintbrushes
- 1 stick butter softened
- 1 8oz cream cheese softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
Cupcakes
- In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, oil, water, and cake mix and blend until cake batter forms.
- In a cupcake pan, place cupcake liners and fill 3/4 full with batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 21 minutes.
- Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.
Frosting
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the butter and cream cheese until completely combined.
- Continuing to mix, add 1 cup powdered sugar at a time until combined.
- Add to the frosting your vanilla. Mix until completely combined.
Mermaid Tails
- Melt your candy melts according to the directions on the bag.
- Add the melted chocolate to your mold. I used a squeeze bottle for less mess and easier distribution.
- Allow it to completely cool. Once they are cool, remove them easily by popping them out onto a hard surface.
- In a small bowl, mix a drop of lemon oil to a shake of one color of the petal dust. Mix together with the paintbrush. It should be a thicker consistency and not too thin. If too thin, it will be too watery for the dust to stick to the chocolate.
- Paint the tail/ seashell/ starfish. It will seem like it’s thin on the chocolate and that it won’t stick. Make sure the chocolate is evenly coated and covered. It will stick!
- Continue steps 4 – 5 with each color at a time in a different bowl!
- Allow to dry completely. Should take about an hour.
The Grand Finale
- After your cupcakes have cooked, add your frosting to your cupcakes (you can pipe your frosting or use a knife!).
- Add your desired amount of sprinkles to your cupcakes.
- Take a mermaid tail, and stick it in the center of your frosting.
- Add a starfish or seashell to the left or right of your tail.
- Enjoy your mermaid experience!
