Cute Campfire Cupcakes (Easy Decorating Tutorial)
Fun campfire cupcakes are adorable and the perfect dessert for a weekend in the backyard (or at the lake) or to share with your neighbors and friends. Camping-themed cupcakes are ideal for all summer long!
Camping is one of my family’s favorite activities. We love going to the lake, pitching the tent, and getting that campfire going. There isn’t anything better than listening to the crackling of the fire while relaxing in a comfy chair.
The campfire is definitely the best part of camping for me. The days are busy with hiking, boating, swimming, or preparing meals. So, at the end of the day, nothing beats a beautiful fire after dark and the relaxation it brings to my soul.
If you are throwing a summer party, a summer or camping-themed birthday party, or just long for a campfire, these campfire cupcakes (you could also call them bonfire cupcakes) are exactly what you need!
I love adorable cupcakes, and today I have a new design for you that I am sure you are gonna LOVE!
They look like they may be a little difficult to make, but they are actually SUPER simple and will have all your guests talking about your cupcake decorating skills (even if you don’t have any)!
All you need is your favorite cake mix, a few simple ingredients, and just a little time to whip up a batch of these adorable campfire cupcakes.
They will make you want to pack up the camping gear and head back out to your favorite spot to enjoy another glorious campfire.
If you want more easy cupcake recipes the kids will love, try my Quick and Easy Sunshine Cupcakes, Encanto Movie-Themed Cupcakes, or Jurassic Dinosaur Cupcakes.
Ingredients Needed For Cute Campfire Cupcakes
Here’s everything you’ll need to make these fun cupcakes!
- Chocolate Cake Mix – plus additional ingredients needed (such as eggs and vegetable oil) for cake mix for basic chocolate cupcakes. OR prepare your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe.
- Buttercream Icing – colored gray, red, orange, and yellow buttercream (or white frosting colored with food coloring – I recommend gel-based colors)
- Mini Pretzel Sticks
- Miniature Marshmallow – white or colored
- Wilton 1M Star Frosting Tip
- Piping Bags – or plastic wrap or a resealable plastic bag with the tip cut off
- Large piece of plastic wrap
How To Make Campfire Cupcakes
Here’s the process for decorating these chocolate cupcakes. Prepare to amaze your friends and family!
Step 1
Pre-heat oven and make the boxed cake mix according to the directions, mixing the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together.
Fill the cupcake liners in regular-size muffin cups, and bake according to the directions on the box. Cool completely before decorating campfire cupcakes.
Step 2
Next, make rows of red frosting, orange frosting, and yellow frosting on large sheets of plastic wrap for your frosting flame. (see the picture!)
Step 3
Roll the plastic into a tube, leaving one end open and the other end for twisting.
Step 4
Now you are going to place the tube into a piping bag and put the 1M star tip on the small open end.
Step 5
Next, place the gray frosting into a piping bag and pipe small dollops for the “rocks” all around the outer edges on the top of cupcake.
Step 6
Take pretzel sticks and break them in half. Poke four of the pretzel pieces into the top of the cupcake to support the “flames”.
Step 7
Use the combined frosting to frost cupcakes and pipe a large dab of frosting as “flames” inside the rock ring in the center of the cupcake.
Step 8
Finally, with a pretzel stick, break it in half. Poke small marshmallows on the broken end of the pretzels. Lay the marshmallow stick across the flames at an angle.
Now doesn’t that just look like an adorable campfire? Just looking at them makes me want to whip out the s’mores ingredients and start roasting some marshmallows!
Take these cute cupcakes on your next camping trip, or enjoy them as you dream about your next camping trip!
Aren’t they adorable? You’re going to earn some mad cupcake decorating compliments from these babies! And they’re the perfect cupcakes – don’t the colored pipe swirls make a terrific fire effect perfect for themed parties?
Campfire Cupcakes Recipe Notes And Tips
- If your preference is to use your own made-from-scratch cake mix for those cupcakes, use your favorite flavor. I like choosing chocolate for this sweet treat because it looks like the dirt under a campfire ring. 😉
- Use a gluten-free cake mix and pretzels for a gluten-free dessert.
- Mini marshmallows are the perfect size for the marshmallow sticks!
- You can use any brand of cake mix you prefer but just remember that each brand may require different additional ingredients that you will want to make sure you have available.
Variations Of Cute Little Campfire Cupcakes To Try
- Lay 3 pretzel sticks flat in a criss-cross pattern on top of the cupcake before adding the frosting to look like firewood.
- Add a yummy little surprise in the center of the cupcake. Core out the center of the cupcake and add in some fruit filling, sprinkles, mini M&M’s, or marshmallow creme before frosting.
- If time is limited and you won’t have a chance to bake cupcakes, pick up some muffins or unfrosted cupcakes at the store.
- If you want to make them look even more “authentic,” place a few edible chocolate rocks on top of the pipe rocks. Insert candy pieces all around the cupcakes as the perfect addition.
- If you want more depth of flavor, add a little vanilla extract to the cake mix (about 1 tsp should be enough)!
Campfire Cupcakes FAQs
Here are some questions that I frequently see readers ask about these camping-themed cupcakes. If you have a question and don’t see it answered below, please leave it in the comments.
The cupcakes will keep in the refrigerator for 3 – 5 days if kept in an airtight container or storage bag. I would not recommend storing them at room temperature.
Definitely! Make them up to a day in advance if that helps with your time prep.
If serving for a party, I would suggest that you wait to add the pretzel stick and marshmallow until just before serving so it doesn’t get soft and mushy.
Yes, you can freeze them, but remember that the frosting may not hold up quite as well once you defrost them. I probably would not freeze the pretzel stick and marshmallow on the cupcake.
I would suggest doubling or tripling the cupcake recipe, baking, and freezing them unfrosted. Allow them to defrost completely when ready to use and add frosting just before serving.
I hope you love these campfire cupcakes as much as we do! I know they look difficult to make, but they’re SUPER easy. Enjoy “tricking” your friends and family with your incredible cupcake decorating skills on this yummy treat (I won’t tell)!
More Yummy Kid-Friendly Cupcake Recipes To Try
- Beach Pull-Apart Cupcake Cake
- Earth Day Cupcakes
- Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
- Mini Halloween Unicorn Cake (Cupcakes)
- Easy DIY Speckled Mermaid Cupcakes
Campfire Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 box chocolate cake mix + additional ingredients per instructions OR your favorite recipe
- Gray buttercream frosting in a piping bag with a small cut tip
- Red, orange, and yellow buttercream frosting in the same piping bag with Wilton 1M Star tip
- pretzel sticks
- mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Bake cupcakes per recipe and cool completely.
- Spread red, orange, and yellow buttercream in rows on a piece of plastic wrap as shown.
- Roll like to a tube shape leaving one end open and twisting the other end.
- Place the tube into a piping bag with 1M star tip, open-end down.
- Use gray frosting to pipe “rocks” all along the outer edge of the cupcake.
- Use combo frosting to pipe “flames” in the center of the cupcake inside the rock ring.
- Break a pretzel stick in half and place a mini marshmallow on the broken end and gently lay it on the flames at an angle.
