Easy DIY Speckled Tail Mermaid Cupcakes Tutorial

Mermaid cupcakes look like they take all day to make, but they are actually quick and easy. Follow this tutorial to learn how to make gorgeous mermaid tail cupcakes even if you don’t have decorating skills!

Take your cupcakes to a new decorating 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 speckle them, too!

They are so much fun to make (and much easier to make than you may think)! Plus, they’re perfect for birthday parties, pool parties, play dates, or any day you want to make extra special!

And I’ve been having so much fun sharing some fun cake recipes lately. If you’re looking for fun themed cupcakes or decorating tutorials, check out these ideas:

• Campfire Cupcakes
• Elmo Cupcakes
• Minion Cupcakes
• Galaxy Cupcakes
• Jurassic Dinosaur Cupcakes
• Encanto 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 extract

*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 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

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, oil, water, and cake mix and blend until cupcake batter forms.
2. Place cupcake liners in the muffin tin and fill 3/4 full with batter.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 21 minutes.
4. Allow your vanilla cupcakes to cool before frosting them.

Frosting

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the butter and cream cheese until completely combined.
2. Continuing to mix, add 1 cup powdered sugar at a time until combined.
3. Add the frosting to the top of cupcakes. 

Mermaid Tails

1. Melt your candy melts according the directions on the bag.
2. Add the melted candy to your silicon mold. I used a squeeze bottle for less mess and easier distribution.
3. Allow it to completely cool. Once they are cool, remove them easily by popping them out onto a hard surface.
4. 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.
5. 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!
6. Continue steps 4 – 5 with each color at a time in a different bowl!
7. Allow to dry completely – it’ll take about an hour.

Putting These Gorgeous Mermaid Cupcakes Together

1. After your cupcakes have cooked, add your frosting to the top of each cupcake (you can pipe your frosting or use a knife!).
2. Add your desired amount of mermaid sprinkles to your cupcakes.
3. Take a mermaid tail, and stick the base of the tail into the center of your frosting.
4. Add a starfish or seashell to the left or right of your tail on top of the cupcake.
5. Enjoy the magic of mermaids with these fun mermaid cupcakes!

Recipe Notes And Tips

The hardest part about making these mermaid cupcakes is making the mermaid tails. The reality is that they aren’t hard – but 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!)

Let 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 wafer cookies. 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 – Take a look and grab the perfect sprinkles for the look you’re going for – 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 – or any other color – with food coloring, if it fits your personal preferences.

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 taste buds – or mermaid fans – crave!

Make Them Gluten-Free

To make these delicious cupcakes gluten-free, you can swap out the cake mix for a gluten-free version. There are a few brands out there that offer gluten-free baking mixes, but I’ve had consistent success with King Arthur.

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!

Mermaid Cupcakes Storage Tips

Make ahead – If you want to make these cupcakes ahead of time, I recommend baking the cupcakes and making the cupcake toppers (tails and seashells). Store them separately until you’re ready to put these cupcakes together.

Leftovers – If you have leftover cupcakes, I recommend putting them in an airtight container in the fridge. They should stay fresh for up to 3 days.

Freezing tips – Need to freeze these cupcakes? If possible, freeze the cupcakes before decorating them. When you’re ready to use them, let them thaw on the counter for a few hours or overnight. Then pick up from that point in the recipe and put the cupcakes together to serve and enjoy!

More Delicious Desserts

• Rainbow Unicorn Cupcakes
• How To Make Apple Nachos
• Very Best Fresh Berry Chantilly Cake
• Cheesecake Strawberry Poke Cake
• Rainbow Jello Squares (+ Video!)

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