Easy To Make Earth Day Cupcakes with Pretzel & Candy Melt Plants
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There are many special days to celebrate throughout the year but what could be more important than Earth Day? Raise awareness, in a delicious way by making and sharing these colorful Earth Day Cupcakes. Ready in 40 minutes, using chocolate cake mix, blue, and green frosting, heart-shaped sprinkles, and topped with a pretzel and candy melt plant!
I’ve got lots of fun and easy Cupcake Recipes for you to try out – right-click to open a new tab to read next.
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Earth Day Cupcakes
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions, to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required and understand the steps and timings involved.
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The theme for 2022 is Invest in Our Planet.
Wikipedia
Earth Day is a great time to discuss environmental issues with your children, like deforestation, pollution, and climate change. Talk about ways you can help – maybe picking up litter in your neighborhood, planting a tree, recycling at home, or simply going for a walk in nature.
You can make it fun too by making these awesome Earth Day cupcakes!
These easy-to-make creations are topped with pretzel and candy melt plants, and the kids will love helping you to make them.
Using a box of cake mix and ready-made frosting, this recipe is really quite easy to do!
>> Read Next: Free Earth Day Printables – Activities & Games for Earth Day!
If you’re an experienced cake maker you can probably jump straight to the recipe at the end of this post and get baking.
But if not, please read through the steps as I’ve got lots of tips and suggestions along the way!
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
For your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed to make these cupcakes have been listed below and linked to Amazon or other stores if available online. Standard ingredients such as flour or sugar are not listed, as you are likely to have those in your kitchen. The full list with measurements is found in the recipe card.
Cupcakes & Frosting Ingredients
- Box of Chocolate Cake Mix – plus the ingredients to make the cake mix, usually eggs, oil, and water.
- Blue Frosting
- Green Frosting
Decorating Ingredients
- Pretzel Sitcks
- Large Heart-Shaped Sprinkles
- Green Candy Melts – or you can use white chocolate (such as Almond Bark) and an oil-based green food coloring (as shown in images)
Cupcake Decorating Equipment
- Large Piping Bag – you can use disposable or reuseable, your choice.
- Large Round Piping Tip – for example, Wilton 1A, optional, you can snip the end off the disposable piping bag instead.
Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog! I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. You can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).
Earth Day Cupcakes Recipe Tips
Cupcake Making Tips
- These cupcakes are made using a box of cake mix, but you can prepare your favorite cupcake recipe if you prefer.
- Use your choice of cupcake liners – themed to the cupcakes, plain white or black, or a complimentary color.
- Use an ice cream scoop to equally divide the cupcake mixture between the cupcake liners. Fill them about three-quarters full.
- The cupcakes should be ready in about 20 minutes – test their doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cakes. It should come out clean when the cupcakes are cooked all the way through. Bake for an extra 2 minutes and check again.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Use a piping bag with a large round piping tip attached, or with the end snipped off if you don’t have piping tips.
Melting Tips for Candy Melts
You can melt candy melts/candy wafers in the microwave or a double boiler, or if you plan on making lots of candy-covered treats in the future, I recommend investing in a Wilton candy melting pot as treat-making life is then so much easier!
Try this PME one if you’re in the UK, as the Wilton one is not available on Amazon.co.uk.
If you use the Wilton Candy Melting Pot, you can check out Wilton’s demo video on YouTube which is really helpful. They also give tips on how to melt candy melts in the microwave, as well as using the double boiler method.
The two most important things are
- Do not overheat – use an even melting temperature
- Do not add water – it makes the candy seize up and become unusable. Make sure the equipment used is completely dry, and avoid using utensils that retain moisture like a wooden spoon.
If you find that the candy is too thick, add vegetable shortening or (solid) coconut oil in 1 teaspoon increments, up to 1 tablespoon, and stir well.
Another reminder – do not add water. The very first time I used candy melts I managed to get water in the bowl and it was ruined. Learn from my mistakes! Additionally, do not use vegetable oil, butter, milk, or any other liquids as this will also make the candy seize up.
If you are using your microwave, test melt a small amount of candy melts first, to see how it works. You may need to adjust the temperature and time to suit your machine. Heat in 15-30 second increments, stirring the candy melts each time. They may not look melted, but they might have started melting from the inside. Stirring helps to distribute the heat.
More Cupcake Recipes
Looking for more cupcakes to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Purple, Green & Gold Marbled Mardi Gras Cupcakes
- Make These Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day!
- Make These Red Velvet Valentine’s Day Cupcakes For Your Sweet Love!
How Do I Make Earth Day Cupcakes?
Just check out the recipe card below with full ingredients, and instructions. You can print the card out too (don’t worry, the pics don’t print to save your ink!).
Earth Day Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 15.25oz box of chocolate cake mix + ingredients listed on box to make it
- Can of blue frosting
- Can of green frosting
- 24 pretzel sticks
- 24 large heart-shaped sprinkles
- 2 oz 55g white chocolate, melted with green oil based food coloring or green candy melt wafers
SUGGESTED PRODUCTS
Instructions
- To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 (or according to box instructions). Line cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners and set them aside.
- Using an electric handheld or stand mixer, place the cake mix and the ingredients listed on the box to make it into a large bowl and mix until combined and smooth.
- Use an ice cream scoop to divide the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. Bake cupcakes per recipe and cool completely.
- Meanwhile, line a tray with some parchment or wax paper, and lay the pretzel sticks a few inches/centimeters apart.
- Melt the white chocolate and mix with the green coloring (or melt the candy melts) and transfer to a squeeze bottle or piping bag with the tip snipped off.
- Pipe green chocolate leaves over the pretzel sticks to create little seedlings. Place in refrigerator to set.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a large round tip such as Wilton #1A, with one half blue frosting and the other half green frosting. Squeeze a little out onto a plate to ensure the colors blend.
- Pipe swirls of two-tone frosting onto each cooked and cooled cupcake.
- Place a heart-shaped sprinkle onto the front center of the frosting.
- Press the pretzel plant leaves into the frosting.
- Enjoy and Happy Earth Day!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Make It A Meal!
You’ve made the dessert, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal for a dinner party or special occasion:
- Appetizer: Instant Pot Sesame Garlic Chicken Wings – A Great Game Day Appetizer
- Soup: One-Pot Easy Beer Cheese Soup Recipe
- Salad: Iceberg Lettuce Wedge Salad with Bacon & Blue Cheese Dressing
- Main Dish: 5-Ingredient Herb Mustard Sirloin Steak Recipe
- Side Dish: Greek-Style Lemon Potatoes
- Beverage: How To Make a Classic Mojito Cocktail with White Rum, Lime & Mint
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too!