Okay, so I was scrolling through my feed the other day, and I saw these super cute graduation-themed desserts. I thought, “Hey, I can totally make those!” Graduation season is coming up, and I wanted to try something fun and festive. So, I decided to give it a shot and document the whole process. Here’s how it went down.
Gathering Supplies
First things first, I needed to gather all my supplies. I already had most of the basic baking stuff, like flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. But I needed a few specific things for the graduation theme.
- Chocolate melts: I grabbed some black and white chocolate melts to make the graduation caps and diplomas.
- Food coloring: I picked up some yellow and blue food coloring, just in case I wanted to match my school colors.
- Sprinkles: Can’t have a celebration without sprinkles! I got a variety pack with stars and graduation-themed ones.
- Cupcake liners: I found these cute black and white striped liners that I thought would look nice.
- Mini chocolate bars: These were for the base of the graduation caps.
- Fruit Roll-Ups: I chose yellow ones to make the tassels for the caps.
- Pretzel sticks: These were going to be the handles for the little diplomas.
Baking the Cupcakes
Next up, I whipped up a batch of vanilla cupcakes. I used my go-to recipe, the one that always turns out fluffy and delicious. While the cupcakes were baking, I started prepping the decorations. This part was a bit time-consuming, but it’s all worth it in the end, right?
Making the Decorations
I melted the black chocolate according to the package directions. Then, I carefully spread the melted chocolate onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once it was set, I used a knife to cut them into squares for the top of the graduation caps. For the bases, I just unwrapped some mini chocolate bars. Easy peasy.
The tassels were a bit trickier. I used kitchen scissors to cut thin strips of the yellow Fruit Roll-Ups. Then, I attached them to the top of the chocolate squares using a tiny dab of melted chocolate. It took some patience, but they looked pretty good!
For the diplomas, I melted the white chocolate and used a piping bag with a small tip to pipe lines onto parchment paper in the shape of diplomas. I let them set for a few minutes and then carefully placed a pretzel stick on one end to make the handle. They looked surprisingly realistic!
Assembling the Desserts
Once the cupcakes were cool, I frosted them with vanilla buttercream. I used a piping bag with a star tip to make them look extra fancy. Then, the fun part – decorating!
I placed a chocolate square on top of each cupcake and added a Fruit Roll-Up tassel. Then, I added a mini chocolate bar base to complete the graduation cap look. For the diplomas, I just carefully placed them on top of the frosting. I finished it all off with a sprinkle of, well, sprinkles!
The Final Result
They turned out so much better than I expected! They were almost too cute to eat… almost. I shared them with my family, and they were a huge hit. My little cousin even said they were the “coolest cupcakes ever.” Success! It was a fun little project, and I’m definitely going to make these again for any graduation parties I go to. Who knew baking could be so extra?
