• Simple cupcakes are rarely the norm.isolation of a chocolate frosted cupcake image by David Smith from Fotolia.com
  
  It's almost impossible to go wrong with cupcakes. These single-serving cakes are becoming so popular that some people choose to use them as their wedding cakes. It follows, then, that cupcake decorating is becoming just as elaborate and outlandish as cake decorating. Cupcakes can be stacked up, made extra tall and shaped into something completely different.
  
  

Tiered Cupcake

• Cakes are not the only baked goods that can be tiered. While they can't reach the staggering heights of cakes, it's possible to tier cupcakes. Start with one regular-sized cupcake and two mini ones. Cut off the tops and set aside (the bottom of the cupcakes is all that's needed. You'll also need three shortbread cookies to act as supports between the layers. Leaving the regular cupcake in its wrapper, lightly frost the top so that one of the cookies will adhere to it. Use a bit of frosting to hold the second tier onto the cookie then cover it with frosting and decorate it with sprinkles or candies. The same process is repeated to create the final tier. Once both mini cupcakes have been decorated, set the final cookie tier on top and decorate.
  
  

Soft-Serve Cupcakes

• Tall cupcakes covered with fluffy white frosting look an awful lot like a big cup of ice cream. To create this type of cupcake, you need a cupcake tin with extra tall sides and the paper liners to fit inside. An alternative is to stack cupcake bottoms into a clear plastic cup with smears of icing in between each cupcake. The color icing you use is entirely optional, but should correspond with an ice cream flavor. For the top of the cupcake, use a piping bag to swirl the icing from the base to the top just like a soft-serve ice cream cone. Sprinkles and a maraschino cherry add to this as does inserting a piece of stick candy to act as a straw.
  
  

Barbecue Cupcakes

• For a summer party you can make your cupcakes look like miniature barbecues. To make the shape of the barbecue you need the cupcake tops. Cover the cupcake top with red fondant and then insert three candy sticks to act as the legs. Cut out a circle of black fondant the same diameter as the cupcake top. Use a black icing color to tint some white fondant gray and roll bars for the grill. Place both of these on top of the cupcake and use a small rolled tube of red fondant to hide the edges and create a lip over the edge. Hamburgers and hot dogs are then shaped using fondant and placed on the grill to complete your miniature barbecue.