Silly Graduation Cupcakes

When my daughter was getting dressed in her cap and gown in preparation for her 8th grade graduation, her door was closed and I called in “How’s it going?” Her quick response (in her usual forthright and sassy teenager style), ” What idiot invented these hideous hats??”

So I thought she would really appreciate these silly cupcakes for her party. Paul and I had a lot of fun assembling them, although I must say we had some discussion about the importance of the tassel and string. In the end, we compromised. Paul was definitely anti-tassel. I admitted that they looked somewhat awkward — with and without a string of licorice as the attachment from the top of the hat to the tassel, but I was stubborn (surprise) and wanted to leave a hint of the tassel concept by placing a Sixlet candy on the cupcake. I’m not sure if anyone noticed.

I really thought my friends would laugh at me about these silly cupcakes but they were gracious. I got the idea from  Brown Sugar Bee, and her execution of the concept is far superior in looks, using more elegant Ghiradelli chocolates for the tops and M&Ms for the tassel. Given current budget constraints, I frugally used chocolate covered graham crackers for the tops.  And I thought the Sixlets would be more playful.

Overall they make the point, but I think I’ll make these again with Ghiradelli chocolate bars and M&Ms when my son graduates from high school in two years…

I am not including a recipe here because I just used a cake and frosting mix to make the cupcakes. No time; this was all about the concept, and reminding my daughter about her lovely cap. I used frosting to glue the chocolate graham cracker to the peanut butter cup.

Tags: graduation, special occasion