Carrot and Bunny Cupcakes

When you use a box of cake mix to make cupcakes, the least you can do is add a little creativity with the decorations.  Therefore, to acknowledge Easter, I made a batch of Carrot Cake Cupcakes with marshmellow bunnies on the top.  They were a hit!  However, marshmellows do not taste very good with carrot cake; so many people opted to eat them separately or just throw them away.  No worries, though; the bunnies were just for show. :)

Carrot and Bunny Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 box of Carrot Cake mix
• 1 can of Orange Soda
• 1 container of cream cheese frosting
• 18 large marshmallows (for the ears)
• 18 large marshmallows (for the faces)
• 32 miniature chocolate chips (for the eyes)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (for the noses)
• 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)
• Muffin tins

I use a can of soda when baking with boxes of cake mix; so my first step was to mix the can of Orange Soda with my carrot cake mix.  Then, I placed my muffin tins in a 12-spot mini-muffin tray.  Fill each cup a little more than 3/4 of the way up the muffin tin.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for the time stated on the box.  When the muffins have baked and cooled, frost the cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting.  Next, cut 18 of your large marshmallows in the middle of the cylinder to create 2 round faces.  Continue until all the cupcakes have a round face on them.  Next, take the rest of you large marshmallows and cut them diagonally to create the ears.  Place the point side of the ears into the frosting.  I found it easiest to keep the ears in place by making sure that the stick parts of the marshmallow can be squeezed together at the top.  Next, use the mini chocolate chips to create two dark eyes for the bunnies.  With a toothpick, use the teaspoon of ground cinnamon to carefully dust noses on each of the bunnies.  For contrast, add chopped walnuts around each of the bunnies.