You’ll love these Easy Summer Beach Themed Cupcakes for your summer parties. Easy to make lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting topped with fun edible decorations. Great for kids to make!
In case you missed it, this is the 4th Annual #SummerDessertWeek event hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife. We’re celebrating all things summer with a week-long event that is absolutely filled with some of the best summer dessert recipes! Summer desserts are the best, if you ask me and I have been loving all of the recipes being shared using the #SummerDessertsWeek hashtag.
Check out Monday’s recipe: Homemade Peach Sorbet and Wednesday’s dessert: Easy Fruity Watermelon Pizza
This is my last recipe for #SummerDessertsWeek and I had so much fun making them. I totally wish I had young children around when I made these cute cupcakes. Not only are they easy to make and fun to decorate, the lemon cupcakes are made from a boxed mix that I doctored up to make them fluffier and more like homemade.
This is a great recipe to get the kids involved in baking! Adult supervision with the baking, of course. However, it’s also a great party idea! Bake the cupcakes ahead of time and then set up a table with all of the topping. Let the kids decorate their cupcakes however they wish.
I mentioned that I jazzed up a boxed cake mix to make the cupcakes taste like homemade, and I even added a little something to the canned frosting too.
How to make boxed cake mix taste like homemade
I used a lemon boxed cake mix but changed a few of the ingredients that you add to the mix. I replaced the water with milk, the oil with melted butter, and added an extra egg. Also, adding a bit of lemon extract to bump up the lemon flavor.
Using milk instead of water as called for on the box, adds some density, extra fat (trust me on this), and extra flavor. Substituting the oil in the boxed cake recipe for melted butter adds so much more flavor. Adding that extra egg will give the cake a more homemade taste and make the cake fluffier.
If you use other cake mixes, like a white cake, you can add an extra egg white and vanilla extract in addition to the milk and butter. My Jazzed Up White Cake is not only a family favorite but one of the more popular recipes on the blog. It gets high fives from hubby each time I make it.
For a chocolate cake, add strong brewed coffee (in place of the water) to the mix and even throw in some chocolate chips. It will bring that cake to the next level.
I used a canned cream cheese frosting as I was out of cream cheese, but you can add flavoring to the frosting. I added a bit of lemon extract to keep that lemon flavor going. Lemon just says summer to me. Depending on the flavor of you cake, you can add extracts to the frosting to compliment. If you prefer to make homemade frosting, it’s easy to do with the best cream cheese frosting that I have been making for years.
How to make summer beach themed cupcakes
That’s an easy question to answer – you let your imagination go! Really you only need a few ingredients and creativity. I am not the most creative person but this was easy.
I used teddy graham crackers for the little people on top of the cupcakes. Lifesaver gummies for the swim floats, Airhead Xtremes Rainbow candy for the beach towels and surfboard. Crushed graham crackers make perfect sand! Blue sanding sugar is great to use for the ocean and those little drink umbrellas are perfect to decorate the cupcakes with, too.
Once I had my toppings gathered, I frosted the baked lemon cupcakes with just a little of the lemon frosting. You just need a thin layer since it really is just acting as a “glue” to keep the toppings on. Then sprinkle on the crushed graham crackers (sand), and let your imagination go!
To get some of the toppings to stick, just use a little frosting as glue to hold them.
Easy Summer Beach Themed Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
For the frosting and decorations
- 1 can lemon frosting
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- assorted teddy graham crackers
- assorted candies
- mini paper umbrellas
- blue sanding sugar
- finely crushed graham crackers
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, and lemon extract.
- Divide the batter among the cupcake cups, about 2/3 full. Bake for 14-19 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating.
For the frosting and decorations
- Add the lemon extract to the canned lemon frosting and stir well.
- Frost the cupcakes. Add the crushed graham crackers to some for sand. Add blue sanding sugar to some for the water effect. Then let your imagination go and decorate your individual beach scene cupcakes. See notes for some of the candies I used.
Notes
Check out the amazing #SummerDessertWeek recipes from our bloggers today!
Ice Cream & Chilled Desserts:
- Berry Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches from Our Sutton Place
Sweet Summertime Cakes and Cupcakes:
- Easy Funfetti Cake Batter Cookie Bars from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- 7 Up Pound Cake from Savory Experiments
- Brownie Cake from Back To My Southern Roots
- Chocolate Cherry Cake Roll from Sweet Beginnings
- Pina Colada Cake from It’s Shanaka
- Easy Summer Beach Themed Cupcakes from Blogghetti
No Bake Treats:
- Strawberry Shortcake Fudge from Sweet ReciPEAs
- No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Pie from The Spiffy Cookie
Baked Desserts:
- Mixed Berry Mini Cobblers from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Tart Cherry Galette from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes from Big Bear’s Wife
- Blueberry Hand Pies from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
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Enjoy!
These cupcakes are adorable! Love it!
Lisa! These are adorable!! I love everything about these!! Can’t wait to make them with my grandkids.
These are adorable. I’ve made a cake like this but never cupcakes.
These are SO STINKING CUTE! I bet the kids love to help decorate them. I know this big kid would.
Can these cupcakes be made in silicone pans and microwaved?
I’ve only used the silicone pans in the oven, not the microwave so I can’t answer that part.