Apple Cupcakes

My baby girl turns 6 tomorrow! After our trip to the Apple Orchard yesterday, we decided to make apple cupcakes to share with her class. They have also been learning about apples, so that makes it educational! In order to make the apple cupcakes, we bought a spice cake mix and various accoutrements to go along with it. Here's what you'll need:

• apple spice cake mix
• applesauce
• frosting
• red food coloring
• stick pretzels
• red sugar crystals
• watermelon flavored Air Heads
• gummy worms

First, you mix up the spice cake mix with some added applesauce. (There was a recipe suggestion on the side of the box I bought.) Pour it into your cupcake liners and bake as directed. While they are baking, add red food coloring to your frosting to tint it red. It will still be kinda pink, but that's okay-we'll fix it.

You will also need your green Air Heads. Sprinkle some white sugar on a microwaveable plate and microwave the Air Heads one at a time for about 15 seconds. Turn it to coat it in sugar and use your favorite shot glass to flatten out the candy. (If you don't have a shot glass, I suppose you could use a rolling pin, but that's no fun!) After you have flattened out the candy, use your kitchen scissors to cut out leaf shapes. Set aside. Eat extra pieces of candy.

When the cupcakes are cooled, frost each one with red frosting. Dip the top in a bowl of red sugar crystals-see now they are red instead of pink! Allow your almost-6-year-old to add a pretzel stem (We had long ones and had to break them in half) and a candy leaf. Then poke in a half of a gummy worm using something pokey...possibly a meat thermometer, but I'm not giving away all my secrets!

Viola! You are finished! How ya like dem apples!!