Perfect Pupcakes!

Our Inspiration 

With my dad gone for the weekend on a golfing extravaganzas (he's played four rounds in three days), our dachshund number increased from three to five.  Because we just love our pooches so much, we looked through the What's New Cupcake? book my brother's girlfriend left and made the most adorable sweet treats ever! Taking a little cue from Elvis, they ain't nothin' but a...dachshund, four cupcakes long, dipped in melted frosting, with M&M eyes watching over a bone.  And those custom cookie ears, snouts, and tails leave us all shook up.  After making cupcakes using the recipe on the back of the Duncan Hine's box, here's the Hound Dog Recipe:

Completed Cupcakes and Cookies 

• 4 chocolate cupcakes 
• 1/2 recipe cookie dough
• 1 can of chocolate frosting
• 1 tube white decorating Icing 
• 2 candy-coated chocolates (M&Ms)
• 1 black jelly bean
• 4 chocolate-covered almonds
• dog bone-shaped graham cracker (Scooby-Doo Graham Cracker Sticks are a cute option)

1) Preheat the oven to 350º and spray PAM on a cookie sheet.
2) Cut out face, ears, and tail from the rolled-out cookie dough.  We used parts of our Christmas cookie cutters, but it would be simple to freehand it as well.   Bake until the cookies are firm to the touch and fragrant, takes about 8 minutes.
3) Spoon the chocolate frosting into a shallow microwavable bowl  Heat the frosting, stopping to stir frequently (every 10 seconds), until it has the texture of lightly whipped cream.
4) Holding the cupcake by its paper liner, dip it into the frosting just to the edge.  Allow the excess frosting to drip off back into the bowl.  This will give your cupcakes a glossy look.  Carefully invert the cupcake and place on a cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining cupcakes  If the frosting becomes too thick, microwave for several seconds and stir.
5) Arrange 4 cupcakes in a row on a serving platter.  Attach the head cookie and the ears and tail, securing them with a few dots of the decorating icing.  Pipe several dots and attach the M&Ms for the eyes and a black jelly bean for the nose.  Pipe a few lines of the icing for eyebrows.  Arrange the chocolate-covered almonds as the paws along the base of the cupcakes.  If desired, give your dog a bone.

And there you have it, perfect pupcakes.  A few suggestions-

Don't Buy in Bulk 

• buy your M&Ms, black jelly beans, and almonds at a place like Fresh Market where you can pick out just the right number needed; that way you wont have to buy a whole bag of jellies when you only need one or two
• you might want to attach the ears to the face before you bake the cookies, that way they'll be sure to stick
• for piping purposes, put icing in a ziploc bag and cut the end out of one of the corners

With the Extra Cake Batter, We Made a Dachshund Cake