Back Into the Cake Business

Once I went off to college I stepped away from making and decorating cakes.  It wasn't until I graduated and moved to Raleigh, NC for a job opportunity in teaching that my desire for baking and decorating cakes came back. 

For my niece's first birthday I volunteered to make her cupcakes. She loved Elmo and Sesame Street so I wanted to do something along those lines.  These are the cupcakes I came up with:

I also made Big Bird but they are not shown here.  I piped the appropriate color icing on each cupcake, used an Oreo cookie for the mouth, a marshmallow cut in half for the eyes, and a M&M for Elmo's nose (This picture was taken before all the Elmos were finished.  Can you find which one is not like the others?)  For Big Bird, I used white chocolate tinted yellow to make his beak and a few feathers.  This was the first time I had any experience with chocolate.  It was fun!