For the ladybug fan in your life, make these super cute Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, class parties, and more!
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Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes
I’ve spoken at length in the past about how much we love ladybugs! 🐞Last year, we created Ladybug Cookies for Valentine’s! Earlier this month we created Ladybug Lovebug Oreo Truffles also for Valentine’s Day too! And now these delicious and adorable Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes! We are totally obsessed!
The other day, my daughter was watching one of her most favorite shows, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and it never occurred me before that very second why she loves ladybugs so much. I mean, duh! No WONDER! These ladybug cupcakes could almost even be considered Miraculous ladybug cupcakes!
Where Can I Find The Actual Recipe Card?
If you’d rather skip all of my cupcake decorating tips, important information for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the easy Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes recipe, just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
Is This Recipe Easy Enough for Kids to Make?
Yes! That is always a goal of mine to make most or parts of the recipe kid-friendly so they can help you! I am a huge advocate for having kids in the kitchen early and often! They can help mix the cupcake batter, fill the cupcake liners, roll out the fondant, and assemble each ladybug cupcake with pretzels, fondant, googly eyes, and more!
Can I Use Mini Chocolate Chips Instead of Black Fondant?
Absolutely, you can totally do that! The kids have a blast cutting the dots but if it’s getting too tiring for little hands, you can opt to use mini chocolate chips instead! You’ll need to use the offset spatula and place a dollop of homemade buttercream on each chocolate chip to affix it to the cupcake.
Ingredients Needed to Make Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes
To make these adorable Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes, you will need to gather the following ingredients:
- Chocolate cake mix with all ingredients to make it (or you can use your favorite tried and true chocolate cake/cupcake recipe) to prepare 24 chocolate cupcakes
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- Milk
- Red rolling fondant
- Black rolling fondant
- Candy googly eyes
- Pretzel sticks
Keep in mind, all of the ingredient amounts you’ll need are in the printable recipe card below.
Kitchen Tools Needed to Make Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes
- Cupcake pans
- Cupcake liners or silicone reusable liners
- Wire rack for cooling the cupcakes
- Whisk and electric mixer to mix the cupcake batter and later beat the buttercream frosting
- Mixing bowl set (you’ll need a large and a medium bowl)
- Rubber spatula comes in handy to help scrape out all remnants of batter and frosting
- Wilton decorating mat helps you have a clean work surface when working with fondant and decorating cupcakes, cakes, and other treats
- Circular cookie cutter, about 2.5 inches in diameter to cut out the perfect circle of fondant
- Rolling pin to roll out the fondant
- Paring knife to trim the fondant
- Offset spatula comes in handy when decorating cupcakes with frosting
- Wilton tip #12 to help cut out the ladybug’s dots
How to Make Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes
Prepare your chocolate cupcakes according to cake mix’s or recipe’s directions.
Fill your preferred cupcake liners with your chocolate cupcake batter and bake according to the directions either on the box or recipe. As soon as your chocolate cupcakes are done baking in the oven, move them to a wire rack for cooling. Cooling your cupcakes on a wire rack allow for air to travel below the cupcake through the rack to cool them more quickly, evenly, and thoroughly in order to decorate safely.
As your cupcakes cool down, begin preparing the homemade buttercream. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and milk. These ingredients will make up the buttercream frosting. The frosting is ready once all ingredients are well-incorporated, smooth, and form semi-stiff peaks.
Roll out red rolling fondant with a rolling pin on a Wilton decorating mat until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter about 2 ½ inches in diameter, cut out 24 fondant circles.
Using a sharp paring knife, trim off the top portion of each red fondant circle, about ½ an inch from the top.
Use an offset spatula to spread your homemade buttercream on the back of each red fondant circle. Place one on each cupcake. The buttercream serves as a bonding agent to affix your fondant to the cupcake!
Roll black fondant until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. Using the tip of Wilton icing tip #12, cut out 96-120 fondant circles.
Place a dot of buttercream frosting on the back of each black fondant circle. Place 4-5 dots on each red portion of the cupcake. Spread some frosting on the back of the candy googly eyes. Place two on each cupcake, right on the edge of the exposed chocolate portion (in order to leave room for the pretzels).
Snap pretzel sticks in two and insert the halves in each cupcake.
Once all the pretzels are placed, you’re finished and ready to serve! Enjoy these adorable ladybug cupcakes!
What Goes With This Ladybug Cupcakes Recipe?
Why not these adoooorable Ladybug Lovebug Oreo Truffles and Lovebug Ladybug Cookies, of course! For other fun Valentine’s recipes like this, check out my Rose Sugar Cookies, XOXO Cupcakes, Strawberry Shortcake Pudding Cookies, or Heart Eyes Emoji Cookies or Heart Eyes Emoji Cupcakes! If you’d like to try your hand at no-bake Valentine’s recipes, try these Cream Cheese Mint Hearts, Valentine’s Rice Krispies Treats, or these Red Velvet Truffles, Heart Meringues, or Minions Valentine’s Rice Krispies Treats. Check out my friend Mel’s Pink Rice Krispies Treats and Jenn’s Cherry Dump Cake recipe, too!
Ladybug Lovebug Oreo Truffles -
Lovebug Ladybug Cookies -
Rose Sugar Cookies -
XOXO Cupcakes 
Strawberry Shortcake Pudding Cookies -
Cream Cheese Mint Hearts -
Valentine’s Rice Krispies Treats -
Red Velvet Truffles -
Heart Meringues -
Heart Eyes Emoji Cupcakes -
Minions Heart-Shaped Rice Krispies Treats
Can I Use Another Cupcake Flavor Instead of Chocolate?
Yes, absolutely! We used chocolate to stick to the color scheme (plus chocolate is our favorite flavor) but you can absolutely choose to use vanilla, red velvet, or any other flavor if you’d like!
If you love this Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes recipe as much as we do, please leave me a 5-star review below and help me share this recipe on Facebook and Pinterest! If you do make the recipe, I hope you’ll share that you tried it on Pinterest! I love it SO MUCH when readers share their feedback! 🙂
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Ladybug Lovebug Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 box chocolate cake mix + ingredients to make it
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar sifted
- 2 tbsps. milk
- 8-10 oz. red rolling fondant
- 2-4 oz. black rolling fondant
- 48 candy googly eyes
- 24 pretzel sticks
Instructions
- Prepare and bake cupcakes according to cake mix’s or recipe’s directions. Allow for them to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
- Using an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and milk. These ingredients will make up the buttercream frosting.
- The frosting is ready once all ingredients are well-incorporated, smooth and form semi-stiff peaks.
- Roll out red rolling fondant until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter about 2 ½ inches in diameter, cut out 24 fondant circles.
- Trim off the top portion of each red fondant circle, about ½ an inch from the top.
- Use an offset spatula to spread buttercream on the back of each red fondant circle. Place one on each cupcake.
- Roll black fondant until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. Using the tip of Wilton icing tip #12, cut out 96-120 fondant circles.
- Place a dot of buttercream frosting on the back of each black fondant circle. Place 4-5 on each red portion of the cupcake.
- Spread some frosting on the back of the candy googly eyes. Place two on each cupcake, right on the edge of the exposed chocolate portion (in order to leave room for the pretzels).
- Snap pretzels in two and insert the halves in each cupcake. Serve and enjoy!
