These Mermaid Cupcakes are Perfect for a Party!
These easy mermaid cupcakes are so spectacularly over the top and they’re so fun to make! But don’t shy away from them because they look like a professional baker made them – it’s honestly, just a few tricks.
The mermaid tail mold is my secret weapon, along with some tried-and-true recipes I’ll share. And the best part is that the decorations can be made well in advance of when you need them.
RELATED READING: Make These Ridiculously Easy Mermaid Lollipops
Mermaid Cupcakes DIY
Here at Ruffles and Rain Boots, we have a tendency to make all sorts of fun and easy cupcake decorating ideas, but the best ones are always a little bit of an accident. Take these fun tie dye cupcakes which, it turned out, they were really mermaid cupcakes in disguise.
We started out with just a fun multicolored plan, then grew and grew into fun mermaid tail cupcakes that would be perfect for a party! If you’re ready to make a fun under-sea party cupcake, let’s get started.
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Tips to Make Mermaid Party Cupcakes
- The mermaid tail silicone mold is SO EASY to use. This is the third time I’ve turned to it to make a fun treat and it’s the perfect accessory if you have a mermaid fan. And here is the seashell mold I used.
- I know it’s subtle, but these cupcakes are frosted with white and pink swirled together. Do a couple of practice swirls of your frosting on some parchment paper because the frosting never comes out right when it starts.Â
- Let these mermaid cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.
- Use gel food coloring for the most vibrant colors which take the least amount of colorant.
- If you need a vanilla cupcake recipe, I recommend making our Lazy Girl’s Easy Vanilla Cupcakes. You can also use a vanilla boxed cake mix if you have that on hand.
More Mermaid Party Ideas You Might Like
- Mermaid Popcorn – So much fun to be had making and eating this awesome mermaid popcorn. Just be sure to package some up as favors for the guests!
- Mermaid Muddy Buddy Recipe – The pastels and perfect flavor combination make this Chex mix a must-have.
- Mermaid Crown – You are not going to find a more perfect craft for a mermaid party–so simple and fun!
- Adorable Crab Sandwiches – This kid-friendly sandwiches look like a crab to add a fun and festive tilt to the mermaid party food.
- Princess Ariel Bath Bombs – Take 10 minutes to create these bath bombs for a party favor – little ones LOVE the bubbles.
More Mermaid Color Inspiration and Sprinkle Warning
As you can see, we’ve made these jaw-dropping cupcakes a few times now. They can be made with any colors to match a party, birthday, or movie theme. I just change the color of fondant, spray, and sprinkles.
When serving little ones (under 4), I leave off the sprinkles. But trust me when I say, the mermaid tails are show-stoppers on their own.
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How To Make This WOW-Worthy Mermaid Cupcakes Recipe
Below is a step by step of how to create the fondant mermaid tails and seashells, the colorful cupcakes, the frosting, and even some piping tips.
If you need a cupcake recipe, try mine – it’s one of the most popular vanilla cupcake recipes on the Internet because it comes out perfectly every time.
Mermaid Cupcakes
These mermaid cupcakes are the star of any dessert table! Packed high with color, fun, and of course, a mermaid tail.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- Easy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
- blue, pink, purple and green gel food coloring
Mermaid Tails and Seashells
- 1 Tube of Pink fondant
- 1 Tube of Lilac fondant
- 1 C of corn starch
- 1 tube of gold luster dust
Frosting
- 1 C unsalted sweet cream butter, softened

- 2 1/2 C powder sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla 

- 3-5 TBSP heavy whipping cream

- Blue and pink gel food coloring

- Purple, green, blue, white and orange Jumbo Nonpareils Sprinkles
Instructions
How to Make Mermaid Tails
- To make the mermaid tails, lightly coat your hands with cornstarch and massage the pink fondant until soft .
- With one of the brushes, lightly dust the silicon mold with cornstarch.
- With a tablespoon-sized portion of fondant, press it into a tail mold.
- Repeat with all of the mermaid tail molds until you have 12.
- Repeat the process with the seashell mold and purple fondant to make 12-24 shells.
- Allow the fondant creations to sit for 5-10 minutes in the mold before flipping it over and carefully pushing out the fondant pieces.
- Lightly brush each of the mermaid tails with the luster dust.
- Let the fondant pieces dry for 1 hour while you make the cupcakes. I like to leave them overnight.
Make the Cupcakes
- Make the vanilla cupcake batter but before putting the batter into the tins, divide the batter equally into 4 small bowls.
- Add 5-10 drops of food coloring to each bowl (one color to one bowl).
- Mix each colored batter until combined and the color is consistent throughout.
- With a small spoon, place 1 spoonful of colored batter into the cupcake liners.
- Repeat with each of the other colors until the liners are 3/4 full.
- Bake in the oven per your recipe's directions.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting.
Make the Frosting
- With a stand mixer, combine all of the frosting ingredients and mix on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
- Scoop about 1 C of frosting into 3 separate bowls.
- Add a few drops of each food coloring into the bowls (one color per bowl).
- Place the blue frosting into a piping bag with no tip (just nip off the point).
- Frost each of the cupcakes with the blue frosting in an even layer.
- Mix all of the sprinkles in a bowl and dip the blue frosted cupcakes into the sprinkles to coat the frosting completely.
- Place the pink frosting into one side of a piping bag with a star tip, then place white frosting on the other side.
- Pipe a generous dollop of swirled frosting into the center of the blue frosting on each cupcake. Pull it upward as you complete the circle.
- Press a mermaid tail into the frosting and add a fondant seashell onto the side of the frosting on each cupcake.
Notes
For more fun cupcake decorating ideas, visit Ruffles and Rain Boots!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 453Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 67mgSodium: 146mgCarbohydrates: 62gFiber: 0gSugar: 50gProtein: 1g
All nutrition information is estimated. For accuracy, please calculate your exact brands and ingredients if accuracy is desired.
