Looking for mermaid cupcakes ideas? These easy mermaid cupcakes DIY can be made at home with no special cake decorating skills. They are perfect for a birthday party or just for fun. I have some tips to help you learn how to make mermaid tail cupcakes.

Mermaid Tail Cupcakes

I'm pretty crafty, and I love to cook. However, I'm not a cake or cookie decorator. My daughter loves to decorate cakes, but I promise you that she didn't get that talent from me.

This is an easy mermaid cupcakes recipe. I started with a cake mix, but you can definitely make the cupcakes from scratch.

I did make my own buttercream icing for the mermaid tail cupcakes because I think a homemade icing tastes better than canned.

For more cupcake and party food ideas, check out these posts:

How Do You Make Mermaid Cupcakes DIY?

I used a cake mix to make my mermaid tail cupcakes. You can use these boxed cake mix hacks to improve a boxed cake mix.

I really like the Aldi cake mixes. I also like Pillsbury Moist Supreme White Cake Mix or using Duncan Hines Classic White Cake Mix.

You can also make the cake from scratch with your favorite white cake mix recipe.

Can I Use Canned Frosting to Make a Mermaid Cupcakes Recipe?

I'll cheat and use a cake mix any day, but I don't like canned frosting. It always tastes funny and the texture is off.

Canned frosting may not pipe correctly, so you might not get good results with your mermaid tail cupcakes.

I recommend making this buttercream icing. If you really don't want to make it from scratch, some grocery store bakeries sell tubs of buttercream icing.

How Do You Make Mermaid Icing?

I made one batch of buttercream icing and divided it into three bowls. I then colored each bowl a different color.

I used light green, blue and purple to make easy mermaid cupcakes. I used gel food coloring because it doesn't water down the frosting.

I also used edible cake dust on the top of the frosting for some shimmer. I mean, even though these are easy mermaid cupcakes doesn't mean that they don't have to be extra!

You can then put each color in a small piping bag and place all three piping bags in a large piping bag to pipe on the frosting.

You can also use a tricolor piping kit to create a swirl of three colors.

How Do You Make an Edible Mermaid Tail?

I melted white chocolate and pour it into a mermaid tail mold to make my mermaid tail cupcakes. It's important to note that you can't use a water based food coloring with melted chocolate because it will make the chocolate seize.

You can either use colored melting wafers or use a food coloring made for chocolate. Wilton has Garden Candy Coloring Set and a Candy Coloring set with primary colors and orange.

I put the tails in the final steps of this mermaid cupcakes recipe, but you can make them before you make the cake or even a few days before.

I like to use the Wilton Candy Melt Bottle for small amounts of chocolate and wafers because it's easy to microwave to melt. Just be careful not to overheat the chocolate when making simple mermaid cupcakes.

Other Mermaid Cupcake Ideas

You can also use the following to make mermaid cupcakes designs:

Use these adorable mermaid cupcake toppers made of paper.
Buy premade fondant mermaid cupcake toppers.
These printable cupcake toppers are easy to make at home.
Use mermaid cupcake liners.

Easy Mermaid Cupcakes Ingredients

You will need the following to learn how to make mermaid cupcakes:

For the Mermaid Birthday Cupcakes

1 15.25 ounce white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 egg whites
Cupcake liners

For the Frosting for Mermaid Cupcakes Design

2 sticks of salted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (make your own vanilla extract from vanilla beans or make Instant Pot vanilla extract)
3-4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons half and half
Green, blue, and purple gel food coloring
Edible pearl luster dust
Mermaid tail silicone mold
Candy melts or white chocolate chips
Mermaid sprinkles
3 small piping bags and 1 large piping bag with a large star frosting tip or a tricolor piping bag

How Do You Make a Mermaid Tail Cupcake?

How to Make Mermaid Tail Cupcakes

Step #1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.

Step #2

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, water, oil, and egg whites. Use a hand mixer to beat on medium until fully mixed.

Step #3

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. The mermaid cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack and let cool completely.

How to Make a Mermaid Cupcakes Design

Step #1

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Step #2

While mixing, slowly add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Alternate with 1 tablespoon of the half and half. Mix until creamy and stiff peaks form. Add the luster dust until it's as shimmery as you you want.

Step #3

Divide the frosting into three containers. Add food coloring to each bowl to make purple, green, and blue. Stir well.

Step #4

Add each color to its own small piping bag and then place the three smaller bags into a large piping bag. You can also use a tricolor icing bag.

Step #5

Squeeze a small amount of frosting on a plate to get the three colors combined. Then frost your easy mermaid cupcakes.

Step #6

Melt the white chocolate or candy wafers. Add candy melt coloring if needed and pour into a silicone mold. Let set up until hardened. Remove from the mold and place a tail on the mermaid tail cupcakes. Sprinkle with mermaid sprinkles.

This makes 24 easy mermaid tail cupcakes.

Now you know how to make mermaid cupcakes DIY. Enjoy!