Four simple and easy to make animal jungle cupcakes — a zebra, monkey, tiger, and a panda.
I first made these jungle cupcakes about four months ago for my babe’s first birthday and promised I’d share a little tutorial for them. Well, I’m finally making good on that promise and have a quick video and description for each of these jungle cupcakes below.
First up, ZEBRA CUPCAKES.
Of course I had to start with my favorite animal! While I don’t know if these are the cutest or not (I’m kind of partial to the monkeys below), I do have to say that as far as jungle animals go, zebras are my FAVORITE. Black + white stripes are the coolest.
In case you can’t find the ingredients in the store, or prefer the convenience of shopping online, here are links to the ingredients I used:
Zebra Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup full-fat sour cream or full-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (or sub scant 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tbsp vinegar- mixed together and let sit for 5 minutes)
- 1 package (15.25 ounces) chocolate fudge cake mix dry
- 1 package (3.4 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix dry
- 1 container cream cheese frosting OR your favorite homemade frosting
Make 'em into a ZEBRA
- White Sparkling Sugar
- Black Candy Melts
- Brown M&Ms
- Black Sparkle Gel
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, briskly whisk the eggs for 20 seconds. Add in the vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla, and buttermilk. (If you don't have buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 tbsp. white vinegar in a separate cup and let sit for 5 minutes and then add to mixture.) Mix.
- Add in the cake mix and pudding mix (both not prepared) and stir to combine. (Do not over-stir or beat in too much air.)
- Fill up the liners 3/4ths the way full and bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
Frosting and Decorating
- Frost the cupcakes smoothly with a butterknife.
- Pour the white sparkling sugar into a bowl and dip the frosted cupcakes into the sugar. Gently press to coat all of the frosting in the sprinkles.
- Frost the back of a black candy melt and adhere it to the bottom half of the cupcake. Add 2 M&M's for ears.
- Use the black sparkle gel to add hair to the zebra (in between the M&Ms), stripes, eyes, and a smile face to the candy melt.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Next up, MONKEY CUPCAKES.
When we lived in Australia, visiting Bali, Indonesia was only a 3-hour flight. It was one of the coolest places I’ve ever been! We got to go to a monkey forest there where you can interact with monkeys in the wild. (Equally terrifying as it was amazing.) So, of course, monkeys made the cut for jungle animals — my family loves them! 🙂
In case you can’t find the ingredients in the store, or prefer the convenience of shopping online, here are links to the ingredients I used:
Monkey Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup full-fat sour cream or full-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or sub scant 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tbsp vinegar- mixed together and let sit for 5 minutes
- 1 package (15.25 ounces) chocolate fudge cake mix dry
- 1 package (3.4 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix dry
- 1 container cream cheese frosting OR your favorite homemade frosting
Make 'em into a MONKEY
- Brown Jimmies Sprinkles
- 1 box Miniature Vanilla Wafer Cookies
- Edible Candy Eyes
- Black Sparkle Gel
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, briskly whisk the eggs for 20 seconds. Add in the vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla, and buttermilk. (If you don't have buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 tbsp. white vinegar in a separate cup and let sit for 5 minutes and then add to mixture.) Mix.
- Add in the cake mix and pudding mix (both not prepareand stir to combine. (Do not over-stir or beat in too much air.)
- Fill up the liners 3/4ths the way full and bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
Frosting and Decorating
- Frost the cupcakes smoothly with a butterknife.
- Pour the brown sprinkles into a bowl and dip the frosted cupcakes into the sprinkles. Gently press to coat all of the frosting in the sprinkles.
- Using an EXTREMELY sharp knife, make a quick cut into a mini vanilla wafer to make 2 ears. (You will have quite a bit of casualties!) Stick the ears into the sides of the cupcake to hold. Frost the back of 1 full wafer and press to make the mouth.
- Attach the eyes using black sparkle gel. Draw the mouth and nostrils using black sparkle gel.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Third, TIGER CUPCAKES.
And these were hands down the boys’ favorites! I guess you really can’t argue with that bright orange color 🙂
In case you can’t find the ingredients in the store, or prefer the convenience of shopping online, here are links to the ingredients I used:
Tiger Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup full-fat sour cream or full-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or sub scant 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tbsp vinegar- mixed together and let sit for 5 minutes
- 1 package (15.25 ounces) chocolate fudge cake mix dry
- 1 package (3.4 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix dry
- 1 container cream cheese frosting OR your favorite homemade frosting
Make 'em into a TIGER
- Orange Sparkling Sugar
- Edible eyes
- Orange M&Ms
- Black Sparkle Gel
- 1 box miniature vanilla wafers
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, briskly whisk the eggs for 20 seconds. Add in the vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla, and buttermilk. (If you don't have buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 tbsp. white vinegar in a separate cup and let sit for 5 minutes and then add to mixture.) Mix.
- Add in the cake mix and pudding mix (both not prepareand stir to combine. (Do not over-stir or beat in too much air.)
- Fill up the liners 3/4ths the way full and bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
Frosting and Decorating
- Frost the cupcakes smoothly with a butterknife.
- Pour the orange sparkling sugar into a bowl and dip the frosted cupcakes into the sugar. Gently press to coat all of the frosting in the sprinkles.
- Frost the back of a miniature vanilla wafer and adhere it to the bottom half of the cupcake. Add 2 orange M&M's for ears.
- Use the black sparkle gel to adhere the edible eyes right above the wafer. Use the gel to pipe a mouth on the wafer and curvy stripes to either side of the wafer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
And last, PANDA CUPCAKES.
The secret to making these cupcakes really cute are the chocolate chips. I tried a few different brands and flavors (milk, semi-sweet, dark). I found the very best chocolate chips (look-wise) on these cupcakes are Nestle dark chocolate chips. They are just the right color and size!
In case you can’t find the ingredients in the store, or prefer the convenience of shopping online, here are links to the ingredients I used:
Panda Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup full-fat sour cream or full-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or sub scant 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tbsp vinegar- mixed together and let sit for 5 minutes
- 1 package (15.25 ounces) chocolate fudge cake mix dry
- 1 package (3.4 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix dry
- 1 container cream cheese frosting OR your favorite homemade frosting
Make 'em into a ZEBRA
- White Sparkling Sugar
- Nestle Dark Chocolate Chips
- Edible Eyes
- Black Sparkle Gel
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, briskly whisk the eggs for 20 seconds. Add in the vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla, and buttermilk. (If you don't have buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 tbsp. white vinegar in a separate cup and let sit for 5 minutes and then add to mixture.) Mix.
- Add in the cake mix and pudding mix (both not prepareand stir to combine. (Do not over-stir or beat in too much air.)
- Fill up the liners 3/4ths the way full and bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
Frosting and Decorating
- Frost the cupcakes smoothly with a butterknife.
- Pour the white sparkling sugar into a bowl and dip the frosted cupcakes into the sugar. Gently press to coat all of the frosting in the sprinkles.
- Press two dark chocolate chips to make the panda some ears. Add 2 more chocolate chips for eye sockets and then one below for a nose (the "nose" chocolate chip is pressed into the cupcake on its side).
- Use the black sparkle gel to adhere the edible eyes to the chocolate chips and then to add a mouth below the chocolate chip "nose."
To see more JUNGLE-THEMED TREATS, click here!
More Jungle Party Themed Treats
A “snake pit” with sour gummy worms & “jungle juice” with green Hawaiian punch.
These “tiger tails” were made my dipping pretzel rods in melted orange candy chocolate melts and then drizzling melted black candy melts in the shape of a tail:
And these “zebra bites” are just an adaptation from this recipe.
“Snake Sandwich:” I created a big sandwich in the shape of a wrap-around snake with the sandwich toppings on platters behind so people could pick what they wanted to top their sandwich with after grabbing a piece of the “snake.”
The “lion dip” is a container of hummus with some black olives as the face, gingersnap cookies for ears, and plenty of peppers for the mane.
these cupcakes were so cute;)
Thanks so much Miriam! 🙂 So happy you loved them!
Thank you for sharing your idea on zoo animals! I so enjoyed making them for my grandkids turn out so fun!!
I am so happy these were a hit! Thanks so much Jerilyn! 🙂
I made these 8 years ago for my daughter’s baby shower. It was more key themed. They were adorable and a big hit.
How cute! I am so happy to hear this! Thanks Debby! 🙂
Hi Chelsea, your animal cupcakes are really cute! I have a 3 year old granddaughter that would love to help me make these! Thanks for sharing and have a sweet day, Heather
Thank you so much Heather! I hope you have fun making these with your granddaughter 🙂
I just love those adorable cupcakes!
Hey girl -these cupcakes are so cute! Have a great weekend!
Chelsea these are so adorable!! You are so clever!