These Grill Cupcakes are a whimsical dessert to help you celebrate a summer barbecue party!
I can’t think of a more cute cupcake design for the summer – no wonder these little guys are such a big hit. Perfect for summer parties and BBQs, they are sure to stun party goers with their whimsy.
For other great summer cupcake ideas check out my Butterfly Cupcakes, Firecracker Cupcakes, and Lemon Beehive Cupcakes.
Grill Cupcakes
Cupcakes Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
4 tbsp whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
red gel food colouring
orange gel food colouring
red and orange cupcake sprinkles
Gummy Bear candy
Box of toothpicks
Royal Icing Ingredients:
4 egg whites
4 C powder sugar, sifted
1 tsp lemon extract
Black gel food colouring
Cupcake Recipe:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
In another large bowl, stir together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients bowl and stir together.
Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add boiling water and continue to beat. The mixture will be a little runny.
Fill the cupcake liners with the batter about ¾ way full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer cupcakes to a wire baking rack to continue cool.
Frosting Recipe:
Beat the softened butter on its own until smooth, then add vanilla extract.
Add powder sugar with heavy cream into the creamed butter until it becomes a smooth and thick texture.
If the frosting is too thick, then add more heavy cream, if the frosting is too thin, add more powder sugar.
Take a spoonful of the frosting and hold the spoon upside down. If the frosting drops off the spoon add more powdered sugar, however if the frosting doesn’t fall off the spoon then it is ready.
Put 1/2 of the frosting into a separate bowl… put several drops of orange gel food colouring in that bowl and stir well to blend the colour.
In the second bowl add the half of the frosting… add several drops of red gel food colouring… Stir well to mix the colour.
Scoop the orange frosting into a pastry bag with a frosting tip. Scoop the red frosting into the same pastry bag.
Twist the open end of the pastry bag to push the orange/red frosting to the tip. Using the filled pastry bag work the frosting in a circle on the top of each cupcake until they are fully frosted.
Royal Icing Recipe:
Beat egg whites in a large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy.
Gradually add sugar and lemon extract and beat until thickened.
Add black gel food colouring and stir to blend well.
Directions:
-Tape wax paper covering a cookie sheet .
-Using a small pastry bag filled with the black royal icing and a #2 tip.
-Using royal icing outline a BBQ grill.
-Go over the outline of the grill with the black royal icing to reinforce the icing grill.
-Allow to dry for 5-10 hours. -Cut the wax paper holding the completed BBQ grill into squares surrounding the image.
-Ensure the grills are dry, gently touch one of the images.
-If the images are dry peel them off the wax paper and place on the frosted cupcake.
Shish Kabobs:
-We used gummy bear candy, cut off the body side of the candy leaving a plain square of a gummy candy.
-Cut those pieces in half.
-Slide each small square piece of gummy candy onto a toothpick. If the toothpick is too big for the royal icing grill, cut off the ends.
-Place the kabobs on the grill.

Grill Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup cocoa
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Frosting Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- red gel food colouring
- orange gel food colouring
- red and orange cupcake sprinkles
- Gummy Bear candy
- Box of toothpicks
Royal Icing Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 4 C powder sugar
- 1 tsp Lemon Extract
- Add 1/4 C powder sugar until stiff peaks form
- Black gel food colouring
Instructions
Cupcake Recipe
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In another large bowl, stir together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients bowl and stir together.
- Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add boiling water and continue to beat. The mixture will be a little runny.
- Fill the cupcake liners with the batter about ¾ way full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer cupcakes to a wire baking rack to continue cool.
Frosting Recipe
- -Beat the softened butter on its own until smooth.
- -Add vanilla extract.
- -Add powder sugar with heavy cream into the creamed butter until it becomes a smooth and thick texture.
- -If the frosting is too thick, add more heavy cream, if the frosting is too thin, add more powder sugar.
- -Take a spoonful of the frosting and hold the spoon upside down.... if the frosting drops off the spoon add more powdered sugar .... if the frosting doesn't fall off the spoon then it is ready.
- -Put 1/2 of the frosting into a separate bowl... put several drops of orange gel food colouring in that bowl and stir well to blend the colour.
- -In the second bowl add the half of the frosting... add several drops of red gel food colouring... Stir well to mix the colour.
- -Scoop the orange frosting into a pastry bag with a frosting tip. Scoop the red frosting into the same pastry bag.
- -Twist the open end of the pastry bag to push the orange/red frosting to the tip. Using the filled pastry bag work the frosting in a circle on the top of each cupcake until they are fully frosted.
Royal Icing Recipe
- -Beat egg whites in a large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy.
- -Gradually add sugar and lemon extract and beat until thickened.
- -Add black gel food colouring... stir to blend well.
Directions
- -Tape wax paper covering a cookie sheet .
- -Using a small pastry bag filled with the black royal icing and a #2 tip.
- -Using royal icing outline a BBQ grill.
- -Go over the outline of the grill with the black royal icing to reinforce the icing grill.
- -Allow to dry for 5-10 hours. -Cut the wax paper holding the completed BBQ grill into squares surrounding the image.
- -Ensure the grills are dry, gently touch one of the images.
- -If the images are dry peel them off the wax paper and place on the frosted cupcake.
Shish Kabobs
- -We used gummy bear candy, cut off the body side of the candy leaving a plain square of a gummy candy.
- -Cut those pieces in half.
- -Slide each small square piece of gummy candy onto a toothpick. If the toothpick is too big for the royal icing grill, cut off the ends.
- -Place the kabobs on the grill.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Recipe and Photos by Chef Amber of Hot Springs, Arizona for FrugalMomEh.com

Elizabeth Lampman is a coffee-fuelled Mom of 2 girls and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She enjoys travelling, developing easy recipes, crafting, taking on diy projects, travelling and saving money!
Katie
Friday 9th of June 2017
These are adorable! I am definitely going to try this recipe out soon! Where did you get those cupcake liners?
LesliM
Friday 2nd of June 2017
Great idea! I was thinking, if you placed some jumbo chocolate chips on it point side down, it would look like burgers!
Brenda J Thacker
Monday 29th of May 2017
This is a very cute idea. I went with chocolate for the grill though. So much easier.
Brandi
Saturday 17th of September 2016
These are adorable! It appears that there are sprinkles or something on top of the frosting, but underneath the grills.. Am I correct? Just wanted to make sure these look as close to yours as possible.... Great creativity! :)
Elizabeth
Saturday 17th of September 2016
Yes, round cupcake sprinkles. They are in the ingredient list but left out of the directions for some reason. oops!
Zara
Sunday 19th of June 2016
By adding the 2 frostings together as you describe below, when I go to frost the cupcakes will the frost mix so it's orange and red like shown in your picture? It seems to me if I add one color and then the other on top, the first color will come out and when it's gone the next one. Am I not correct? Thank you!!
Scoop the orange frosting into a pastry bag with a frosting tip. Scoop the red frosting into the same pastry bag.
Elizabeth
Monday 20th of June 2016
Sorry, yes that should read "Scoop the orange frosting into one side of a pastry bag with a frosting tip. Scoop the red frosting into the other side of the same pastry bag."