One of the moms in my son’s class had the brilliant idea of hosting a party for 40 kids graduating from Kindergarten. It was an opportunity for all of the families to meet and a chance for all of the kids to get together on the weekend outside of the school environment. There were a group of moms that got together to plan the event. We rented a “block party” trailer from the city which included chairs, tents, tables and games. With 40 kindergarten children plus their parents, and siblings we ended up with just over 100 people in attendance. With a group that large we opted to book a local park with a playground. We ordered party platters of fruit, veggies, cheese and meat to compliment the chips, popsicles and cupcakes. There was also two surprise guests from the movie Frozen who made a special appearance.

The weather was fantastic. The turnout was amazing. And my kids were exhausted and that is the sign of a good party. I volunteered to bake the cupcakes, all 100 of them. It was a bit of an undertaking but it was a challenge that I eagerly accepted. If you happen to be planning a graduation party these cupcakes were a hit.

Ingredients:

• boxed cake mix
• eggs
• vegetable oil
• canned frosting
• fruit rollups
• mini peanut butter cups
• chocolate covered cookies
• m&m’s

Instructions:

1. Bakes the cupcakes as per the box instructions and let cool

2. Place chocolate covered cookies upside down on a tray (so that you can put them in the freezer)

3. Put a dab of frosting in the middle of each one

4. Place the small end of the mini peanut butter cup in the frosting/cookie

5. Place the try in the freezer to set for 15-20 minutes

6. Cut the fruit rollup into 1/4″ x 1 1/2″-2″ strips

7. Remove from freezer once stuck together and flip all of the cookies over so that they are standing on the peanut butter cup

8. Put a dab of frosting in the middle of each cookie to adhere the tassel and M&M

9. Place the fruit rollup “tassel” and them the M&M in the frosting and place the tray back into the freezer to set

10. Ice the cupcakes

11. Place the graduation cap (mortarboards) in the center of the cupcakes

12. Refrigerate or freeze (because we were having an outdoor party I froze the cupcakes so that the chocolate hats would melt slower. We had them out for an hour and only had a couple break before eaten)