Groundhog's Day Cupcakes

Faces:  chocolate frosting in center circle

Teeth:  almond slivers

Eyes:  snipped marshmallow with mini-chocolate chip pupil (snip point off of chip and stick on sticky side of marshmallow

Nose:  mini-peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's (but a snip of tootsie roll would work, too) with a red circle sprinkle stuck on with a little bit of frosting

And best of all... the ears!  This worked so well I'm definitely going to use this the next time I need ears, and get my boys to help. They would love this job!  I snipped a tootsie roll midge (small size) into three pieces, then rolled each piece flat.  Bend them a little, then stick behind eyes into the cake. Their firm shape make them easy to insert.

For the cake, I chose lemon because that sounded like the sunniest flavor for a pre-spring celebration.  I made a half-recipe and substituted fresh lemon juice and peel for flavorings. The recipe made 14 cupcakes.  Yummy!