At my son’s school, they don’t do Halloween. Instead, they celebrate “Farm Day.” It’s cool because the kids still get to dress up (they can dress up as farm animals, farmers, cowboys/cowgirls, etc.) and the school actually brings in a live petting zoo and coordinates fun learning activities throughout the day to educate the kids about life on a farm or ranch.

So, for my cooking class today, I decided to have a little fun in anticipation of Farm Day. We’re making Fall Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting. But here’s the twist: they’re decorated like little piggies!

The recipe is courtesy of Kristina Vanni at Better Recipes. The recipe is adapted from her Old Fashioned Spice Cake with Cinnamon Frosting.  If you read the post, you’ll see that it’s actually Kristina’s mother’s recipe.  Her mother, Debbie, has a fun blog, too: The Culinary Cellar. Check them both out when you have time.

Back to the cupcakes.  I was up late last night baking all the cupcakes.  I decorated only one, just to see how it would turn out.  I added a couple of drops of red food coloring to the frosting to get the color (it’s dark because of the cinnamon in the frosting recipe).  I found pink strawberry flavored marshmallows that I sliced up for the nose and the ears.  The eyes are M & M’s and the nostrils are Fruity Cheerios (you could also use Fruit Loops).  So cute!  I think the kids will  have fun decorating their very own Farm Day Piggy!