Marvel Superhero Cupcakes for an Avengers Themed Party

These Marvel Superhero cupcakes were part of the dessert table goodies I made for my son’s 12th birthday. The theme for the birthday was Marvel Superheroes and the design on these cupcakes were made to match his birthday cake.

Marvel superheroes themed cupcakes on a red and silver cupcake stand

Marvel superhero cupcakes for an Avengers themed party

Since the theme was Marvel Superheroes, I tried to incorporate as many Marvel superheroes as I could in the design and to match the cake design, my son and I agreed that my fondant deco on the cake will be that of the superheroes’ logos and symbols.

As you can see, some cupcakes were decorated with buttercream swirls and paper picks while others had 2D deco on them. The paper picks were pretty easy to make. I printed the images from the internet, cut them into circles, glued them to a slightly larger circle red papers and attached the completed pieces onto food skewers.

The 2D designs took much more of my time and were all decorated in fondant and royal icing.

How to Make Marvel Superhero Cupcakes

Main supplies for the cupcakes:

Cupcakes – These were mini cupcakes and were baked using my butter pound cake recipe in muffin casings.
Buttercream – I used buttercream as the base layer for the 2D cupcakes and as both the base layer and to pipe the swirls on the cupcakes with picks.
Royal icing – I used very little royal icing in this project and it was mainly to accent the fondant deco.
Fondant – This was the main medium of deco for the 2D cupcakes. Some of the colors like the bright red on Captain America’s symbol were ready made, while the rest were custom mixed with a combination of Wilton and Americolor food colors.
Paper templates and images for cupcake picks – these were downloaded from the internet and made into cupcake picks.
Marvel Avengers Superheroes templates – these were the Superheroes’ logos and symbols i.e., Captain America’s helmet and Wolverine.
Sugar craft knife
Star plunger cutter – I used this for the stars on Captain America’s symbol.
Round cutters – These were used mainly for the base fondant pieces that covered the cupcakes. They were also used for Captain America’s logo i.e. to make red and white circles that made up the symbol as well as for Hulk’s radioactive symbol in green.
Clikstix alphabet cutter – This was used for the letter A on Captain America’s helmet.
Piping tip number 3 , number 2D and disposable piping bags – These were used for the buttercream swirls and royal icing deco. I used royal icing to pipe the black outlines on the Hulk's green radioactive symbol, for Spiderman’s eyes and the black sections of Wolverine symbol.
Silver edible dust and lemon extract – I mixed these to form silver paint which I used to paint Thor’s hammer.
Fondant glue

Assembling the Marvel superhero cupcakes:

The Avengers Superhero picks

I begun with the paper picks. These were made in advance so that I did not have to rush in completing the cupcakes before the party.

Baking the cupcakes

And then, a few days before the party, I baked all the cupcakes and once they were completely cool, I leveled the tops and applied a layer of buttercream.
For the cupcakes with buttercream swirls on them, I used tip number 2D and piped the swirls in the centre of the cupcakes. For the red, I tinted my buttercream with red food coloring while the ivory swirls were untinted buttercream. Once the swirls piping was all done, I attached the paper picks in the center.

Cupcakes with red and white buttercream swirls and Marvel Superheroes cupcake picks

Marvel Superhero cupcakes in red and white with paper picks

Making the Marvel Superhero logos

As for the rest, I made the logos with both fondant and royal icing.

Caption America cupcake topper

For the Captain America’s logo, I used red and blue. I started with red circle, attached a slightly smaller white circle, and then another layer of a smaller red circle and finally a small blue circle. I attached all with shortening. To finish the logo, I added a white star cut out right in the center.

Cupcake with Caption America Shield topper

Marvel Avengers - Caption America Cupcakes

Thor hammer cupcake topper

To make Thor’s hammer toppers, I made rectangle pieces of white, sliced off the corners and then attached a long thin rolled brown fondant each. And the end of the brown handles, I attached thin roll of brown fondant loops each.
I painted the rectangle white piece in silver paint and used the same paint to paint the ends of the brown handles.

Marvel Avengers Cupcakes for a boy's birthday

Hulk cupcake topper

As for Marvel Hulk’s radioactive green symbols, I used my round cutters for the large green circles that are slightly smaller than the cupcake diameter. And then I used a smaller cutter and cut out a hole in the center.
Next, I sliced the now doughnut-shaped green piece into 6 equal sections. I divided those sections into 2 sets of 3 sections each (to be used on 2 cupcakes). To assemble the symbol, I used a small green circle as the center.
And then I attached 1 set of 3 sections around the center circle. I made sure the sections were equally spaced out. And then I used black royal icing fitted with Wilton tip #2 to pipe the black outlines around the center circles as well as the 3 sections around it.

Marvel Avengers - Hulk themed cupcakes

Captain America helmet topper

I also had Captain America helmet topper on some cupcakes. To make this helmet, I printed out the template from internet (by doing an internet search for Captain America helmet) and used it as a template to hand cut the helmets in fondant. As for the letter A on the helmet, I used my Clikstix alphabet cutter.

Wolverine cupcake topper

As for Wolverine symbol, I made both both the yellow and black wolverine sections with royal icing. I printed the templates from the internet, traced them onto parchment squares and used royal icing to fill them up (similar technique I used to make my royal icing butterflies – click here to read more on how to use the technique). Once set, I peeled them off the parchment paper. And then I attached to the cupcakes with a small squeeze of royal icing.

Spiderman cupcake topper

And I used the same royal icing technique in making the Marvel Spiderman cupcakes. This time, however, it was only for the eyes. I used black royal icing for the outlines and filled them with white icing. Once set, I peeled them off the parchment papers I piped them on. And then I attached them to Spiderman’s face with dots of royal icing.
To make Spiderman’s face on the cupcakes, I used maroon circles. I then used my needle tool to mark the spider web lines. I started in the center and drew lines similar to how one would slice a pizza. And then, I used the back of my piping tip and imprinted the curved lines in each section.

Cupcakes decorated with Caption America logos

Marvel Superhero cupcakes with a variety of superhero logo toppers

Iron Man cupcake topper

Finally, was the light blue Iron Man logo. To make this Marvel logo, I cut out large triangles that fit the top of my cupcakes. And then I used my triangle plunger cutter to cut out small triangle holes in the center.
Next, using a toothpick, I joined the corners of my center triangle to the corners of the outer triangle. I attached the triangle pieces to my cupcakes before painting the centers in silver. I used the same paint to highlight the lines I made with the toothpicks earlier.