Are you making a cupcake but unsure about the topping? Cupcakes are delicious treats, but what toppings can you put on a cupcake to make it even more appealing?

Imagine a cupcake, and you will think of a mini, spongy, and cup-shaped cake, secured in a thin paper lining and covered in a swirly and smooth buttercream frosting or icing. This is the universal image of a cupcake. Sometimes, besides the obvious frosting and icing, you might want something unique for your cupcakes, especially in terms of toppings.

Besides buttercream frosting and ganache, you can use candies such as M&M’s, jelly beans, Reese's mini cups, etc. Chocolate drawings of any shape, sprinkles, fresh fruit, sugar cages, cookies, cookie dough, Nutella, Greek yogurt and berries, etc., can also be used as cupcake toppings.

Cupcake toppings are an area you can get very creative and versatile. There are little to no boundaries that keep you from using your favorite treats as cupcake toppings. They can be light, heavy, sour, sweet, doughy, liquidy, junk, or natural.

As cupcake bakers and lovers, we like to get creative with our toppings. However, some toppings have a better overall appeal than others. So, this guide talks about the most loved and tasty toppings you can put on cupcakes.

Our Top Cupcake Topping Picks

Ganache

Ganache is creamy, rich, chocolaty, and one of the most popular cupcake toppings worldwide. If you love chocolate-covered cupcakes, you should look no further than ganache. Made with cocoa/melted chocolate and cream, it gives your cupcake a silky, smooth, flavorful topping that the majority love. You can make a bitter-sweet ganache with dark chocolate, sweet with milk chocolate, or extra sweet with white chocolate.

Candy

Candy is a quick topping if you want to get away with it in a little time. However, it gives a lot of room to play with different candies and combinations. To top your cupcake, you can use M&M’s, Jelly Beans, Reese’s mini cups, marshmallows, or any candy or other chocolates. You can be creative with it by using a mixture of two or three candies and making it colorful that appeals to the kids more.

Chocolate Drawings

Chocolate drawings add versatility to your cupcakes. With a piping bag, you can temper the chocolate and shape it into any object you want, such as a heart, star, smiley, etc. Do you love a drawing or painting that you would like to replicate into chocolate? Simply place a mini version of it under the wax paper and trace it with the piping bag. Chocolate drawings are great for themed parties such as birthdays, etc.

Sprinkles

Who doesn’t love old-fashioned sprinkled cupcakes? Sprinkles are probably one of the most effortless cupcake toppings, enough to trigger sweet-tooth cravings. Sprinkles are available in brown, white, red, orange, and several other colors. You can even combine them with chocolate chips or ganache if you want a variation in the flavor.

Fresh Fruit

Fresh fruit make great and versatile cupcake topping. While toppings like sprinkles, candy, and ganache are forever green, they can feel sometimes redundant and people highly appreciate a change. Fresh fruit will add a punchy twist to your cupcakes with natural and rich flavors.

Greek Yogurt and Berries

If you want to go overboard and give your customers something unique and delicious, the Greek yogurt and berries combination is one of its kind. Greek yogurt adds savory and liquidy topping to a dry cupcake, and the berries add a sweet and sour burst of berry punch to increase the flavoring.

Other popular and tasty toppings you can put on a cupcake include:

• Sugar cages
• Cookies
• Cookie dough
• Nutella
• Chocolate shavings
• Whipped cream and toppings
• Pulled caramel strings