Like our cultural obsession with Taylor Swift, there is no peak Bluey. The universe cannot get enough, though in my household, sometimes I wonder whether the adults love the show even more than the kids. (What else can make you laugh, then cry, then laugh again in 7 minutes flat?!) If your home’s under a similar spell, these Bingo- and Bluey-inspired cupcakes make for a fun rainy day activity—or edible arts and crafts project.
They make for a great birthday party activity too—simply bake a batch of cupcakes in advance, along with a big batch of vanilla frosting that you color ahead of the party and separate into resealable sandwich bags. Then, you can give each kid a cupcake (or two) and let them share bags of frosting and go to town. Don’t like what you make? Eat it. Everybody wins. (Except for maybe the parents who take home sugared-up kids, particularly the Muffin Heeler at the party who guzzles frosting straight outta the bags. You know that’s going to happen.)
Oh, and if you want to make one big Bluey-inspired cake instead, I’ve got a tutorial for that too.
How to Make Bingo- and Bluey-Inspired Cupcakes
You’ll need:
- 1 batch of 18 cupcakes, baked and cooled
- 6 cups buttercream or cream cheese frosting, homemade or store-bought
- gel food coloring (red, yellow, blue, black)
- mini chocolate chips (optional, for their noses)
Directions:
1. Prep Your Colors
For All Cupcakes:
You need one base cupcake color (I chose pink, for contrast). One 16-ounce container (or 2 cups of homemade) should get the job done.
Then, take one container (or 2 cups homemade frosting) and divide it into three bowls for Bingo & Bluey’s details:
- White (plain vanilla/cream cheese frosting)
- Light tan (mix in half a drop of yellow and a scant spoonful of the light-orange frosting, adding more until you have the shade you want)
- Black (add black gel frosting, a drop at a time, until it’s as dark as you like it)
Now, with that final 2 cups of frosting, you’ll set aside 5 bowls for Bingo’s orange-y coloring and Bluey’s blue tones.
For Bingo cupcakes:
- Light orange (start by mixing in 1 drop yellow, 1/2 drop red, adding gradually to achieve desired color)
- Dark orange (start with 1 drop yellow, 1 drop red; add more if needed)
For Bluey cupcakes:
- Light blue (add a drop of blue gel coloring at a time, mixing until you have a pale sky blue)
- Medium blue (add twice as much blue)
- Dark blue (add the same amount as medium blue, then a drop of black)
2. Draw an arch in light orange (for Bingo) or light blue (for Bluey).
Color it in. Then use dark orange (or dark blue) to draw two triangle ears on top, and two ovals for the patches around their eyes.
4. Add a tan snout and a mini chocolate chip nose.
(You can skip the chocolate chip and use black frosting if you want. There are no rules here!)
5. Use white frosting for the stomach, eyes and brows for Bingo.
For Bluey, use light blue for the brows/stomach.
6. Draw in the eyes and smile in black frosting, then outline the whole thing.
Cut the tiniest hole possible in your resealable bag of black frosting, or use a #2 Wilton piping tip, so it doesn’t come out blobby or blotchy.
Feel free to riff on this; my 5-year-old daughter and I had a blast experimenting with the whole Heeler fam (before moving on to self-portraits and other designs). Next up, I’m making Muffin muffins!
Editor’s Note: I’m not affiliated with Bluey/Disney+/BBC. I’m just a fan, sharing a tutorial for other parents looking to add a little joy to their kids’ day.