Clownfish Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 12 yogurt-glazed malt balls, cut in half (for eyes)
• 24 mini chocolate chips (for pupils)
• 2 cups vanilla buttercream
• 12 small orange gummy candies (for the mouth)
• 12 orange wedges (for tails and fins)
• Black licorice spirals, such as Haribo (for stripes)
• 12 vanilla cupcakes
• 0.5 cup orange sprinkles (for scales)

Preparation:

1. Eyes:
   
   Place the malt balls cut-side down on a work surface. Attach a small chocolate chip to each ball, spreading it with a little cream. Set aside.
   
   Note
   
   To carefully cut the malt balls, use a knife with a thin, serrated blade.
2. Mouth:
   
   Place a small orange gumdrop upright on a work surface. Use scissors to cut it exactly three-quarters of the way down to create an open mouth.
   
   Tails and fins:
   
   Cut the marmalade wedges in half horizontally to create two thin wedges. Cut 12 of these pieces in half crosswise to create fins. Make tails from the remaining 12 wedges by cutting a wide V on the concave side of the wedges. Set aside.
3. Stripes:
   
   Roll out the licorice spiral and cut twelve 6cm strips and twelve 7.5cm strips. Divide each piece into 2 pieces.
4. Assembly:
   
   Cover each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons of buttercream. Place a long and short piece of licorice across one half of each cupcake, placing the longer piece closer to the middle and the shorter piece toward the edge, about 0.5 cm apart to create a strip. Repeat on the other half of the cupcake. Trim the licorice pieces so they are flush with the edges of the cupcake.
5. Attach the eyes, mouth, fins, and tails by gently pressing them into the frosting. Carefully sprinkle with orange sprinkles, leaving two white stripes between the licorice stripes. Decorate the remaining cupcakes in the same manner.