The inspiration for this month's cupcake is this week's U.S. release of the newest James Bond film, Skyfall, because I'm a huge "Bond Girl."  And what goes well with a movie premiere?  Popcorn!

I found a popcorn cupcake on this website, where you will also find detailed instructions.  The site also directs you to where you can print out the cute scalloped popcorn wrappers, but they actually cost money to print out, so I found a free alternative that is equally suited for my needs at this website.
Inspiration Photo
Cupcake is just a basic yellow cake mix from a box.  I was looking for simple here, and forget what other people say, box cake mix makes delicious cupcakes.  Standard buttercream recipe (1lb powdered sugar, 3 sticks unsalted butter, vanilla extract) with a splash of coconut extract for a flavor surprise was used for the "popcorn glue."  For the popcorn, it took a little trial and error to figure out the best way to create the popped corn look.  I eventually settled on snipping the mini marshmallow four times, about 2/3 of the way lengthwise, then used my thumb to push the marshmallow into the shape I wanted.  Sometimes I pushed down on the strips for a stubby popcorn, and sometimes I stretched them apart for a wonky popcorn shape.  The color came from a spray bottle of Wilton Color Mist that you can find in the baking section at Michael's.  I used over half a regular size bag of mini marshmallows for just 6 cupcakes, so prepare yourself to be making popcorn for awhile, maybe even make it in advance.

I am so excited about how these cupcakes turned out!