Piecakes or CupPies

For my last full week at Lewis and Clark, I wanted to make some cupcakes from my cupcake decorating book (remember these and these?)

This is what they were supposed to look like:

Cute, right? The frosting was just vanilla buttercream with cocoa powder and yellow food coloring mixed in. The design is pretty simple, here is what they look like in progress:

After baking the cupcakes, I frosted them, leaving a little unfrosted edge. That was supposed to be so I could make a crimped part of the crust out of frosting. I covered the frosted part with M&Ms. Believe me, it was a total chore eating all the non-red or blue ones! ;)

After covering all the cupcakes with M&Ms, I then piped lines on them to simulated the basketweave crust top. Unfortunately, BOTH of my pastry bags sprung leaks, so I didn't get to finish the edges, but everything else turned out okay:

I have an issue right now with determining the right consistency of frosting; the last cupcakes I make were practically dripping and this frosting was a bit thick. I'm not sure which to try next, but I love the cupcakes that look like regular food (like corn on the cob).