A healthier cupcake

Cake itself isn't terribly fattening, but 2 tablespoons of frosting tack on 140 calories and 20 grams of sugar!  Here are some lower calorie suggestions that the kids will love:

Good:  Spread on Cherrybrook Kitchen's new vanilla icing - one of the few canned optins without trans fat.  It's thin so you can get by with 1 1/2 Tbs. per cupcake.  83 calories, 13g sugar for the frosting

Better:  Drizzle on 1 Tbs. homemade glaze (mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 Tbs. milk, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract to frost 24 cupcakes) and top with a raspberry or blueberry.  32 calories, 7g sugar

Best:  Swirl 1/2 tsp. Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread on the top of the batter of each cupcake before baking.  They'll come out of the oven looking frosted!  And, if you've never had Nutella before, you should know that it is awesome!  17 calories, 2g sugar

Source: Parents magazine, March 2009