These Shark-Themed Treats Are Almost Too Cute To Eat

What's better than a cupcake? A cupcake with a surprise inside! Just below the fin-topped swirl of blue buttercream lies a pocket of blue sprinkles and candy-shaped fish. The fin is easy to fashion from a piece of blue taffy. A pair of lightly oiled kitchen-dedicated scissors will make cutting the fin shape easy.

More is more with these souped-up shark warning shakes. Make your own at home by coating the rims of two large mugs with ready-made frosting. Dip the rims in mini marshmallows and then fill the mugs with equal parts blended vanilla ice cream and milk. Top with assorted blue sprinkles, lollipops and donuts frosted as 'life buoys.' Purple shark warning flags can be found at party supply stores, or get crafty and make your own.

Round candy molds make it easy to transform your favorite cookie into a candy-coated grinning shark. Just fill the molds with melted blue candy and press a cookie into the melted candy. Alternatively, you can dip cookies in melted candy and place them on a piece of parchment paper to firm. Use melted candy to pipe fin and tail shapes on the paper, and attach them to the cookie using more melted candy. Attach two black bead sprinkles for the eyes, and pipe red melted candy into half-moon shapes for the mouths. Pipe white melted candy onto the red candy to create 'teeth' for a sinister smile.

Make waves at your Shark Week party with ocean-themed shark bark. Blue and white candy wafers are melted and then swirled together using a knife. White hard candy mints create life preserver lookalikes. Use a food color writer to draw red safety rope onto the mints. Add gummy sharks, white sprinkles and the decorated mints to the candy, and let stand until firm. Cut into pieces using a large chef's knife.

Cream-filled vanilla snack cakes make fun shark-shaped treats. Quarter cookies and insert pieces into the top and sides of the snack cakes for 'fins.' Create a quick poured fondant by heating ready-made vanilla frosting for 30 seconds in the microwave. Add a small amount of black food color to the frosting to give it a grey 'shark skin' hue. Pour the mixture over the snack cake. When the frosting is dry, repeat the technique to make white frosting. Dip the bottom (or belly) of the shark into the white frosting. Attach black bead sprinkles for eyes, and pipe on a red mouth using candy wafers. Use white melted candy and a small piping bag to create teeth. Drag a toothpick through the white candy to create pointed shark teeth.

Plastic fish bowls create a cute presentation for fruity blue gelatin. Layer candy gems in the bottoms of the bowls before pouring in the liquid gelatin. When partially set, use a small knife to insert red candy fish and gummy sharks into the gelatin. Top with white sprinkles and candy pearls.

When sharks are on the prowl, fish know it's time to swim away — and fast! Make blue waves using ready-made frosting and a fluted piping tip. White nonpareils create a bubbly effect around a gummy shark and candy fish.

Ordinary salted popcorn is given a shark-themed makeover with drizzled white chocolate, crunchy blue sprinkles and candy-coated chocolate pieces. Dip cone-shaped corn snacks into white chocolate and let dry before adding them as 'shark teeth' to the mix.

These ice pops are refreshing and easy to make using sweetened coconut milk and blue fruit punch. After freezing the coconut milk in an ice pop mold, top it with blue punch and add a gummy shark. Freeze until solid, and then pass them out to friends and family on a hot day.

There's no better way to kick off Shark Week than with a scary-good breakfast. Toasted ready-made Belgian waffles are covered with peanut butter and then dipped in graham cracker crumbs. A little ready-made whipped cream tinted blue and spread on one side of the waffle creates waves on which a candy fin stands upright. Melt blue candy wafers and use a zip-top bag with the corner snipped to pipe some fin shapes onto waxed paper. After they firm, add the blue fin to the whipped cream.

Reel in the smiles with a classic summer treat. Place all of your favorite banana split fixings inside a banana split boat and garnish with an edible fishing rod. To make the fishing rod, simply tie a red licorice lace to one end of a pretzel rod. Attach a gummy shark to the end of the lace using a dot of hot fudge sauce. Serve to delighted Shark Week revelers.

This three-ingredient punch will round out your shark-themed party with eye-popping color. Combine lemon lime soda and blue fruit punch in a tall pitcher and add whipped topping for a 'sea foam' effect. Add unused (new) fishing bobbers for a nautical touch.