I've been asked to make cupcakes for a fundraiser - Mardi Gras "King" cupcakes - they'd like a "baby" (small plastic) in one or two of the cupcakes - do I bake it right in there or insert after they're baked?

I would put in after - just in case the plastic baby might melt.  You could just cut a slit on top and insert baby - then frost over - no one will know.

We put ours in before we bake our king cakes.

i've worked in places where they do it either way

in fact sometimes we gave them the 'baby' separate so they had to hide it--

hoping for less liability i guess

but i just had a thought

if i was doing king cakes--i'd use a molded chocolate baby

a little bigger than usual so nobody can eat it before they realize they're 'it'

Thanks for all the input.  I decided to put them in after they were baked; just pushed them right into the cupcake(s).