This is the rule to be applied while deciding what to opt for. I will use your suggested. To make for is an idiom with several different meanings.
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors makes a funny face before
The subject must agree in number with its verb. Thus, if a subject is. The formal and traditional answer is makes, because the subject is the singular noun phrase receiving homemade cupcakes.
I must have heard people use it incorrectly so much that the correct way sounds strange.
In the context of this question, the approximate meaning is 'to produce', 'to.
