Star Trek cupcakes
Cupcakes. The final frontier…
A lot of my friends love Star Trek, but my friend Jessica is a huge fan. She has a hilarious web series called Awkward Embraces and one episode that had me laughing out loud (Episode 6) was when she went on a date and talked about Star Trek TNG. A lot.
When I thought of making cupcakes, I thought of Star Trek ToS – the original series. I like the colors and the ‘modern’ look – the sleek view of what the future is supposed to look like. I thought that would translate well into a cupcake. What? You don’t have sketchbooks full of ideas of how your favorite nerd things can be turned into a cupcake? Ok, just me.
So I made these cupcakes for Jessica and all of our friends who love Star Trek…of course the red ones would be eaten first. So sad.
ingredients:
fondant
red gel dye
blue gel dye
yellow gel dye
silver luster dust
cupcakes
frosting
I wanted to make the cupcakes look like the Enterprise crew shirt colors. First I took regular white fondant into three parts and dyed it red, yellow and blue. High quality baker’s fondant tastes slightly better than your average store bought fondant and I think it dyes a bit better.
Roll out the fondant to about 3/16″ thick, then using a 2.5″ biscuit cutter, cut out circles.
Let the circles dry for 1-2 days in covered or in an airtight container.
For the insignia I printed out images on heavy cardstock, making them 1″ tall. Using an x-acto I carefully cut out the pieces. This will serve as the template.
I rolled out plain white fondant to 3/16″ thick and laid the template over it, cutting out the emblems with a CLEAN x-acto knife.
The whole point of these cupcakes was really just so I could play with luster dust. I mean, getting to make food bright and silvery AND edible? Awesome. It was so fun, I’m now addicted. I want to bling out everything. Silver carrots anyone? Ok, too far.
Using a clean paintbrush – brush the silvery powder onto the fondant. Careful, it tends to get everywhere.
Let the symbols sit and dry out, then place them on top of the colored circles.
I made Brown Sugar Cupcakes (recipe, here) and frosted them with a Whipped Cream Cheese frosting (recipe, here) and when I was ready to serve, I simply placed the fondant circles on top of the cupcakes.
I took these to a party and all the Star Trek fans loved them. Success!
Hello Kitty – Tippy & Cathy cupcakes
Since the Hello Kitty chocolate heads were a bust (har har) I decided to go simple and make some very easy fondant toppers. I always tell people, working with fondant CAN be easy. You don’t have to go over the top with it, a lot can be said with a little. While it’s true, I do work with brightly colored fondant, (case in point: Superhero Cupcakes) sometimes you can convey an image simply…with white.
I made up a batch of Ovaltine cupcakes, which were delicious of course, but so dark. I wanted to play up the dark and light aspect of them and be subtle with the cuteness.
I took some plain white fondant and just used cookie cutters to cut out ‘Tippy’ and ‘Cathy’. (Those are Hello Kitty’s friends, for those in the know. I know entirely too much about Sanrio, obviously.)
The size was perfect to top a cupcake and the image wasn’t over powering, just clean and sweet. Exactly what I wanted.
I hand frosted some cupcakes, no piping just freeform – with chocolate frosting and some with cream cheese frosting just so that the box had a nice balance.
Well defined cookie cutters are great for fondant work especially if you don’t want to spend hours cutting by hand.
These would be great for a tea party! A classic black and white with just enough fun to make you smile!
Superhero Cupcakes
The best thing to serve at a Comic shop is comic themed cupcakes, right? Everyone liked being able to see my stationery in person – so many people came out for the event, I was really humbled and happy!
I made red velvet cupcakes and Ovaltine cupcakes to go with the hand-carved fondant toppers, and they were a hit!
The thing I love about Superhero logos are the simple clean designs, just the image and the colors can tell you instantly who is who. All of which are PERFECT elements for topping cupcakes! I knew I wanted to do some of the basics, Superman, Batman – but I figured that some of the more obscure logos would be fun and also appeal to the diehard fanboy/fangirl.
The only difficulty in this process was dyeing all the different colors of fondant. I certainly got an upper arm workout. You could buy pre-dyed, but I just love to make my life difficult, as you know.
Now, how to execute these, just like with all my fondant how-tos, I start with a template. A simple image printed off the internet. First scale it down to fit within a 2.5″ circle (a typical cupcake size).
A 2.5 inch biscuit cutter is perfect for cutting out the circle toppers and seeing how they’ll place, once on top of the cupcakes.
Then using an x-acto knife, I cut out the templates, lay them on the fondant and get to work. A lot of trouble? For sure. But in the end you get a really nice clean cut and are able to do images that don’t exist in cookie cutter form.
The trickiest was the Superman logo. It was three layers of cutting and amazingly enough it was the easiest to execute, that’s probably what also made it so stable. I think people really appreciated the amount of work I took carving out the logo.
Captain America was another winner. People said they liked that I did the head gear instead of going the typical route of doing his shield. Again, I knew appealing to die hard fans would make them happy.
For female logos, I didn’t want to go with the obvious choice – Wonder Woman, and so I chose Phoenix. Not only would it appeal to true comic book fans, but she was also my friend Sarah’s favorite!
It turned out to be the most difficult of all the logos – the tiny side cuts were extremely fragile and there was a lot of fondant breakage. It turned out for the best though, because Phoenix was the #1 sellout. It sure went fast – people LOVED that cupcake!
These are NOT the simplest of cupcakes to make, but as with all fondant work, patience and practice can get you some nice results!
Minnie Mouse fondant heads how-to
You know how I LOVE Disney – well these Minnie Mouse cupcake toppers are perfect for a Disney fan’s birthday!
ingredients:
fondant
black gel dye
red gel dye
white frosting
Start by dyeing the fondant black. I always use gel dye and might I suggest investing in some disposable gloves, as the black is UNFORGIVING on your skin. Dyeing fondant black is hard, you don’t want gray tones – so you have to just keep working with it. If it’s not dark enough, let it dry a bit, then add some more color. Just keep working it in.
Once you’ve got the black you want – get a template ready. I just printed out some random ‘Mickey head’ images and sized it to the scale I wanted (these were mini cupcakes, so they were only about 1.75″ in diameter). Roll our your fondant on a flat surface, lay the template over and cut out the image. Set aside to dry.
Now the bows – if you know Minnie she has a GIANT floppy bow on her head. I’ve seen people do ‘Minnie’ cupcakes and they have this itty bitty bow on a big ol’ head. Nope. This Disney fanatic is here to tell you to stay true to the characters, do your research, Minnie wears a giant floppy bow, and traditionally it’s red with polka dots.
To make the bows – dye fondant red, then sculpting it with just your hands, make two little triangles with rounded edges. Put them together, almost like a butterfly, then add a little round ‘knot’ in the middle.
Lay the bows on the black Mickey heads and suddenly…they are Minnie!
Now just pipe on some white dots on the bows and she’s ready to go!
Place the heads on top of the frosted cupcakes – I used chocolate-y cupcakes (recipe, here) in red and yellow wrappers. VERY Mickey and Minnie.
UNDERSTANDING CAKE – birthday cake for Scott McCloud
Comics and cake. Two things I love. So when I was asked to make a SURPRISE birthday cake for Scott McCloud, author of “UNDERSTANDING COMICS,” I was excited and also totally freaked. I did not want to screw this up.
The request was for a “simple looking frosted-chocolate cake.” The recipe? Well, that’s my secret. Sorry folks, I don’t post ALL my recipes.
The cake was to say, “UNDERSTANDING FIFTY” – as it was his fiftieth birthday and it was a play on “UNDERSTANDING COMICS,” of course. The rest of the cake was to have an image off of his follow-up book, Reinventing Comics
I started out as I do with all my baking requests, by thumbnail sketching out ideas and drawing the layout by hand. Then I move to the computer and lay it out in ‘life size’ form.
For the lettering I rolled out white fondant, then lay the cut out ‘template’ that I printed and cut, over the fondant.
Once the letters were cut out, I pulled the template off…
…and now pay attention, here’s where my very expensive Architecture degree pays off : using an x-acto I cut out the lettering by hand, shaping each letter on its own. (Fondant lettering technique how-to, here.)
When it came to the hand + quill image, well – I just hand piped it. A good idea would have been to practice first, but I just went for it on a wing and a prayer. Probably a bad idea looking back, but it went quickly and smoothly, thank goodness. Sometimes stupidity works in your favor.
While this cake looks simple I assure you, the simplest things take a lot of planning. Hopefully everyone at the party enjoyed the cake – but really, can you ever go wrong with chocolate??!!
fondant lettering, how-to
I just realized that this tutorial is lame since I forgot to take pictures of the process. See how rusty I am with a week off? Pathetic.
To do lettering in fondant, simply print out the wording you want in a font you want to emulate, on the computer. Take an x-acto knife and cut out the letters to make a template.
Then – much like the Batman how-to – place the template over your fondant and carefully cut out the letters.
Placing the letters on a circle of fondant makes them stand out and tops cupcakes really well!
Batman Gotham City cake, how-to
Knowing the Baby wanted a Batman birthday cake, I had visions of Batman standing above Gotham City. I knew I wanted a stacked cake – with various sized tiers…
ingredients:
stacked cake
( I used Cookies n Cream flavor)
frosting
(Chocolate sour cream worked well)
chocolate fondant
fondant dyed with yellow food gel coloring
To start, I assembled my cake and frosted it, then set it aside.
I rolled out the chocolate fondant to 1/8″ – 3/16″ of an inch. I knew I wanted the heights of the buildings to be various sizes, so I tried to keep them within 4″ high. I cut out various widths, different roof variations and shapes. I set those aside.
Then I dyed my fondant yellow and cut VERY TINY little square and rectangle shapes for the windows. I made these various thickness so the windows would pop in and out.
I like to dry out my fondant a bit before I apply it, so I left these lightly wrapped in plastic wrap over night.
The next day they were pretty firm. I laid out different facades for the four sides of the cake.
To apply them I put a touch of frosting on the back and simply pressed them on.
I liked to stagger them a bit, I didn’t want the facades to be all up on each other. I just wanted space between and a nice clean look.
I added a large Bat-logo on the top circular tier, and of course the Batman candle to watch over fondant-Gotham City.
Batman fondant, how-to
When the Baby said “BATMAN party” the first thing that came to mind was the logo. Simple, iconic, and couldn’t be that hard to do, right? Well.
ingredients:
10 ounces white fondant
yellow gel dye
8 ounce chocolate fondant
2.5″ circle cutter
Since I didn’t have a Batman symbol cookie cutter in the exact shape I wanted and I am a crazy perfectionist – yes, I cut these all by hand. It certainly wasn’t fun. But I had 24 kids coming and I knew every kid had to have the same looking cupcake. Fair is fair.
Here’s how I did it: I printed out the logo at a size that would fit within a 2.5″ circle, so the length was probably around 2-1/4″ total. Then I cut it out on heavy cardstock.
Roll out your fondant to 3-1/16″. I used chocolate fondant, again (see ladybug post) because of the flavor. Is black traditional? Of course, but I knew that these 24 kids coming to the party would devour the fondant and probably leave my delicious Ovaltine cupcakes lying in the wake. (I was right) So I’d rather they eat chocolate than black dye. Hey, I care.
I always feel more comfortable handling an x-acto, but a paring knife will do as well. Just make sure that your x-acto is clean and sanitized. If you’ve worked with x-actos before, you know they sometimes come oiled – totally disgusting and not good when you are cutting fondant. CLEAN THAT THING.
Place the cardstock template over the rolled out fondant. Using your x-acto go carefully around the edges of the template. Set them aside in an airtight container, sprinkling a little cornstarch on the bottom so they don’t stick.
For the circles, just dye some fondant yellow, roll out to 3/16″ of an inch, and using a 2-1/2″ biscuit or circle cutter, cut out circles. Again, I dye fondant I like to let it air dry just a bit, then added moisture can make it kind of hard to work with.
Now place the chocolate Batman symbols on top of the circles. I like to let these dry out just a touch before I put them on top of the cupcakes. When you are ready, frost your cupcakes and stick them on top. Just don’t mess with Batman’s cupcake. He might get angry.
Fondant ladybug cupcakes, how-to
This weekend I made 120 cupcakes for a very special little girl’s 1st birthday. The theme was ladybugs and pink of course! I made red velvet cupcakes and topped them with fondant lady bugs.
ingredients:
24 cupcakes
frosting
12 ounces chocolate fondant
12 ounces white fondant (dyed with red gel coloring)
Dots candy – black (or licorice gumdrops)
Black licorice lace
I decided to use chocolate fondant for the base circle because sometimes dyeing fondant black seems to lead to leaking and trouble. These cute Thomas cupcakes turned out great, but after a while the black began to weep – not so cute. But those were eaten quickly and these I knew would be sitting out.
Roll the chocolate fondant out to 3/16″ of an inch. Try to keep it on the thin side because remember you will be stacking the red on top and you don’t want to weigh everything down. Use 2.5″ biscuit or circle cutter and out circles. Set them aside in an airtight container, sprinkling a little cornstarch on the bottom so they don’t stick.
Now for the red – take white fondant and using red gel dye, dye it red. This is the best dye for this because doesn’t run and doesn’t take much. I advise using gloves whenever you dye fondant, people will ask questions about your bloody red hands, otherwise.
After I dye fondant I like to air it out a bit, it tends to get a little wet and sticky and way to hard to start rolling immediately. Once the fondant has dried out a bit, roll out the red to about 3/16″. Using the same 2.5″ circle cutter – cut out circles, but then cut them in half. Lay them on top of the chocolate circle, but splayed a bit, like wings. Again, but in an airtight container.
To make the ladybug dots, I used a small – TINY – cutter for the circles. However you can just take off a bit of fondant, roll it into a ball and then flatten it. That will also give you the perfect sized small dot. Place those on top of the red wings. If they are too dry, you can add a touch of water on the back to make them stick to the fondant below, but NOT TOO MUCH.
To make the head, cute a black Dot candy or licorice gumdrop in half. These are so sticky they will stick all by themselves.
For the antenne – use a toothpick and make a hole close to the ladybug ‘head’. Cut a small piece of black lace licorice and insert it into the hole. You shouldn’t have a problem with it staying put, but you can put a little bit of frosting on the end to make sure it stays in place.
I like these to look like they are ‘floating’ on top of the cupcakes, to do that – put a small amount of frosting on the center of the cupcake, only about 1 Tablespoon. Then place the ladybug on top of the frosting and push down and twist.
NOW. Your cupcakes are complete! Yes, it was a little bit of work, but SO worth it. Especially when you have a pink ladybug birthday to celebrate!
Sparkly Dot cupcakes how-to
I have to be honest with you, I have a FEAR of polka dots. Ever since I was a kid, circular patterns sort of set me off and actually make me physically sick. So when polka dot cupcakes were asked of me I knew one way to get around it was to make circles of varying size. That doesn’t bother me for some reason.
To make these cute Dot cupcakes, you’ll need:
ingredients:
cupcakes
frosting
sanding sugar
Fondant
I make my fondant cut outs ahead so I can assemble everything quicker in the end. Roll the fondant out to about 3/16″ thick. To make nice larger sized dots for a standard 2.5″ across cupcake – a nice tool is a standard piping tip. These make perfect dots. For smaller dots you can use the tiniest of cutters or simply take a dab of fondant, roll it around and flatten it to shape into a small circle. Once you’ve popped them all out, store them in an airtight container, sprinkle a little cornstarch in the bottom so that they don’t stick together.
Frost your cupcake and then dip it into the sanding sugar, coating evenly. Dyeing the frosting the same color as the sanding sugar helps give off a nice even color.
Now add your pre-made fondant dots, just add a touch of frosting on the back and pop them on.
This is the easiest of cupcake decorations and you can vary it any way you like. It is also a great way to get used to working with fondant. Now if you REALLY want to get into fondant…check out these other how-tos.
