Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Quick Cupcake Decorating



I needed a quick batch of cupcakes this weekend. A very, very quick batch of cupcakes. I had roughly an hour to whip up something that had to look respectable. So, I grabbed a box of cake mix (yes, I can do that!), a hunk of fondant and my set of daisy fondant cutters.

The cutters quickly and easily transformed ordinary cupcakes into something really cute!

To make these flowers, you'll need:
Set of three daisy cutters (link)
1/4-1/2lb of rolling fondant.
gel food coloring (optional)
corn starch for dusting
muffin tin or egg carton
bamboo skewer or toothpick
small dish of water

If you desire colored flowers, tint the fondant with a little gel color and knead until uniform.

Dust your work surface with a little corn starch and roll out the fondant about 1/2 cm thick. Cut out sets of your shapes and then, using the toothpick or skewer, press a line into each petal.

Assemble the flowers with a dab of water, stacking them from smallest to largest and then lay them in an egg carton or muffin tin. Adjust the petals a little to give them a more natural look and allow to dry for about 20-30 minutes.

After frosting your cupcakes, simply pick up the flowers and gently press onto each cake.

Thats it! So easy even my husband could do it.



Serve and be prepared to get plenty of oohs and aahs.

33 comments:

  1. An HOUR?!! Ok, now you're just bragging! ;-)

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  2. Okay, it was more like an hour and 10 minutes of multi tasking while they baked and cooled. Still, it was a very quick job.

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  3. Beautiful! I love the color of the icing; it's so soft, which is a perfect match for the soft round swirl you did. No one would've guessed you only had an hour!

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  4. Ms Humble, what kind of frosting/icing did you use here? It looks very creamy and goes nicely with the fondant daisies.

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  5. In one hour? You are a miracle woman! :)

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  6. Cakeandshoes: This is just a basic butter cream, tinted with with a little violet and navy blue gel coloring.

    Its a sugar bomb frosting, but I didn't have enough time to make one of my favorite frostings, like a swiss meringue butter cream.

    Mr. P: Miracle woman? Hardly. You made, what... 50 lamingtons in that last 2 weeks? Now THAT is a miracle.

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  7. Ummm!!! All these wonderful things are made by you? They look so amazing. I am really impressed. Well done! If you want visit my blog: http://cyglobe.blogspot.com

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  8. These are incredible!! I aspire to be able to make something like this in an hour!! How did you apply the frosting? Frosting bag with a special tip? I need to practice this!! I am certainly ohhhing and ahhhing!!

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  9. Wow...I love the blue color and the daisies are adorable! May I ask what kind of fondant you use and where you purchase it? Have you ever made your own? I have a baking project coming up that will require me to use fondant for the first time. Enjoy your blog!!

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  10. The frosting here couldn't of been much easier. I just used a very large round tip that was almost 2cm in diameter (an Ateco 809) and piped quick swirls onto the cupcakes.

    This is also fairly easy look to get with a plain ol' paper cone (end trimmed to roughly the same diameter), no tip needed.

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  11. Becky,

    Actually, I've never tried making fondant. I've made gumpaste, but not fondant from scratch.

    I have a lovely cake supply lady who offers it pre-made in bulk, so I go grab a couple of pounds of fondant from her when I am in need.

    I'm not sure which brand she uses, or if she makes it in house. I'll ask her next time I visit (which should be sometime this week) and post the brand in this thread.

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  12. Very cute, I have never made fondant.

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  13. Thanks so much...I would love to know and I'll keep an eye out!

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  14. An hour? *echoing others amazement* You put Martha Stewart to shame woman. I enjoy seeing all your super-cute creations.

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  15. I want to be you when I grow up. Since I've found your blog, I've been oohing and aahing over nearly everything you've made, and tried a couple of things.

    I cannot wait until I have a proper kitchen with better tools and more time to bake! Also, I made some of the fosting for cookies, and microwaved an egg white for 55 seconds (until temperature was above 160F, keep it below 175F) as per Joy of Cooking, and the icing worked very well. The technique, however, left something to be desired.

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  16. When I first saw the photo with the caption saying "easy decorating,'' I thought, "No way!'' But now I see the key lies in magic scissors. I didn't even know such ones existed. How cool! I love the flowers. These cupcakes would be lovely for Easter.

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  17. I love the gorgeous colour of your buttercream! it's lovely with the white fondant!

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  18. :( Those aren't tasty. What treachery is this?

    :P

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  19. I cant stop drooling when reading your blog just love it..its a little late to be telling you about the red velvet lamingtons you made but they are just so beautiful you inspired me enough to make my own versions of lamingtons :)!!

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  20. here they go; plenty of oooohs and aaaahs!
    beautiful!
    :-D

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  21. karahmatha,

    I never said the cupcakes are tasty, I just said they were 'quick' and 'cute' :)

    As far as anyone knows these cupcakes could be flavored with extract of monkey-butt.

    You know, given the 30+ bottles of flavorings and extracts I have on hand, I very well may have that one.

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  22. That is one great cupcake... monkey butt or no! With the blue color I'm guessing essence of blue jeans?

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  23. These are beautiful! I love the white on periwinkle blue combo. What gel color did you use to get such a pretty shade? Love em'

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  24. I tinted these with a mixture of royal blue gel with a little violet, Kate.

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  25. I saw it says that you are located in the Seattle area as am I, and I was curious what the name of the place you buy your fondant at is called? (I don't especially want to make it by hand either).

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  26. "so easy even my husband could do it"...love that! :)

    These are so pretty! I NEED to try some fondant!

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  27. These are beautiful, and if someone doesn't like fondant they are easy to pop off the top before eating. A perfect blend between art and function(to be eaten :)

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  28. Such a simple elegance! I've never worked with fondant before and have such anxiety at attempting it. Could these flowers be made ahead of time? How long do they keep?

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