Custom Made Fondant Princess Crown Cupcake Toppers

I'm back!  I'm back!!  I'm back!!!

After a year and a half absence, I don't know who, if anyone, is reading this, but I'm so happy to be posting an entry once again.  I've missed this so much.

A lot of happened since I last blogged on Life Is Sweets.  Shortly after my last post, my husband was in a pretty bad car accident with a fairly long recovery.  He did remarkably well and has returned to work and a normal life with, really, no lasting effects or troubles.  We are so thankful.  We also took a bit of time for traveling, moved into a new house, and, finally, have a new routine that has allowed me to get back to what I love - baking and creating in the kitchen!

Okay, so let's get to it.  One of my favorite four year old girls was having a birthday party to celebrate and the theme was "Ariel" and princesses.  I wanted to create something to incorporate both elements, while at the same time not obligating me to tackle the actual making of Ariel, which I accept is outside of my current skill set!

I'm pretty new to the fondant game, but it's more fun to work with than I expected and I'd like to do more with it.  I have done some fondant projects in the past, such as these cow cupcakes, but I've held onto to this idea that everything on a cupcake should not only be edible, it should be tasty and delicious.  If you have to peel off or remove items, what's the point?  Well, maybe just being pretty is point enough!  With all that said, here's how I made these cute princess crown toppers.

To begin, I rolled out some waxed paper and used painters tape to secure it.    You will be working with a smallish amount of fondant, so if you don't have tape, use a generous piece of waxed paper and anchor it with heavy objects at either end for stability.  That will work just fine.

I purchased a crown cookie cutter measuring approximately one inch tall.  I bought Wilton branad pre-made fondant at Michaels craft store in hot pink and and rolled it out in a fairly thick layer, keeping mind I wanted to insert a toothpick through the bottom.  Next, I began to cut out the crown shapes.  (To prevent the fondant from drying out, keep what you are not using wrapped in plastic so it will remain pliable.)

I worked on about 4-5 crowns at a time.  Once they were cut out, I inserted the toothpick.

If the toothpick is showing through the backside of the crown, "patch" it with a very small amount of fondant flattened with your fingers.  Gently spread it on the exposed area to create a seal.  If the crowns have already begun to dry and the fondant does not stick, use a very small amount of water to permanently secure it.

I wanted to give some visual interest to the crowns and decided to add some "pearls" to the tips.  I thought Wilton Pearlized Sprinkles would be perfect for this.  Since the fondant I chose was pink, I went with white sprinkles.

Cute!  Yet...I thought something more was needed.  I set the crowns and a layer of paper towel (to absorb moisture and leave them nice and stiff) and moved on to something else.

Then it came to me!  Ages ago I purchased a cookie stamper set with tiny little letters.  How cute would they look on the crowns?  I chose my friend's first name initial, "K".

Adorable!!  I was very pleased.  Very simple with clean lines and a splash of "bling".

The next day, however, I still had these crowns on my mind.  While shopping for supplies, I didn't really know where I was going with this, so I purchased some plastic crown rings to put on the top of the cupcakes as toppers in case my ideas didn't work out.  I REALLY hoped not to use them and was glad I didn't have to for that purpose.  BUT, I had some inspiration about using them as stampers on the fondants.  Would that be effective to create more of a "crown" effect?

I lined a ring up and rolled it back and forth, pressing firmly but not so firm as to flatten or distort the shape.

Voila!

I stamped a "K" in the middle of the heart.

Perfect!  Would some "pearls" be too much?  Of course not!

To secure the sprinkles, press one into each point of the crown making sure there is a semi-circular indent for the sprinkle to rest in.

Using a small paintbrush (that's never been used for painting - I have a supply reserved for food projects only), apply a trace amount of water in each indent and them apply the sprinkle.  Once dried, the sprinkle should be totally secured to the fondant.

Here is the progression of the crowns as I made them.  I loved the final version with the ring impression so much I redid all of the crowns for the birthday party cupcakes.

Now, to take a plain frosted cupcake and transform it into something fit for a Princess on her birthday!

I found these adorable castle cupcake wrappers and knew I wanted to use them, too, for the final product.

All done!

But then again...what about some sparkles by adding a layer of edible disco dust?

Or maybe securing an edible sugar heart in the middle of the crown.  Perhaps a fun jewel sticker for some sparkle?  The possibilities are endless!  Color combinations and and array of sprinkles, quins, edible glitter, stamps, etc., will allow you to make your own specialized cupcake topper for the Princesses in your life!

Stay tuned for the second part of this particular party...Mermaid Tail Cupcakes!  I will post a tutorial detailing the steps to make these cutie cupcakes.  Thanks for stopping by Life Is Sweets!!

Hershey's Kiss, Kiss "Dah-ling" Cookies

I must be watching too many episodes of the Real Housewives Franchise because, while putting these together, "Kiss, Kiss, Dahling" (in the voice of Lisa Vanderpump or LuAnn De Lesseps) kept going through my head.  Despite this, I had so much fun making these!!  I first spied the idea on Pinterest here at Munchkin Munchies.  They looked so adorable I had to try them myself.  Since we are fast approaching February 14th, I decided to mimic the hues of the Kiss wrappers found in the Hershey Kiss Valentine's Day packages.  So cute.

I have an absolutely favorite cut-out cookie recipe that I always use, but it contains lemon juice and zest.  I planned to use melted Kisses for some of the cookies instead of icing, however, which didn't seem to appealing to combine with lemon.  Also, I wanted to flavor some of the dough with almond (to create a faux Hershey Kiss Almond candy) and some with cherry (for Hershey Cherry Cordial Kiss cookies).  Neither would be tasty with a lemon based cookie.

For a new sugar cookie dough recipe, I turned to The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle, since she makes some of the most amazing cookies I have ever seen.  It only stood to reason that her basic cookie recipe must be delicious, too, right?  I made a few slight changes but was VERY happy with this recipe.  I will most definitely be using it again.

Before baking the cookies, be sure you have your decorating supplies ready:  Unwrapped Hershey Kisses (save the "Hershey Kiss" tag from each), food coloring in the shade of each wrapper you are turning into a cookie, and edible sprinkles in the corresponding icing colors.

Basic Sugar Cookies

adapted from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

1 cup (2 sticks) of real butter (I used salted)

1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons flavoring extract (I used Almond)

2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together butter and sugar.  In a separate bowl, combine the egg and flavoring.  Combine butter and egg mixtures and beat until fully incorporated.  In another separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients and add to butter an egg mixture in three intervals.  Mix until dough is pliable but not sticky.  Roll out dough* and cut into desired shapes.  Bake for 7-8 minutes.  Let cool completely before icing.

To make the Kiss shape, I used a small heart cookie cutter.  I tried to smooth out the top of the heart into a straight line for the bottom of the Kiss.  Some were more successful than others.  Last night I picked up a small metal heart cutter and flattened the cutter itself for the future.

Next, I mixed up some icing - confectioner's sugar mixed with water to a thickish consistency.  To test the thickness I run a knife through the icing and count to five.  If the line disappears before 5 seconds, I add a bit more sugar.  If it takes 5 seconds for the line to disappear, it's exactly how I want it.  I just eyeballed the amount of icing, making as much as I thought I'd need for the amount of cookies I had.  Then, I split the icing into three parts dyeing the first one gray, the second light pink, and the third red.

Working with one color at a time, I poured the icing in a plastic piping bag fitted with a #3 tip.  Outline the Kiss with icing and fill the inside.  You can use a toothpick to nudge fill out the icing completely inside the outline.  Immediately after icing a cookie, take one of the Hershey Kiss tags and, again using a toothpick, push it into the icing so it will be secure once the icing sets.  After the tag is applied, immediately pour the sprinkles that match the icing color onto the cookie.  (TIP:  Pour the sprinkles over a coffee filter.  When you are done sprinkling, use the filter to pour the unused sprinkles back into the container.  Not my original idea, but it's genius and works like a dream!)

I started with gray icing and sprinkles:

Then I rounded out the Valentine collection with pink and red:

Once I completed the icing/tagging/sprinkling process, I melted down the unwrapped Hershey Kisses in the microwave in one minute increments at 30% power until they were melted.  I poured the melted chocolate into a piping bag, snipped off a TINY bit of the end, and made a triangle of chocolate on each cookie:

 

Using a toothpick, I pushed the chocolate into a kiss shape and did my best to create that iconic swirly flourish at the top!  I can definitely use more practice with that:

They are not perfect, but I *love* them.  :)

I think these might be a new favorite of mine.  I will make them for every Holiday and event coming because WHO doesn't love a Kiss?  Happy Valentine's Day!

Moooooo-ve Over Other Sweet Treats, The Cows Are Coming Home!

I have been having a crazy-busy spring/summer season!  Lots of travelling and hosting guests who've come to tour NYC.  I've also been filling baking orders, but have been on such a time crunch I was never able to photograph and blog about them.  This time, however, I tried something new and decided to share my experience:  Fondant.

I have been afraid of fondant and dreading the day I had to use it.  Finally, that day came and I reluctantly purchased the necessary tools to make these cow cupcakes.  I have no idea when or how I developed the idea that fondant was a messy, sticky, difficult substance to work with, but I could not have been more wrong!  It's pliable, not terribly sticky, and FUN!!

These cutie cows were favors for a birthday party.  I was shown a picture to work from, and it was clear that the only way to accomplish this design was to use (in my opinion) the F-word.  Fondant.

Unfortunately, since I have family visiting from Buffalo, I was not able to photograph each step involved in putting these together.  I wanted to be efficient and still spend time with my guests.

To that end, I bought pre-made white, black and pink fondant from Michaels.  I also used candy eyes and black decorating gel for the snouts.

To begin, I rolled out the white fondant.  I made pretty thick discs and next time will make them thinner, since there's really no reason to use so much when topping a cupcake.

These are the tools I used to cut the shapes:

I used my graduated circle cookie cutters and matched the size of the head to the size of a cupcake.  Next, I used a smaller circle for the pink "snout" area.  After cutting the snout I used my fingers to press it onto the white head, forming it into an oval shape.  I used the smallest cutter from a "Fondant Flower" set from Michaels Craft Store to make the spots on the cow.  Certainly, you can make all kinds of different spot shapes, but I decided to be a little more uniform in the design, though I randomly placed them on the head so no two cows would be the same.  :)  The smallest circle cutter was for the ears.  I cut circles and then pinched the bottom of the circle together for a 3D ear effect.

I assembled them in this order:

• Large circle head
• Pink circle snout pressed onto the head
• Black spots randomly placed on the head
• Pressed in the eyes (which didn't stick very well, so I dabbed some black gel underneath them to act as a "glue".
• I rolled bits of white fondant to make a "snake" sort of shape for the horns.  I placed them underneath the head and pressed the "forehead" area down into the horns to make them stick.
• I rolled pink fondant on top of black fondant and then cut circle shapes with a cutter.  I pinched them into an ear shape and used the same "sticking" method as the horns to make them stick to the head.
• Random smiles, smirks, and nose dots on the snout using the black gel.
• I left them on a cookie sheet overnight to dry.

The next day I made vanilla cupcakes and vanilla buttercream icing.

I placed a dollop of buttercream on top of the cupcake and then pressed a cow on top:

And that's it!  The process took about 2 hours of rolling, cutting, shaping and placement.  I had fun doing it and can't wait to try some more new designs with my new friend, fondant!!  :)

Mother's Day Flower Bouquet Cupcakes

When I first began this blog last August, I had a wish for myself.  I hoped that, although I got started by finding recipes and designs that inspired me and creating them as exactly as I could, one day I would suddenly start having my own ideas for additions, substitutions, and designs of my own.  Slowly, this has been happening and I can't tell you how rewarding it is!  I've admired so many bakers and bloggers ability to make amazing confections...and how they find inspiration EVERYWHERE!  Well, I still begin by finding images of whats been done before, but, sometimes, I come up with something on a whim.  Like these flower bouquet cupcakes I made last night.  How exciting!!

I'm certain something like this has been done before, and I would find it with a bit of Googling, but I didn't see it first and then make it.  No, instead I was sitting with my Husband while he ate a late dinner and I just started playing around with leftover cupcakes and icing.  And I love what I came up with!!

These are such HAPPY cupcakes.  Don't they make you smile?  The colors and the illusion of tiny little flowers piled high....sigh.  I just love them.

While I was looking at them I immediately thought of Mother's Day and how perfect they would be to give to one of the most important women in our lives.  And, honestly, they are just so easy to make.  Really!!

Begin, of course, by making a batch of cupcakes.  I used some leftover strawberry ones from my Ladybug Cupcakes.  You can use any flavor you like, but some of the cupcake color will show through the flowers, so bear this in mind when coming up with your color scheme.

Next, make your buttercream.  This is my favorite recipe:
Buttercream Icing

2 sticks butter, room temperature

4 cups confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

In large mixing bowl, beat butter on high speed until fluffy.  Add three cups of sugar, one at a time until combined.  Add vanilla extract and milk, along with last cup of sugar.   Beat until smooth.  Add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency of frosting.

 Split the icing into as many colors as you'd like to use.  I used yellow, purple, and pink.  Then fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #2D tip (place each color of icing into a separate bag).  Use the photo below for reference while reading the written description that follows:

First, pipe a circle of flowers around the outside of the cupcake (first cupcake in photo).  Then, fill in the exposed middle area with four flowers (second cupcake in photo).  Pipe four more flowers on top of the middle four flowers.  Lastly, pipe one flower on top of the second layer of four flowers, centered (third cupcake in photo).

When you've completed the flowers, use a pair of tweezers to add a single dragee in the center of each flower:

Here is the succession of steps:

And that's it!  Couldn't be simpler!!  I used green for the demo, as I had some left over from making the grass on my Ladybug Cupcakes.  The color doesn't work for the "bouquet" I put together, however it would be nice for next St. Patrick's Day or Christmas.  But it's neither late-winter or mid-winter, so let's enjoy the light, bright colors!!

Would your Mom be impressed if you gave her something homemade rather that store bought goods?  I know mine would.  So, even if you don't make this particular design, play around and see what you can come up with.  Mom's love a little thoughtful creativity.  :)  

March Madness - Baking Style!

I had mentioned the fundraiser baking I was doing for St. Patrick's Day, but I didn't mention two additional orders placed for the same day.  This led to a few absolutely chaotic days of baking and travel, which has challenged me more than just about anything I've done is a short period of time....but was also the most fun I've had in awhile!

The fundraiser I was contributing to was in New Hampshire.  Having to get the baked goods such a long distance (since I live in NY) was cause for concern.  I could have come up with a few items that would have withstood mailing.  However, in the end, my Husband and I decided to make a weekend out of it and too a nice, long drive with cupcakes, cakepops, and brownies to keep us company!  (Sadly, I had to take most of these pictures in the middle of the night, so the lighting and colors are off).

(To find the recipe for Guinness Extra Stout Brownies click here.)

In addition to the fundraiser treats, I had an order for 2 dozen green velvet cupcakes.  I absolutely love any color "velvet" cupcake.  The taste of the cocoa and vinegar is just too delicious! 

In addition to all of the St. Patrick's green items, I also had an order for Minnie Mouse Cupcakes for a birthday party.  I absolutely LOVED the way they turned out.  Unfortunately, I finished them after sundown and had to deliver them before sunrise, so the photographs were taken with unnatural light.  The colors are completely washed out doing no justice to the vibrant pink, which makes me sad!  They were so cute:

My friend Amy was an absolute Godsend, helping me with the gumpaste bows and ears.  I hadn't worked with gumpaste before, so her assistance in working out the method while continuing to bake cupcakes honestly was a blessing.  Thank you, Amy W!!!

Another friend, also an Amy, came by to help with the cakepops.  We had a lot of fun putting them together.  Thank you, too, Amy G!!!

(Instructions for making Cake Pops can be found by clicking here.)

And here's the whole haul (minus Minnies):

After delivering everything, my Husband and I enjoyed the perfect New England weekend.  The weather was amazing, so we visited Strawberry Bank in Portsmouth, NH, which is a collection of Colonial buildings put together as a museum:

Next, we toured the inside of and learned about a World War II era Submarine - the USS Albacore:

Then we popped up to Maine to see one of my favorite Lighthouses - The Nubble Light in York, ME:

And to cap off our time in New England, Maine lobster rolls for lunch:

A perfect weekend!  It was so great to be out in the warmth and sunshine.  Now it's time to think spring, flowers, bunnies, and colorful eggs - in baked goods form, of course!!