Spring Fondant Cupcake Toppers {tutorial}

I made these cupcake toppers for Courtney, over on her wonderful blog Sweet C’s Design.  Originally, I made them for Easter, but since there’s flowers and other spring-y things on it, I thought I’d post them here too.  They are super easy to make and the best thing about it is that you can make them months ahead of time.  (They will save if stored properly–more on that later.)

To make the toppers, you need the following items:

-fondant (I like the brand Satin Ice, because it actually tastes good—and stored properly, it will last 6+ months)

-rolling pin

-cornstarch or powdered sugar

-Tylose powder (optional, but helpful)

-food coloring gel (I like Americolor brand because you only need a few drops to get vibrant, beautiful colors)

-toothpicks

-piping gel

– sugar pearls

-1” round circle cutter

-plastic mat (for rolling out the fondant)

-wax paper

-small flower and leaf cutters, and circle cutters

-Americolor writing pens (make sure they are food safe pens!)

Take about a handful of fondant out of the tub and warm in your hands, like you would clay or Sculpy.

Add about 1 teaspoon Tylose powder to the fondant.  The Tylose helps keep your fondant in the shape you create and also helps it dry faster.

Once the fondant is warm, sprinkle a little cornstarch or powdered sugar on the plastic mat and roll out the fondant to 1/4” thick.  The cornstarch or powdered sugar will keep the fondant from sticking to the mat or the rolling pin.

Once the fondant is at the desired thickness, use the round circle cutter and cut out 12 circles.

Place on wax paper over a flat surface.  This will serve as your base.

Take another small handful of fondant and work it in your hands.  Add another small teaspoon of Tylose powder and work into the fondant.  Separate into 4 smaller balls.  Color 2 small balls, with the color of your choice, for the flower petals.  (I used pink and purple.)  Color one ball green for the leaves.  Leave the other ball white.  (They will be for the eggs.)  To color the fondant: add a small amount of food gel and work into the fondant, gently rolling/rocking and folding until the color is worked in.

TIP: If you fold too many times, you are bound to get air bubbles when you roll the fondant out, so be gentle.  If you do end up with bubbles, don’t panic.  Take a pin and gently prick the bubble and re-roll.  The bubble should come out and you won’t see the pin prick.

Roll out each fondant portion to 1/4″ thick.  Using the flower cutter, cut out 6-8 small flowers of one color, and 6-8 flowers of another color.  Use a small sugar pearl (I used white and green) and press into the center of the flower.  If you want to create indents in the petals, take a toothpick and press from the center out.  Place on the wax paper to dry.

Do the same for the leaves.  If you want to create veins in each leaf, use a toothpick to draw a line down the middle and off-set lines on either side.  Place on wax paper to dry.

To create the eggs, use a small circle cutter and cut out 6-8 circles.  Using your hands, shape the top of the circle slightly to create an oval shape.  Place on wax paper to dry.

NOTE:  If your fondant begins to stick to the mat, sprinkle a little more cornstarch.

Let the fondant dry overnight.  The next day, use piping gel to “glue” the flowers, leaves, and/or eggs to the circle fondant base.  Decide how you want the flowers and leaves to look on the base.  Using a toothpick or food safe paintbrush, place some of the gel on the back and adhere it to the fondant base.

For the eggs, color and decorate the eggs with the food safe marker and then glue down.

Wait a few hours, or overnight, for the piping gel to truly harden.

They are now ready to be used on your cupcakes.  If you choose not to use the fondant toppers right away, you may store them in an airtight container for a month.

I love this vanilla cupcake and vanilla frosting recipe, (scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe), but you can use whatever flavor combination and recipe you like.  Once you make and pipe the frosting, gently place the fondant topper on top of the frosting.  They are now ready to be served!

You can make fondant toppers for any occasion and they look so special sitting on top of cupcakes.  If you have any questions about any step I described, or a question about fondant in general, feel free to write in the comment section and I will answer your question as best I can.  Enjoy! xoxo

NOTE: If you do choose to make these ahead of time, store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.  Fondant will sweat and wilt if it gets too hot (it becomes really gummy).