How to dress cupcakes in a hurry...

I recently was out of town and needed to put together some "pretty" cupcakes in a hurry.  Luckily I had a dozen Ribbon Rose Cake and Cupcake Toppers with me, so I knew just what to do...

Step 1:  I went to a local bakery and pleaded for 12 unfrosted cupcakes (they were very nice about it and gave me 13 for the price of 12 = ).
Step 2: I stopped at the local grocery store and bought two "cans" of ready made frosting.
Step 3: I stirred 1-1/2 cans of the frosting and scooped it into a plastic Ziploc baggie, zipped it up and clipped a small triangle from one of the corners of the bag.
Step 4: I swirled some frosting onto each cupcake
Step 5:  I added a little green food coloring to the remaining frosting and scooped it into another Ziploc baggie, zipped it up and this time I cut a very small corner of the bag off and then made a very small cut perpendicular to the first and piped what were supposed to be leaves onto the top of each cupcake.
Step 6:  I added the Ribbon Rose Cupcake Toppers and wah-lah...decorated cupcakes that were super easy and looked great!

The finished product...

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Some projects are just enjoyable from the very beginning...

Allison contacted me last week about a rush order needed for an upcoming party.  She had some of the flat and disk type designs in mind, which don't take as long to dry, so they were the perfect choice for a short lead time. 

Allison provided an inspiration board for her "April Showers Bring May Flowers" themed party, which was a great help for understanding her vision for the party...

Before I go on I just have to say, "I LOVE inspiration boards!"

After Allison and I finalized the toppers needed for her cake and cupcakes, I got to work.  Allison wanted the toppers to match the orange, yellow, green and pink of her inspiration board fabrics.  She wanted 24 flower disks and 24 umbrella disks for the cupcakes, and 36 cutout flowers for the cake.  The project was great fun to execute and based on Allison's inspiration, the following toppers were created...

The photos were taken in a rush in my kitchen, so the colors appear a little off, but you get the idea.

Thank you Allison for the opportunity to work with you to style your April Showers bring May Flowers event -- may it be a GREAT success!

Life on the Farm

I love driving around the Central Coast because you are sure to see cows, horses, sheep and other animals about.

These edible fondant farm animal cake and cupcake toppers are available in my Etsy Store located at http://www.cupcakestylist.etsy.com/.  Each measures between 2 and 2-1/2" and you can enjoy them...without the barnyard smell = )

Horse Head

Pig face

Sheep 

Cow

Pig



Happy Birthday Emerald

Emerald is a known as "the gal who walks around with a bird on her shoulder."  Well, Emerald's Birthday was Wednesday and I was asked to make some "Birthday" cupcakes for her.  These are my Birthday tribute cupcakes for Emerald

And I couldn't forget the bird...

How to dress a naked cake...

Decorating a cake can be overwhelming at times.  There are Soooooooooooo many ideas out there and the possibilities are only limited by our time and abilities. 

My goal as the CUPCAKE STYLIST is to help you stylishly dress your cakes and cupcakes with made-to-order toppers that you can apply to your own cakes and cupcakes, to make desserts that you can present to your friends, hear them ooh and aah, and then tell them you made it yourself!

This cake is one idea for using my fondant rosebuds available at http://www.cupcakestylist.etsy.com/

To make this cake:

1. Bake a 2 layer round cake.
2. Cover your cake board with fondant (optional).
3. Stack the cake layers and fill with your favorite filling and crumb coat with your favorite frosting.
4. Cover the crumb coated cake with white fondant.
5. Next color some fondant to match the rosebud leaves, and another color to match or complement the color of the rosebuds.
6. Roll some of the colored fondant and cut into strips, cutting the complementary color strips approximately 1-1/2” wide and the leaf color strips approximately 1” wide – cut the strips long enough to reach from the bottom of your cake to the top of the stacked layers, plus 1”.
7. Apply your fondant strips to your cake by brushing the back of the each strip with a little water, then “sticking” the strip to the cake.  (The number of strips applied will depend on the number of rosebuds you have.  In my example, I used 24 rosebuds)
8. Apply the rosebuds and leaves to the top of each stripe (again by brushing the base with just a little water)
9. Roll the remaining fondant into various size “balls” and apply around the base of your cake (please note: “balls” can be ordered also, to match your rosebuds).
10. Waa-lah!  You have a beautifully styled cake that will impress your friends and family!

Happy Styling!

Hand Painted Fondant Cupcake Toppers

If you know me you know that I enjoy "trying things" and I LOVE making art! 

As a fine art watercolor painter, I just had to "try" my hand at making hand painted fondant cake and cupcake toppers.  I first made the fondant "canvases", then let them dry.  Once dry, I painted them with food coloring, and wah-lah!...miniature, edible, original works of art!

These hand painted cupcake and cake toppers are available at http://www.cupcakestylist.etsy.com/

Thanks for stopping by...and I encourage you to try something new today!

Happy Groundhog Day!

What do you do to celebrate someone’s birth on February 2^nd?  Why you present them with groundhog topped cupcakes, of course!

I received a commission to make "groundhog cupcakes" for a groundhog day Birthday celebration. 

I made the groundhogs out of fondant and gumpaste (sorry, the photo isn't the greatest)...

Then I used them to decorate the cupcakes as follows:

Step 1:  I applied green buttercream to the cupcake using a #14 open star tip.  (I didn’t have a #133 grass tip, so I had to improvise.  I used a quick squeeze-pull-release stroke to simulate the grass).

Step 2:  I added the groundhog topper.

Step 3:  I sprinkled a little brown sugar around the base of the groundhog (to look like it was pushing up through the dirt.

Step 4:  I added a little more “grass” and brown sugar to the top of the groundhog’s head (again, to look like it had pushed up through the “dirt”.

Well, that's it for now.  Happy Groundhog Day!

P.S.  Groundhog cupcake and cake toppers are available at www.CupcakeStylist.Etsy.com