Cupcake Experiments

During the month of June, I had a couple of occasions to try out cupcake decoration techniques, with mixed results. For a first timer, who is still pretty new to all this - I think I did ok, but it also shows that just because someone can make it look easy on YouTube, doesn't meant you'll be able to get it right the first time! (or maybe you will - I'm more the ''practice makes edible'' type, it seems)

From various projects I'd given a go in the last weeks, I still had cupcakes in the freezer that were perfect for taking out a few at at time to try decorating techniques on.

I'll sort out the shopping lists per project - these are for cupcakes with piped sunflowers out of Oreo centers and fondant pinwheels and tulips on orange frosted choclate cupcakes.

When one of Kev's teachers had a birthday and celebrated it at school with the class, I thought this was the perfect chance to give a sunflower cupcake a try that I'd pinned (and pinned) on Pinterest.

For just the sunflower project printable version, click here

Sunflower Cupcakes Shopping List:

• Buttercream recipe - I really recommend using baker's powder sugar and buttercream mix to get a smooth and tasty buttercream that you can color, swirl and pipe in a bag. This base recipe also gives a rich and creamy base flavor. If you like, you can flavor the buttercream any number of ways, but I left it as is for this creation.
• leaf / petal tip  (wilton 352)
• (disposable) piping bag
• Wilton (or Americolor) gel colors in shades of Golden Yellow and Orange
• Oreo cookies

Because of the Oreo cookies on chocolate cupcakes, I kept the buttercream flavor neutral. You can always add flavor, but it seemed like overkill on this project.

If you google ''sunflower cupcakes'' you'll see any number of variations on this project. My goal was to have a realistic single color petal (also meant less work than two colors in one piping bag) surrounding the Oreo cookie.

Decorating Step by Step:

• I mixed the golden yellow and orange food colors in my (ivory) buttercream basis until I had a color that held up pretty well alongside some cut sunflowers I had in the house. You can do side by side colors in orange and yellow if you prefer. I wanted one even color so I could focus on the piping technique.
• Fill your piping bag about 2/3 full with the buttercream and the leaf tip attached.
• Place an Oreo cookie on the center of the cupcake using some buttercream as ''glue''.
• The leaf tip is like an inverted triangle, hold it at a 90 degree angle (so the points are on each side of the Oreo cookie) and pipe some buttercream against the Oreo cookie. when the buttercream is adhering to the Oreo,  pull the tip away at a slight angle from the Oreo to get the ''petal'' shape.
• Repeat in a clockwise direction, with slightly less than a tip space between each petal. Once the bottom layer is complete, begin the second round, filling the spaces from the first layer. these will overlap slightly, so that the petal effect is realistic. Depending on the thickness of the Oreo, finish off with a third round.

This technique uses a fair amount of buttercream, and gives one big sunflower per cupcake. My piping bag was pretty well empty after these two (three petal layer each) cupcakes. I've seen (and want to try next) variations using mini oreos on top of a swirl of buttercream for more petite sunflowers.

For the Fondant Pinwheels and Tulips printable version, click here
Dutch Supporter Cakes Shopping List:

• Wilton (or Americolor) gel color in Orange
• (disposable) piping bag
• 1M tip (open star)
• large coupler (coupler is optional)
• Fondant in Red and Blue (pre colored) or color your own with gel colors
• Fondant punch set (stamps)
• small knife or straight edge cutting tool
• rolling pin
• silicon mat
• middle size square cut out
• Red, white and blue sprinkles

For this section, I'm going to focus on creating the two types of decorations - the pinwheels and tulip stamps. for basic buttercream swirling technique, I really recommend checking out the blog post and tutorial that Glory has created at her blog, Glorious Treats. She explains the basic techniques (and shows them!) way better than I ever could.

Since I already had the cupcakes and buttercream on hand, I started here with coloring the buttercream.

Decorating Step by Step:

• Using the orange color gel and a toothpick, add coloring until you have the desired shade and intensity. I went more for an orange sherbet color than full on Halloween orange - it's up to you!
• Place the colored butter cream into a prepared piping bag already fitted with a coupler (if you're going to use one)
• Add the 1M tip and the outside part of coupler and squeeze until the buttercream begins to come out without any air bubbles
• Pipe the buttercream starting from the outside inwards in slightly overlapping circles until you reach the center then lift up
• Add sprinkles and your choice of fondant decoration as a topper.
• Pinwheels Step by Step
• Roll out two equal amount of blue and red fondant slightly thicker than the desired final thickness
• Place the two colors of fondant on top of each other and roll them out together to desired thickness
• Using the middle sized square cutter, cut out the basic pinwheel shape
• From the middle point of each square, leave some space around and cut a diagonal line, about 2/3 out to each corner, creating four slanted cuts that leave the center space free
• Starting with one corner, fold it to the center, creating a triangle. Going counter-clockwise,  fold down the next corner. Repeat until all four corners are folded towards the center. As you do this, the color on the bottom will come up, giving you two-tone pinwheels.
• Create a little circle of fondant in one of the colors and flatten it on top of the pinwheel to create the pin holding everything in place.

2 colored Pinwheels and Tulip Stamps

If my directions for the pinwheels don't make this easier and you get stuck (or you're a visual person) you should check out the step by step with pics over at A Baked Creation. It's been amazingly outlined there, and it really is easy to do!

• Tulip Stamps Step by Step
• roll out both red and blue fondant to approx 1 1/2 inch width and similar thickness to the pinwheels above create rectangular ''ribbons'' using either a edging tool or a ruler and straight edge tool
• using the stamp tool with the thick tulip stamp, stamp the fondant with enough pressure to leave a full imprint, but not enough to ''punch'' the design out. It should leave a clear impression in the fondant but not break through anywhere
• repeat the design along the full ribbon, leaving a equal distance between designs (at least to the eye)
• repeat the process with the second color and then cut out rectangular shapes using the blunt edge of a knife or edge tool
• Apply two shapes (one in each color) to your cupcakes

Football (soccer ball) cupcakes

What do you make for a (almost) 7 year old boy who is soccer (football) crazy?

Soccer ball (football) cupcakes, of course.

I googled and searched (but had not yet discovered pinterest) but couldn't find anything that looked real. Everything pre-made was either cutsey or a bit abstract or the homemade ones were made with frosting and edible markers. I wanted to make fondant footballs...this  *must* be possible?!

After searches and blog posts and a clear idea of what I did NOT want the end result to be, I finally cobbled together the tools and created my own step by step method. I loved the end result, but these are not quick. Easy - yes....but detailed.

ready to bring to school!

I made these for both his class, the after school care and his football team. All told, about 45 cupcakes. I loved the end result, but I've got to be honest - these were time intensive. I did a lot of the pre assembly steps in the 2-3 weeks before the parties or it would have been impossible for me to do it all in one setting.

If you want to recreate these little masterpieces - pictures don't do these justice - you'll need the following:

Click here for a printable version

• Cake mix  - made or purchased - we did vanilla and chocolate swirled cupcakes using devils food and yellow cake mix, which you can buy here - two boxes make approx 48 cupcakes.
• Pre colored fondant in 3 colors - leaf green, black and white. If you want to color your own or make homemade fondant - you'll need to use gel colors to do so, and black is one of the hardest colors to get black - usually it comes out more grey. I used 250 grams pre colored bricks of the black and green and more (closer to 500 grams) of the white. I'll explain why more white is needed later.
• Pentagon and Hexagon (5 and 6 sided) cut-outs to make the soccer balls. Using this kit you can also make 3D soccer balls -  but I wanted the flat circles for this project.
• cookie or fondant cutters to cut out the balls - I used the same size for the green and white to make rounds, then when I had the ball all assembled,  a slightly smaller size (the middle of the 3 fondant cutters) to cut out the final soccer balls.
• cupcake wrappers - I used green football themed ones
• edible glitter or pearl dust in leaf green to make the ''grass'' look real.
• Silicone mat and rolling pin (also covered in silicone) - you can pick these up anywhere. I don't have a name brand of either tool and they work just fine

Then, depending on how much time you have, and how far out you plan, follow these steps:

1) bake the cupcakes as per the cake directions in the liners. I made these ahead, cooled them completely and then stacked them in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers and put them in the freezer. Do this the day you make them, but only after they are completely cooled. take them out the day of assembly. they only need about 1 hour to come back to room temp.

While the cupcakes are cooling (or on another day all together) begin the assembly of the soccer balls. You will need the 5 and 6 sided cutters, a sharp knife or fondant tool and 2 different sizes of round cutter, together with the white and black fondant. I used a circle round cutter the size of the cupcake tops for both the green grass and the white fondant ''bases''.

2) Roll out a fairly thin (but still possible to pick up without splitting or tearing) layer of white fondant. Make with your cupcake-top sized cutter anywhere from 6 to 8 circle bases at a time.

The base circles

3) Roll out a thicker layer of white fondant and use the 6 sided (hexagon) shaped cutter. Do not press so hard that the fondant sticks and comes up with the tool, but hard enough that you have a clear imprint and the edges will separate from the sheet easily. For each completed soccer ball, I needed 5 white shapes. I liked to make the cut outs in batches of 6-8 per session, so you would need to punch out between 30 and 40 per time. Using your knife or fondant tool, clean up the edges as you separate the shapes from the sheet. I also used the knife at this point to make sure all the cut outs would lift off the mat so the shapes stay intact. Move the completed cut outs to one side or store in airtight container while you work with the black fondant.

the hexagon cutter cuts 2 at a time, you'll need to cut them apart

end result

4) Roll the black fondant to a similar thickness. Using the 5 sided (pentagon) cut out, you will need to repeat the directions above. For each completed soccer ball, you will need 6 pentagon shapes. so for a batch of 6-8, make between 36 and 48 pentagons.

5 sided tool cut outs in black (6 per ball)

The final cut outs

Now, using a small paint or decorating brush and a small cup or bowl of water, it's time to assemble the soccer balls:
5) taking one of the white rounds, lay it int he center of your mat.
6) pick up a black cut out, use the water and brush to ''glue'' the back and and place it slightly off center on the white fondant base.

The first glued pentagon

7) now take a white cut out and align it against one side of the black cut out, using your knife's blunt edge or fondant tool to define the space between the white and black as well as smooth the outside edge. repeat until all five white edges are aligned to a side of the center black pentagon.

completed white round

8) now take a black cut out and using your brush and water as glue,  fit it in between the white cut outs, building the next layer outwards. Again, define the edges between the black and whites shapes, while smoothing and using the outside to ''push'' the black to completely fill the spaces between the whites.

the final black round

When you have all the shapes on the base, let sit for 1-2 mins before using the fondant cutter for your final football.

9) using the middle size of the fondant cutter rounds, cut out your final football shape. The rounds you can store in an airtight container for at least 2 weeks. I stored them in the pantry, out of direct sunlight and temperature swings. Use parchment paper between layers, and because I did not want these to harden, I also used a layer of clingfilm before putting the lid on.

position the cutter and....voila!

Once all your footballs (soccer balls) are made, you can start on the 'grass'.
10) Using the cookie cutter that was used for the white bases, make your cupcake sized round cut outs from the rolled green fondant. you want it to be about the same thickness as the other cut outs (minus the base). Some kids eat the fondant (mine loves it) and some ate the footballs and peeled the grass off. either way, you don't want it to be too thick to eat or so think it won't peel off if so desired.

11) Using the paint or decorating brush from the ''glue'' step, stir the pearl dust in a small amount of liquid - I used lemon extract - and then brush the rounds with the pearl dust mixture. the pearl dust needs at least an hour to dry and set on the fondant before you try to store them or stack them in any way.
12) using a bit of butter cream or frosting, spread a layer on the cupcakes
13) place the green grass layer on the top of the cupcakes and ''mold'' the round if necessary around the edges of the cupcake
14) finally, using a dot of butter cream or frosting, adhere the the footballs to the grass. I centered them and then lightly shaped them to fit the contours of the cake.

Completed cupcake

15) repeat steps 12 -14 until all cupcakes are finished.

Top view

For his Birthday party, we carried the football (soccer) theme through and had a football pull pinata, football theme scavenger hunt - activity, and because mom was all cupcaked out, we got out the chocolate fountain for some interactive fun and sweet treat. You can see the soccer (football theme party here on Kevin's blog.

Enjoy - and let me know if you attempt these!