I'm thrilled with how these came out. And - best of all - you don't need any special tools! My tools were all at the bakery so I had to do with what I had lying around the house. So, because I love all of you, here is a tutorial so you too can make adorable fondant-decorated cupcake cookies. Enjoy!
Here's what you'll need:
-fondant in your choice of colors
-the cookies, of course!
-the cookie cutter you used (I used this one from Crate & Barrell...a gift from Nicole!)
-a rolling pin
-a sharp knife
Step 1: Roll out your first choice of fondant color. I don't measure the thickness of my fondant when I work, but you probably want to shoot for about an 1/8 of an inch thick.
Then use the cookie cutter to cut the cupcake wrapper part out of the fondant.
Step 2: Use your knife to cut the top of the cupcake wrapper in a wave motion. Discard the excess fondant.
Step 3: Spread a thin layer of buttercream icing on your cookie and set the cupcake wrapper part on it!
Step 4: Roll out white fondant to 1/8 inch thick, and use the cutter to cut out the icing part of the cupcake.
Step 5: Trim the cherry off the top and trim the bottom with a straight cut - all the way across. Then, stick it on your cookie!
Step 6: Use your finger to push the white fondant down into the waves of the pink cupcake wrapper. Work relatively quickly to get the fondant where you like it. If you work too slow, your fondant will crack, tear, wrinkle, or have any number of undesirable consequences.
Step 7: Use the BACK of your knife to put creases in the cupcake liner. To do this, I just pushed the knife down into the fondant. If you have a straight edge on the back of your knife, there's no need to actually move the knife up or down (which could tear the fondant)...just push down into the fondant and lift!
Step 8: Choose another color of fondant and roll a super thin rope out of it. The thickness of your rope will determine the size of your sprinkles so keep it thick if you want big, whimsical sprinkles. Then, using your knife, cut the rope into pieces that range between 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch long. Again, you can adjust this to how you want your sprinkles to look.
Step 9: Lay your sprinkles on the top of the cupcake in a random fashion. These are just sitting on the cupcake at this point - they are in no way adhered to the fondant so don't make any sudden movements or bump the table.
Step 10: Using your rolling pin, gently roll over the sprinkles to "smoosh" them into the white fondant. This should adhere them to the surface! If not, apply a small amount of water under the sprinkles and that should do the trick.
Step 11: Choose a third color of fondant and roll it into a tiny ball. Using a little dab of buttercream, attach the ball to the top of the cupcake.
Step 12: Then "smoosh" the ball with your finger!
Done and done! Great job! If you make any cookies using the techniques or cookie cutter I used, send them to me! You may be the Friday Feature on Mel's Cake Walk Facebook Fan Page! Ooooh, aaaaah. *grin*
