Monday, February 28, 2011

Ideas for Decorating Cupcakes

By Anya Shiela Richards


A cupcake straight from the oven would be too plain to serve. Even those being served would consider it bland just by looking at it. But with the addition of a little color and decoration, it transforms into real eye candy and one can assume it is delicious without actually tasting it. Cupcake decoration is an easy and fun task to do. You can use as many shapes and designs on your cupcakes as you wish. When musing over what cupcake decorating ideas to use, consider the theme of the occasion. Are the cupcakes part of birthday celebrations, baby shower, Christmas or other holiday celebration? Or are you making them for the kids to enjoy during the lovely summer weather?

Decide how to decorate your cupcakes according to the occasion or the season. Cupcakes make very handy snacks on any outing. Taking your children to the zoo, for example, is an occasion for which you can use animal cupcake decorations. Likewise, flower cupcake decorations are an excellent choice if you're hosting a summer garden party. Butterfly cupcake decorations are perfect for any little girls' gathering, and there are innumerable ways in to decorate cupcakes for holidays such as Easter and Christmas. Decorating cupcakes according to a specific occasion makes it easier to select the colors to use for your cupcake decorations since many occasions are associated with certain colors (orange and black for Halloween, green and red for Christmas, pink, blue and yellow for baby showers etc). Cupcake decorations are made out of sugar-icing. You can either purchase pre-made varieties or make the icing yourself. If you're making the icing at home, be sure that the consistency is firm enough so that it will adhere to the top and sides of the cupcake.

Equipment you will need to make your work perfect includes a frosting spatula, icing bags, icing tips, toothpicks and foil or greaseproof paper. A frosting spatula ensures that the icing is spread evenly. Buy icing tips of different shapes - stars, leaves, shells, roses, v-shaped, round-shaped ones and any other shapes you can find.

Use the sugar icing and the icing bag, with tips, to form your decorations, working over a sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil. Do not attempt to make the decorations directly unto the cupcakes. Select the appropriate icing tip for the shape you are making. For instance, use the round tip for writing, forming bow shapes, flower stalks etc. Allow your finished decorations to harden on the sheet of wax paper before you use food coloring to paint on any additional details. Since these are often tiny (eyes, buttons and other embellishments), toothpicks make the task easier.

Spread the icing or frosting on the cakes. You can also use pre-made fondant. This does not have to be in plain color. Add food coloring to give it some color before spreading it on the cupcakes. Then take your decorations and stick them onto the icing. They stick very well on butter cream icing. Now your cupcakes are ready to show off to your friends!

As you perfect the art of cake decoration, you can slowly incorporate more complex shapes, such as fondant flowers - daffodils, mushrooms and sunflowers among others. Some more cupcake decorating ideas you can try out include falling flowers where you shape a stalk and petal and place it on the cupcake top, so that the stalk lies on the icing and the petal falls to the side. Cover the top with more petals in different colors. You can also paint the faces and names of your guests on the cupcakes. Present each guest with the corresponding cupcake that has their name and face! They will feel special.




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