Cupcakes have taken over the world. Those little wonders have been recreated in hundreds of different flavor combinations and served in stores across the United States. With cute wrappers and fun names, they tempt you with their size and keep you coming back for their amazing taste and texture. His large following will see new stores opening to capitalize on the demand for this delicious miniature delicacy.
The problem comes when you want something fancier than just icing on top. Many stores don’t carry designer cupcakes, or if they do, they come at a price that some are unwilling to pay. What happens when you want to have designer cupcakes for an event? Create them at home.
For girls, the sky is the limit. Dip a regular sized marshmallow in some melted chocolate, shake off the excess and place in the center of a cupcake. Decorate the cupcake section with buttercream icing like a tutu (use tip 104) or dress in her favorite color.
For the cupcake bags, push two regular-size cupcakes together end-to-end and cut the bottom with a serrated knife so it sits level on the plate. Now you are ready to decorate with buttercream or fondant.
Do you like glitter? Take your frosting covered cupcake and dip it in sugar crystals. Use strips of wax paper to separate your cupcake. All the white sugar crystals would look like a bright light. Colorful cupcakes lined up in rows would make a powerful statement on a table.
For a beautiful vase, place two cupcakes end to end and freeze. Cool and wrap with a strip of fondant. You can add fondant or buttercream flowers on top.
Make baskets by adding jelly beans in the middle of your iced cupcake and a basket weave fondant or icing border around the edge. Take a thin piece of licorice and glue the ends onto the cupcake on each side to make the handle.
At craft stores, they have four-cavity cake pans that make miniature doll cakes. These are individual serving sizes to which you can add miniature doll picks to make special cakes for your little princess and her friends.
Chocolate is a woman’s best friend. Do you want to make her happy? Take some cold ganache, mold it into a marshmallow shape and dip it into melted mint chocolate and sit it in the center of a chocolate cupcake. Decorate with chocolate buttercream frosting as a costume, add a chocolate covered coffee bean on top and you have a cupcake worthy of your taste buds. Do you want a different combination? The sky is the limit. Try lemon cake with frozen cheesecake, and then cut with miniature round cutters and place on top. Frost with whipping cream.
Surprise your guests by adding filling to your cupcakes. This sets them apart from anything you buy at the store. The lemon filling can be spread on top of the cupcakes once they have cooled and then the buttercream can be added. Ganache can be made in different flavors and spread over your cupcake before frosting. Use different colored wrappers to keep track of all your different flavors.
Edible chocolate or candy jewels are available to add a little sparkle to your treats, as well as fondant that can be rolled, cut into discs, or custom designs to make her occasion as special as the cupcake you made for her.
Do you need an idea for a boy’s or men’s party? Boys and grown men would get excited about a cupcake bar. Use the mini loaf pans to make your cupcakes so they aren’t the same round shape as usual. Think Texas-sized cupcakes for the man in your life who wants a “country slice.” Crushed Oreos, cut up Reese’s Cups, gummy worms, fudge, caramel, whipped cream, and M&M’s are just a few of the things you could put in small bowls so they can create the cupcake of their dreams.
Do you have a theme party? Use that same four-cavity cake pan for a kids’ party, and you can make treasure bags, adding M&M’s as the treasure on top. Party supply stores have themed party rings that can be inserted into the top for a great display. During the holidays, these same molds can be used to make Santa bags out of red buttercream or fondant.
With just a little imagination, you can create many designer cupcake designs that you’ll be glad you took the time to create at home.
Have fun!