Hands up who’s planning to make some spring cupcakes?
If you’re not then you should, not only are cupcakes easy to make they’re also a doddle to decorate in almost any way you see fit.
Ready to roll icing always works well with cupcakes because it keeps its form well, even in small quantities, which means you can create almost any kind of decoration you can think of, and it also allows for a variety of colours to be used in conjunction. To give you some inspiration on what to decorate your spring cupcakes with we’ve put together three amazing ideas, all of which are easy to make with ready to roll icing.
1. Spring Lambs. Why not make some cute spring lamb cupcakes using a combination of white and black ready to roll icing.
Roll out some white icing to about 3mm thick and use three progressively smaller flower shaped cutters to press out the icing. Fix the largest one to the top of your cupcake using some boiled apricot jam. Then take the next size down and fix it to the top using some cooled boiled water, make sure that the petals sit between the gaps on the bottom section so there is an overlapping effect. Repeat with the smallest cut out. The positioning of the icing should give your lamb a layered, fluffy look.
Then roll out a small piece of black icing into a flattened ball to make the head, using a modelling tool to create the nostrils. Add some eyes with white icing and a dot of black royal icing.
2. Nesting Chicks. Making a nest of newly hatched chicks out of ready to roll icing couldn’t be easier. For the nest we’d recommend using some shredded coconut, which you can lightly bake to give it the look of straw or twigs.
Give the top of your cupcake a swirl of frosting and gently position the coconut around the edges to create the nest. Then take some yellow ready to roll icing and roll out two or three small ovals of icing. Using a small amount of orange ready to roll icing you can fashion a small beak and attach it to the chick’s body with a dab of water. Then make some eyes from black icing and place the chicks face up in the middle of the nest, as if they’re waiting for mother to return.
3. Fluffy Bunnies. There are many ways to create bunny rabbit cupcake toppers using ready to roll icing. You can create a flat plaque, layering the icing, make a detailed three dimensional model to sit atop or try this option, which combines frosting with ready to roll icing to give a fluffy appearance.
Pipe some frosting onto your cupcake and then rough it up using a fork to give it a furry texture. Next make the ears using some white ready to roll icing. Roll two small balls and taper them like a carrot before flattening slightly and marking a groove down the middle. Fold each one in slightly and then position into the frosting. For the nose, mould your pink ready to roll icing into a heart shape and fix it to the centre of the cupcake. Once you’ve made the eyes from black and white icing you can pipe some red royal icing onto the frosting to create the mouth.
So when you pull that batch of spring cupcakes out of the oven grab your ready to roll icing and try one of these seasonal decorating ideas.