Super Hero Cupcakes and Cookie Favors-How to make Super Hero Cupcake toppers

 I am always thrilled when I have to make cookies , cupcakes or cakes for boy's birthday parties. Having two girls, I find myself making pretty much girly stuff all the time.

I made these Super Hero Cookie favors and cupcakes for a Super Hero theme party. It was my first time making Super Hero Cookies and cupcake toppers, I know there is always room for improvement but I really like how they turned out.

I used my trusty kopykake to ice the cookies and also to decorate the Super Hero cupcake toppers.

The cupcake toppers turned out just like the cookies.

If you want to make your own Super Hero Cupcake toppers, here is how I made mine

You will need:

white and egg yellow fondant (or gumpaste)

tylose powder

small rolling pin and fondant mat

powder sugar

shortening

templates of the Super Hero logos ( I got mine online and re size them to the size I needed them)

pairing knife

royal icing with the colors of the Super Hero logos

-I didn't have gumpaste, and for cupcake toppers like these I always recommend using gumpaste instead of fondant, so I mixed 1 teaspoon of Tylose Powder with my fondant. I mixed them together using a little bit of shortening.

-I colored the white fondant with Wilton egg yellow color and let the fondant rest for a little

-Now, roll your fondant to about 1/4 inch thick and place it in the refrigerator for 5 minutes, the fondant will harden a little which will make it easier for you to cut the shapes of the Super Hero logos.

-After you have cut all the shapes, put them in a baking sheet on parchment paper and let them get dry overnight. 

-Then using your kopykake, outline and fill the logos of each Super Hero logo. If you do not have a kopykake, just work around the fondant base ( round or oval) and use the template and food markers as guide.

When they are all done, carefully, put them back in the baking sheet and let them get dry for at least 24 hours.

This is how they look on the cupcakes. You want the cupcake toppers to be completely dry before putting them on the cupcakes, if they are not dry, I ensure you they will lose their shape.

Here is a picture of the cookies already wrapped and ready to go to make someone really happy.

So, what do you think? easy to make? share some pictures with me if you make your own.

Have a great weekend!!

Blush Pink Bird House Baptism Cake

I made this blush pink bird house cake for a 1st birthday and Baptism celebration a few weeks ago.

 The original design is by someone else, the mom sent me the picture of the cake and I was more than happy to make it as close looking as possible. 

I love how the little bird house turned out. I made it with rice krispy treats and gumpaste. 

For the birds, I ordered this Ateco Plain Coma cutter , it comes in different sizes and seems very useful for other cake design details. I made the tree template myself. 

I am not too fond of using fabric ribbon on cakes, but this was pretty simple and thin

 and it end up looking cute rather than bulky. 

Pastel Winter Snowman Cookies

Happy cold Tuesday!!

 we are under another awful Snowstorm here in New Jersey! that means early school dismissal. early daycare closing, leaving work early and getting in my PJ"s as soon as possible.

can Spring be here early? 

In the mean time, I made these  fun pastel Snowman cookies for The Cookie Cutter Company , they are cute and with a Valentine feeling to brighten your day in this cold Winter.

To make these cookies you will need the following cookie cutters and supplies:

snowman 4"

snowman with scarf 3.5"

tilted hot snowman 4"

house 3.5"

Tip 2 and 3

pastry bags,couplers and squeeze bottles  

white and pink royal icing

black and orange food writers

heart sprinkles

fondant color of your choice ( I used americolor soft pink and mint green)

white sanding sugar

clay extruder

small painting brush

small pairing knife

rolling pin

fondant mat

Pink Snowman

Outline and flood the top and bottom section of the snowman , let the icing set for a few minutes before flooding the middle part. 

Let the cookie dry over night.

Roll a piece of fondant very thin and using the same cookie cutter that was used for the cookie, cut the hat. Using the small brush, apply a thin layer of royal icing on the hat area of the cookie,attach the fondant hat and mark details with a pairing knife.

With the food writer, draw the eyes, mouth,carrot nose and hands, I even dusted a little bit of pink lusted dust for the cheeks.

Attach the sprinkle heart with royal icing

Follow instruction above to decorate the skinny snowman

These fun chubby guys were fun to decorate. The 3D scarf add a touch of cuteness to them. 

Outline and flood the cookies. Let the cookies dry overnight.

Mix a little shortening and fondant between your hands and insert a piece of fondant inside the clay extruder . Using the rope disk, extract the fondant and make a rope , combine colors of use just a plain one, the possibilities are endless.

Attach the scarf to the cookie with royal icing. Draw the face details.

I went the simple way with this house, but there are so many details that you can add. Use candy, green for some grass or pipe some small flowers and make a wreath.

Stat outlining and flooding your cookie. Outline and flood the chimney.

Let the cookie dry and using a tip #3 pipe the snow, sprinkle the sanding sugar, let it set for a few minutes and remove the excess.

 Use stiff royal icing and tip#2 to pipe the door and windows.

Happy Cookie making, stay warm!!

Valentine Birds Cupcake Toppers

A few weeks back I got a box of goodies from Reynolds full of some of my favorites designs of StayBrite baking cups and parchment paper.
The perfect gift for a baker like me.

I can't even imaging my baking without parchment paper?, for us cookie bakers, parchment paper is a must have in our kitchen. From lining our cookie sheets to rolling our cookie dough, not to mention minimizing the mess-toss the paper and we are done!

With Valentines's Day around the corner,I decide to put good use to the foil cupcake liners, which by the way, you don't even need a cupcake pan, put them directly in a cookie sheet, fill with batter, bake them and that's it!

Staying with the Valentine theme, sweet little Valentine Bird cupcake toppers were the perfect addition to my cupcakes.

How to make Valentine Birds cupcake toppers

You will need:

white and pink fondant
tooth picks
small paint brush\water
small rolling pin
powder sugar
black food writer
sprinkles
frosted cupcakes
Ateco comma cutters
small heart shape cutter
fondant mat

-Cover your mat surface with powder sugar and using the rolling pin, roll your fondant thick.
-Cut the birds
-Pull the "head" of the bird up to give it more of a shape
-Wet the tooth pick and insert it in the topper

 -Roll the pink fondant and cut the hearts

-Attach the hearts to the birds with a dab of water. ( they will be the wings)

-Using a small piece of fondant,shape a small triangle for the bird's beak. Attach it with water

-Mark the eye

 -Sprinkle the cupcakes with your favorite sprinkles

-Insert the toppers. 

There you have it, Valentine Bird Cupcake toppers

Aqua, Silver and Gray Baby Shower Cookies

I am loving this color palette of these custom made Baby Shower cookies.

The cookies match the Baby Shower invitation.

Simple but yet modern. 

I used a pretty neat stencil that I got from Michael's to make the chevron pattern, which by the way is spray painted with silver dust. But I recently found this Etsy shop that also has this and others stencils that would make wonders in cookies and cakes. 

I really like when moms and party planners step out of the regular baby blue and white when it comes to little Boys' Baby Showers.

 Pretty cookies ready to be pack and ship to California.

The New Year in pics

 Well, Happy New Year to all!!

I haven't had a sweet, bread or pasta in 7 days. I am still alive. Barely!
As it turned out, I had way too many S mores's over Christmas.

 I also got to make my own bread, which by the way turned out pretty good . Not from a French patisserie, but it was my first time and it wasn't bad at all. There is also the fact that we had it with bacon, eggs and toasted with butter, that must have helped right?

Any way, this year I didn't make too many goals and resolutions, but one of them is eating healthier, get rid of my carb and sweet  addiction and also start cooking and making more food from scratch. 

I got a pretty sweet Gift card from Amazon over Christmas, so I was able to get the book 

 Homemade with Love, from Jennifer Perillo.

 I am in love with that book and her approach to homemade, local grown and healthy food. And what is an Amazon order without a book all about S'mores? ohh this book!! great S'mores recipes- that for the record I will be making, but not too often. 

Are you freezing ? do you get snow where you live?  around here we have had so much snow that I can totally send you some your way. Last week I got in the house on Thursday night and I didn't come out until Monday morning this week to go to work. 

I have always said, snow is nice as long as you do not have to work or you are allow to wear sweats and warm boots at work. 

My baby E wanted to play in the snow with her big sister. 

So to the snow we went. 

According to my husband this is a Snowman. Yes, I know, the nose if backwards, for some reason he couldn't place it the right way. 

I took a cookie-cake -cation for a few weeks. It felt good not having datelines and cake orders.

But I am back in business and my oven is ready for my baking. 

This coming weekend have have some cute Superhero cupcakes to make

and this is the beginning of a birdhouse topper for a Baptism cake. 

How is the new year treating you so far?