Candy Mold Cupcake Toppers

When is a cupcake not just a cupcake? When it's got a candy bonus on top!


I recently got pictures from my homeboy AJ's 3rd birthday party last month. I made the cupcake centerpiece for the celebration, and it looks like AJ's enjoying the topper more than he is the chocolate bavarian cream-filled cupcake. KIDS.

AJ is my favorite neighbor - he's the only one in the building who I can 

count on to give me zerbtts (click here if you don't know what a zerbtt is.)

AJ's got a candy baseball in his hand, but there were also football, soccerball and basketball cupcakes. 

Recognize the sports cake pops in the background? Those were
the cake pops I featured in my post about cake pop disasters.

The cupcake toppers were a breeze to make, with the help of a $1.99 cookie candy mold from Michael's. The regular candy molds are smaller, but the cookie sized ones were perfect for cupcake toppers. I made these a few days before I even started on the cupcakes and they stored perfectly in a tupperware in the fridge.

There was some intricate detail work involved - such as piping the stitches on the baseballs and the football, and filling in the black hexagons on the soccerballs. 

You can nuke your candy melts right in the piping bag or freezer bag for the detail work. 

When it's time to fill the rest of the mold with melted candy, you may find it easier to just use a bowl and a small spoon to spread it out. Just be sure to tap the mold on the table a few times to release any bubbles so you get a smooth finish. (You may recall I used candy molds to make the seashells for my Nemo cake project. That time, I just smushed the candy into the molds sloppily, resulting in holey, raggedy shells.)

Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes and they'll pop right out like ice cubes. Repeat. 

You may see some unsightly uneven edges like the one around the basketball above. You can use an X-acto knife to trim them right off. 

Unlike the others, the basketballs needed to be embellished after making the ball. 

If you have extra melted candy, it doesn't hurt to make more, to keep for a future project or serve as an impromptu treat for the kids. Once you have enough, they're ready to place on top of your cupcakes, like so.

Try standing the candy cupcake toppers up on their edges, instead of flat, for more dimension. It also hides any rough edges.

Game Changer - Filling Piping Bags

You will never fill a piping bag the same way again after reading this post.

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I actually came across it on a blog some months back (can't remember which one, or else I'd link back to it.) I finally put it to the test this past weekend, and I'm not looking back. All you need, besides your prepared piping bag and frosting, is plastic wrap (aka cling film, Saran Wrap, or in my case, "Kirkland Stretch-tite".)

Start by laying down a length of plastic wrap. Plop down some of that frosting on it, closer to one edge (i.e. not right in the middle.) 

If you need a lot of frosting, this technique will allow you to fill the bag with more than you would ordinarily. As you will soon see, the excess will not squirt out the top. More frosting in the bag = fewer stops to refill.

Step 2: Wrap the frosting in your plastic wrap, into a roll that will fit comfortably inside your piping bag.

Next, twist the end of the plastic wrap that's longer, nice and tight, like so:

Now simply feed your roll of frosting into your piping bag with the open end going in first. You see where I'm going with this.

Squeeze the back end of your frosting roll so the frosting breaks out into the piping bag.

Now you can start piping as usual, without having to wash your  greasy hands from filling your bag the old way! Also, as I mentioned earlier, there's less risk of frosting squishing out the top of the bag because you twisted the plastic roll shut. Good, right?

But wait! There's more!

Check out how easy it is to clean up when you're done:

Just pull out your plastic roll and discard. And if that wasn't enough, my piping bag was in much better shape to reuse, which means less waste, which means happy Gitu.

I bet this technique would make "striping" a breeze (I may have just made that term up, but I'm referring to the technique where you fill your bag with 2 colors of frosting.) Ooh I might try doing 3 or 4 now that I have this handy trick up my sleeve.

Oh, final step: Get a manicure already.

6 Tips for Better Cake Pops (That I Learned the Hard Way)

Is it just me, or are cake pops a heck of a lot harder to make than they appear? I'd say I'm pretty confident and dexterous when it comes to crafting confections (see title of my blog) yet making cake pops have proved to be... well, a giant pain in the tush. 

One of many cake pop fails

From getting the cake balls to taste good, to getting the candy coating smooth, to getting the darn things to stay on their sticks - there seem to be so many things that can go wrong with these otherwise adorable treats...

Unless, you have a little insider information from someone who's made all the mistakes multiple times, so you don't have to.

Cake Pop Success!

Here are 7 common problems I've encountered when making cake pops, and how I eventually overcame them:


Problem #1: My cake pops are disgustingly sweet and mushy.
Solution: Don't feel like you have to use frosting.


There are recipes out there call for up to one whole can of frosting per box of cake mix.

One whole can.

When I first tried making cake pops, I didn't even use half a can of frosting and still found them too dense and unpalatable. Eventually I found that if I started with a good, moist cake, I didn't need frosting at all, to form them into balls. If your cake isn't moist enough, add frosting one tablespoon at a time and stop when it starts to come together. Your tastebuds will thank you.

Untested tip: one of my friends uses coconut oil to moisten her cake, which could be a better option than frosting if you're looking to control sweetness. My question is, will that add some coconut oil flavor? Because I'm not sure how I feel about that.


Problem #2: My cake balls keep falling off their sticks.
Solution: Make smaller cake balls.

When you start rolling your cake crumbs into balls, you'll be tempted to make them the size you want your final cake pop to be. But remember, your candy coat will add to the size and, more importantly, the weight, of your cake ball. Try making your cake balls a little smaller (2" max) and see if that helps.


Problem #3: My cake balls are misshapen and not uniform. 
Solution: Try using a meatballer.


This is a good investment if you plan on making a lot of cake pops. I've been hard pressed to find a meatballer at a "bricks and mortar" kitchen supply store, but you should have no problem finding one on the good ol' interwebs. I made the mistake of ordering a 2.5" meatballer off Amazon - it was too big (see problem #2.) Finally, I stumbled upon my trusty 2" meatballer when I wasn't even looking, at Eataly in NYC. 

Perfect.

Besides keeping your cake balls the same size, using a meatballer can also make sure they're nice and compact, and therefore keep them from falling apart (yes, again, even without frosting.) Use your hands to stuff as much cake as you can between the domes of your meatballer, and use your hands again to squeeze the domes together. Open, release the cake ball, rotate, and squeeze again, peeling off the excess cake that squishes out the middle.

If you need another reason to buy a meatballer, they make quick work of making cake balls. I made cake pops this past weekend and I banged out these 13 cake balls in 2 minutes flat. 

Once you've formed your cake balls, you'll still want to give them a final roll with your hands to smooth out any lumps which might show through your candy coat (not pretty.) Compare the cake balls above (before hand rolling) to the ones below (after hand rolling.)

Problem #4: My candy coating is not easy to work with (not smooth, too thin, too lumpy)
Solution 1: Don't overheat / overmelt your candy

Most recipes will tell you to nuke your candy melts in 30 second increments until they've melted. What they don't all tell you is that you should actually stop while there are still a lot of solid chunks remaining, and then work out the lumps with the help of any residual heat and a lot of elbow grease.

- I've found that the more I heat my candy, the more prone it is to seizing. UPDATE: The Cakeb0t blog confirms that overheating is an issue. Binky of Cakeb0t says she uses a candy thermometer to monitor the melting process and makes sure the candy doesn't heat up over 100°F.

- I've also found that dipping cake balls in candy that's too hot, makes them more likely to disintegrate.

- You can add a little (a little!) vegetable oil or shortening (or some paramount crystals if you are willing and able to get them) to the candy before melting, if needed, to make it more fluid. UPDATE: Cakeb0t shares her tried and tested proportions of candy to shortening in a recent e-mail newsletter:

"I've found that a tablespoon of shortening to 6 or 7 ounces added to melted candy melts makes for a nice dipping consistency."

- If your candy is too runny, your coating will be too thin and your cake, lumps and all, will show though. My cake pops come out better when my melted candy is a little on the  thicker side.

- Make the effort to mix properly (who couldn't use the extra upper body workout?) Small lumps in your melted candy will result in small lumps on your cake pop. Big lumps in your melted candy could mess up the smooth finish when the lumps slide off your cake pop as it dries.

Top right: Too thin.
Bottom right: Too lumpy

Solution 2: Try a different brand of candy
All candy melts are not created equal. I generally use Wilton brand and have had the best results with their brown and white varieties. I've had the most trouble with their orange and blue versions. I also had a hard time with Make N' Mold's blue candy melts, although I only tried it once, and may have overmelted them. Wilton and Make N' Mold are among the more affordable brands. I'd be surprised if more professional-grade brands aren't easier to use. 

Solution 3: Keep away from water! 
You should know by now that candy melts and water DO NOT MIX. But if you didn't know that, take note: candy melts and water DO NOT MIX.  

Use completely dry containers, spoons, hands, etc. when melting candy, and don't even think of adding food color that's water-based. Melted chocolate / candy that comes into contact with water will "seize" and you'll have to throw it out (and you know how I feel about waste.)

The pictures below show what melted chocolate / candy looks like when it has seized. It will form a lump as you're stirring it and slide right off your spoon.

Blech.

Problem #5: My cake pops keep cracking / splitting
Solution: Let the cake balls come back to room temperature a little before dipping

Most, if not all, cake pop recipes will call on you to refrigerate your cake balls after inserting your sticks, dipped in a small amount of candy. This is so the candy will harden and the sticks will take hold. This should only take a few minutes. But if you have to leave your pops in the fridge for a while and come back to them later, as I often do, let them come back to room temperature-ish before you dip them in your melted candy.

Just chillin'

When troubleshooting my own cracking issues, it dawned on me that it could all be a simple matter of physics -- matter shrinks when it's cooled, and expands when it's heated. I figured my cold cake balls were simply expanding as they warmed back up, and then, appropriately, busting out of their candy shells. Waiting until the cake balls were back at room temperature before dipping solved that for me.

Crack is Whack

Problem #6: Decorating cake pops can be, for lack of a better word, a b*$%h. 
Solution: Use parchment triangles, not pastry bags, for piping designs.

If you know me, you know I like to take short cuts whenever possible. But trust me, melting your candy right in a plastic decorating bag is not worth the time you think you'll save. The candy will be likely to melt unevenly, and be difficult to pipe smoothly, and you will have to start all over.

Unless you're going the "drizzle and swirl" route and don't care if it's messy, take the extra trouble to melt your candy separately, and spoon just a little bit into a small parchment triangle. Again, gently heating your candy in a bowl and mixing vigorously as it melts the rest of the way, will ensure it's smooth. Using a small parchment triangle will mean more control when drawing. 


Take a look at the sports cake pops I made and painstakingly decorated this weekend, for my 3-year-old neighbor and birthday boy, A.J. I did not use a parchment triangle for the footballs, but I did for the baseballs. Notice the difference?

 

And that's all I got! 

Here's a link to the quintessential site on making cake pops, Bakerella.com. It's full of ideas and pictures from readers. And here's a link to  more cake pop tips from Cakeb0t.com, one of my favorite cake websites. 

Good luck!

Back to (Cake) School

After much anticipation, I finally got to take my first Baking Arts class a couple weekends ago, and I can't say enough good things about it.

The space was to die for - a bright and modern kitchen, with hardwood floors, set up in an airy loft apartment building in San Francisco's Soma neighborhood. Class size was small - only 5 people - so we didn't have to compete for space or attention. 

Owner/instructor Richard Festen was such a joy to learn from. Richard put us at ease with what he referred to as his "yoga voice," then after breaking the ice, revealed his naughty side. He had us all tittering as he described how to use your hands to smooth BC onto a carved cake (use your imagination.)

Like budduh

I learned a lot at Richard's "Pumpkin Cake" class... from how to make a round cake, carving tips, and airbrushing, which I was most excited about. But the most valuable part of the class was actually when he taught us how to properly handle fondant - I still struggle with that.

Here are a few more pictures from class:

Using a spoon as a carving tool

Crumb coating

  

Cake draped with fondant

Puckered bottom... nothing a few pumpkin leaves can't hide

Up close and personal with an airbrush

Stove top rigged to protect surfaces from airbrushing

 

Pumpkin, post airbrush, not looking so anemic any more

 

Hand-molded mice heads

FIN.

Finding Nemo Cake: A Tutorial in Pictures

One of my favorite movies, and now one of my favorite cakes (it's got glitter!) This Finding Nemo cake was for a double birthday party for two 3-year-olds. Our friends' daughter, Zoe, wanted Nemo, and her birthday buddy, Parker, wanted a dinosaur (more on that later.)

I started this project about a week early, making the decorations in batches during the week.

I picked up a seashell candy mold from Michaels for $1.99 and used candy melts that I already had left over from making cake pops.

Really, I should have used pastry bags or a parchment cone to pipe in the melted candy, but I was lazy and just smeared it in messily with the back of a small spoon (so, yes, the piping bag is "staged" for this shot. But check out my awesome spoon designed to hang on the side of your teacup! Or tupperware, in this case.)

The shells popped out easily after a quick chill in the fridge. They're a bit holey and raggedy-looking. I bet using the piping bag would have helped. Sometimes I like to take short cuts a little too much for my own good. Whatever. Real shells aren't perfect anyway.


Another option for the shells would have been to press fondant into the molds. With that method you can brush them with pearl/luster dust and make them look rill purdy.

To make the coral, I piped melted candy out of a small parchment cone and then sprinkled colored sugar on them while they were still wet. I found the lumpier and more misshapen the design, the more they looked like coral.

Side note: I had tried another method of making the coral earlier, which involved piping royal icing onto grape stems (tutorial here.) It didn't work out so well for me, though I think it's because I had a bad batch of RI. Still, I like my method better because you can actually eat it.

More coral made from leftover bits of colored fondant (I save and try to reuse everything! See the parchment scraps in the picture above?) 

For the curly ones, I made thin snakes, flattened them a little and then folded them up into themselves. 

The round ones are just little bits of rolled up fondant poked with a boning/veining tool.

I also made a few of these coral thingamabobs in different sizes and colors, but didn't end up using them. They're made of fondant/gum paste combo so they can dry hard.

Just free-form roll out pieces of your 50/50 and cut out different-sized holes. I used a piping tip, a bubble tea straw, and a regular drinking straw. Then I used the straws as "formers" to make the coral dry wavy. If you make these you can place them standing up on top of your cake.

More 50/50 used here to make Zoe's name. I used my extruder to make rope, formed them into the letters, and let them dry overnight.

Another side note here, about "gum glue":  My Wilton method teacher introduced me to this (shout out to Lisa at the Colma Michael's store!) I haven't seen it used on any cake show or online tutorial, but I think it's a better adhesive than water or piping gel. All you do is dissolve a little chunk of gum paste in water and brush it on.

I also love it because I can use up my dried hard bits of leftover gum paste (again, nothing is wasted around here!) Sometimes I don't even bother waiting for it to dissolve - I just daub my brush on the wet lump and get going. You'll notice after a while it will have morphed into a smooth gluey liquid.

I used my gum glue to glitterfy Zoe's name. I just brushed it onto the letters and went nuts with the disco dust. 

BUT FIRST! I lined a dish with parchment paper so I could be very generous with the glitter and then funnel the excess back into its container (say it with me - zero waste!)

Obviously, I let the glue and glitter dry before picking up or moving the letters.

Moving on now to the piece de resistance: Nemo! He's made of RKT. 

I like to use a bowl to form rounded RKT figures. You can just press it into the concave sides of the bowl till it's just the right shape.

RKT Nemo was then brushed with gum glue and covered in orange homemade MMF before I added his features. I think the little white bits applied to Nemo's eyes with a tweezer really made him come to life.

The fins were made of 50/50 so they could dry hard and stand up straight.

Oh, I also made seaweed out of marbled green fondant. 

After I was done making all the decorations, I started working on the cake. 2 layers of yellow cake, chocolate ganache filling - not seen here, that white stuff is the buttercream dam - and a surprise rainbow cake layer for Zoe! (I cut it from a 10" square I had in the freezer left over from my fire truck cake.)

I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I torte the cakes? Um... I blame this misstep on remnants of trauma from a recent "cake fail" where I torted my cakes nice and thin and they collapsed under the weight of the cake topper.

Ya right. I was just being lazy.

This cake would have tasted a lot better if I had torted the layers. And I would have been able to get the same height with less cake.

(P.S. the cake fail story is true. check back for a post on that soon.)

Next, the cake got a generous frosting with light blue buttercream.  I didn't really go in with a plan, it just came about. 

I started frosting the top and noticed that it looked better messy. I patted the frosting with my offset spatula and it formed the perfect chop for Nemo's oceanscape. 

I did know that I wanted to use my new icing comb on the side of the cake. I played with straight and wavy movements until it looked perfectly imperfect.

Life is so much easier when a lack of precision actually works in my favor : )

A squiggle of thin consistency BC was piped around the bottom of the cake to hold the "sand", which was really brown sugar. I used dark, but light would have been better. (Even better would have been crushed graham crackers, because you'd actually enjoy eating it.)

I didn't take a picture, but I used a funnel to apply the sugar (you can make one out of parchment paper, or cut a corner right out of the bag.) I used my fingers to pat it down and contain the mess. 

The final step was adding the decorations. 

Nemo got a little support from some bubble tea straws embedded in the cake. 

I used another, taller straw to attach Nemo and keep him from moving. Just make sure it doesn't stick out of the cake taller than he is (I've done that before.)  I used a straw to make a hole in Nemo's bottom first, and then... um... impaled him.

And finally finally, I positioned the shells and corals in the sugar sand, put the letters in place, and stuck on the seaweed (probably would have been easier to do the seaweed before the sand, but it worked out fine.)

DONE-ZO!

Here's Nemo and his Dinosaur friend at Zoe and Parker's birthday party. They were a hit! 

My husband says the dinosaur looks possessed, but I'd like to believe he was just jealous because it was also his birthday and he didn't get a dinosaur cake. I'll be posting pics from the dinosaur cake project soon and maybe he can have a go at it.