Cookwithus Week#11- Cupcake Decorating

There is something about cupcakes that seem to be a favorite amongst adults and kids. When I walk into a bakery and I see a tray of iced cupcakes with some sprinkles, I can never resist. When I saw this week's challenge I was excited to decorate my own cupcakes in the theme of @cookwithus. I thought it would be fun to pay homage to the creators of this contest and use their caricatures for my inspiration.

There are many different ways to ice cupcakes. You can use a pastry bag fitted with a pastry tip and pipe swirls or designs on your cupcakes. I prefer to use an ice cream scooper to portion out buttercream and my favorite tool to help me smooth it is a baby offset spatula.

Place a scoop of buttercream on the cupcake and smear the frosting to the edges of the top of the cupcake using the offset spatula. Using the tip of the spatula, slightly apply pressure in the center of the icing and make a small circle. Run the spatula around the edges of the buttercream to smooth the sides.

Once the cupcakes are frosted, you can leave them as they are or you can also add some sprinkles. If you want to add more decorations, I like to use rolled fondant to make extra embellishments. Rolled fondant is a sugar paste that is used to cover cakes for a smooth finished look. It is also used for making decorations. You can make your own or purchase it. They come in a variety of colors but I usually like to buy white fondant and gel food coloring and color my own. The only exceptions are red, black and brown fondant. It is much easier to buy those colors because you need a large amount of food coloring to achieve the proper shade which alters the texture of the fondant.

Fondant tends to dry quickly when exposed to air so make sure to always cover the fondant with plastic wrap when you are not using it. To color fondant, use a toothpick to add food coloring into the fondant and knead it until the color is evenly dispersed. Keep adding the colors until you achieve the color you desire. When I am making decorations, I like to find images from the internet as a source of reference to help me mold or cut out the shapes.

To make the fondant decorations more realistic it's all in the details such as grooves in the sides of the carrots, buttons on a jacket, or indentations into the knife blade. To add the silver color accent on the blade and and the top of the pepper mill, mix plain vodka with edible luster dust and paint it on with a paint brush.

For the apron, chef's jacket, and Steemit logo, I rolled out fondant and cut the shapes with a pairing knife. I also like to use the bottom of a pastry tip to help me cut out circular shapes. To stick pieces of fondant together, just use water as glue. You only need a touch of water to make the fondant sticky.

I used the flat end of a skewer and dipped it in black food coloring and stamped black dots on the fondant as the buttons on the chef's jacket.

Thank you to @offoodandart, @chefsteve and @panadamama for all the work you have put into this competition and for connecting other Steemians who share the same passion for food.