More Princess Dresses!

So you remember a few posts back when I made some Disney Princess Dress cupcakes and fell in love with them?  I had another chance to make some so I did that with a few changes.  I didn't manage to take any pictures of the finished cupcakes myself but the client was kind enough to take these for me!

Snow White and her apple.  I think this one is my favorite.  You can see Rapunzel peeking out from behind her a little bit.  I didn't get a picture of Rapunzel by herself.  I like the little ruffled lace at the top of her corset and the painted scrollwork on the skirt.

Belle, a close second.  I love the draping.

Cinderella, a classic princess!

Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Tiana from Princess and the Frog, with her cute little leaves and vines!

My original thought was to make little items to go with each cupcake, like the apple on Snow White's dress.  However, I did the apple, then spent 20 minutes trying to make a tiny high heel out of fondant and just gave up.  I would put the slipper with Cinderella, a rose with Aurora, a book for Belle, a frog for Tiana, and a frying pan for Rapunzel.  Wouldn't that have been cute?  Yeah.  I think so too.  However, the client didn't ask for it and I just lost the inspiration trying to make that stinking little shoe :)

This is a great picture of the top view that I love!

Princess Dress Cupcakes

When I set out to make these cupcakes, I didn't know if it would be as simple as it seemed or if I would be pulling my hair out by the end of things.  I ended up being really satisfied with how they came out and really enjoyed making them.  I've found myself really liking my new fondant recipe.  It's still marshmallow fondant, but the ingredients are tweaked.
One little tip I found out - real vanilla extract, while exceptionally expensive at Food Lion, is cheaper for twice as much at Costco.  I don't ever use vanilla flavoring or fake extracts, so it was great to see they carry a good quality vanilla for surprisingly cheap.
So, back to the cupcakes.  They are Chocolate Cake with vanilla buttercream and fondant.  I used a flower cutter to cut two shapes out of thin fondant, then rolled the edges to make them frilly for the skirt portion.  I used the same shape but larger cutter to make the top.  Then, it was just a matter of decorating, which was really fun!  I love Aurora's bust.  Of course, Tiana's dress was fun to make with the vine, leaves, and little yellow flower.  Cinderella's dress is simple and elegant, while Belle's dress (which is actually a shimmering gold) has a pretty tiny flower.
  I am so happy to be doing more cakes recently!  I can't wait until this weekend!

A Different Take on a Castle Cake

Well good Tuesday to you all!  I didn't get much of a chance to take a good picture of this cake, so I took it while I was in the car, on the way to deliver it.  It's for a little girl's birthday party, and she loves Sleeping Beauty!  The figurine I bought had on a BLUE dress, and as everyone knows, the dress is supposed to be PINK!  So I covered the dress in gumpaste (tedious work, I tell you), let it dry, then painted it pink.  Baking the cakes was a challenge.  SIX cakes worth of ingredients got wasted because I got cheap with the cocoa (didn't go Hershey's like I usually do, I went store brand).  UGH!  That was a very irritating night, let me tell you!  The cakes baked up rubbery.  It was very very sad!
I made another castle cake a little while back, and I haven't been able to get in touch with the client to get the hardware back, so I bought a partial set off Craigslist so I could mold some gumpaste to make the towers.  It was a long process, as I had to wrap the gumpaste around the mold, let it dry, then remove and do it again.  I made two extra just in case of breakage (something I've learned full well to do!).  After they were dry, I painted them lightly with gumpaste glue and sprinkled them with sprinkles.  The piping was done with tube #17 in a rope pattern.  The stars were made out of gumpaste and sprinkled with edible shimmer dust.  The ones sticking up from the towers were two stars, glued together around wire and stuck in the tops of the gumpaste towers.
Happy Birthday, Princess Veda!