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!

Princess and the Frog go Bowling!

Let me start off saying that I had a major case of zero confidence when I started this cake.  The first thing I made was the crown, and I got to use my brand new silicone flower/leaf impression mat.  This thing is awesome.  So anyway, it was really fun.  It's been a while since I made a cake and I got back into the spirit of things really quickly.  I made up the bowling pins by making a template out of paper and using that to guide my cuts on the gumpaste.  I made the bottom part of the pins long, so there is gumpaste sticking into the cake as well as wooden picks.  I thought it would give a little extra stability.  The characters were fun to make.  I was giggling as I made Ray, the Cajun firefly.  I love the teeth.

I used my old recipe and I have to say I think I'm going back to it.  It took me over a year to develop it and it is dense and moist.  The new recipe is a little easier to make and it is more consistent, but goodness, this cake was good!

The bowling ball is two little cakes I made in my Wilton Wonder Mold, layered with buttercream and carved into a ball, and covered in marbled marshmallow fondant.

I also made 16 cupcakes to complement the cake.  The cake pops in this photo were made by another amazing cake lady!  It was fun to talk cake for a while.  The kids had a ball eating the bowling pins and the characters.