Hi.
I need an icing that i can dip the cupcake into and then have it dry hard. Is there a recipe out there that can do this? I don't much like using fondant.
Thank you.

Do you mean really, really hard? There is royal icing, but I don't think I would use it on a cupcake.

No, not bone hard. Just firm so it covers the top of the cupcake without having to use fondant. Tx

How about a candy coating or a firm ganache?

I dip my cupcakes in royal.

i tried dipping in glace but it just dripped down into the cupcake and then the cupcake actually absorbed it.
ddaigle, do they crack at all when moving or decorating? does the royal absorb into the cake at some point?

You could use a poured fondant, like what's on a petit four.

I tried one recipe for poured fondant and it just absorbed into the cupcake as well.

Was it one you used a food processor for, or just one of the ones that you warm up? The one I've used involves using a food processor, and it definitely didn't absorb.

When my daughter was young I used to cover cupcakes with a thin layer of candy melts all the time. I would take a leaf tip or long round tip and fill the insides with buttercream. It was easier to transport them, I just decorated them with a few sprinkles and tossed them in a gallon size ziplock bag and sent them to daycare. The daycare workers loved them because they weren't messy, no frosting on top and the frosting in the middle kept the crumbs stuck together so it was less messy.

Recently, I warmed my chocolate buttercream in the microwave and dipped cupcakes into it. It worked perfectly and dried hard.

Have you tried warming your regular buttercream?
How much in advance can this be done?