Hello, I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out how to get the perfect half-sphere on this cupcake:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftyconfections/3316413054/

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?
I read on a site where someone chilled a scoop of frosting to make the dome but that is a lot more frosting than I want to put on a cupcake.

Do you think the inside of the dome is cake? How is the fondant so perfect????

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
- Mooch

those are SO perfect im thinking maybe they used a ball pan?
http://www.wilton.com/shapedpan/Mini-Ball-Pan
maybe trim off the top of the cupcake so it's flat, then put the half spheres from the ball pan on top?

I have been doing research on the "Science of Baking". There is a lot of reading out there on the world wide web. Any way this is what I have found. The hotter your oven, the more dome you get on your cupcakes.
From what I understand, and correct me if I am wrong, is that they bake from the outside inward, and the baked part, as it is baking pushes the inside upward, because it has no where else to go. That is what I understand, but I know it works. So I do increase the temp of my oven by 25 degrees, and bake them for a shorter period of time. Some ppl here have posted, that they turn their up to 375-400 for the first 10 minutes and them bring the temp down. I bake 48 cupcakes at a time on 2 different racks, alternating times, so that doesn't work for me. 2nd batch goes in 10 minutes after the 1st. I just watch the time, and I don't any problems with dryness of the cupcake. I am having problems with my frosting though lately.

Chonte, that's what I thought at first too. The dimensions of the Wilton ball cake pan are a little too big I think (3 1/2 inches diameter), but I found another pan where it's 3 inches and I'm giving that a try this weekend

Amarillys, do you think it's possible to get the dome that high and round and perfect with that baking method? I tried that and I got it high, but it was more of a point than a perfect dome like that.

Thanks for your replies!

yeah i say a smaller pan or even make the cupcakes jumbos lol good luck. let me know how they turn out

I read somewhere on here a long time to preheat at 400 and then bake at 350. Works perfect for me!

Melissa

Definitely a mold, not a baking method. The dome would never be that round and high without a mold.

These could help.

http://www.pastrychef.com/HEMISPHERE-MOLDS_p_1228.html

Thank you for the replies, ladies. I didn't get the ball pan in time to try this weekend, but I will update you when I do!

Domed Cupcakes:
http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/cupcake-decorating-part-2

Right under the pic it says "They're vanilla sponge, topped with vanilla IMBC (Italian Meringue Buttercream - yum!) and covered with sugarpaste (it's just a thin layer of black, rolled out with a thicker piece of white, so the kiddies aren't eating too much food colouring!)"

so I think that's what the dome is. You can pipe it on quick, then smooth to perfection using a small flexible piece of plastic (like acetate), then chill and cover with fondant.

KoryAK, so you think she formed the IMBC to that perfect sphere shape?

I know she has IMBC in a perfect dome under the fondant - I too wanted to try these cupcakes (mine didn't work out too well...) I tried making IMBC, but I hated it (used to the buttercream I make all the time - I found IMBC to be like eating pure butter).

I found the link to the insides...it was with her Minnie Mouse cupcakes:

http://myzencupcake.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/mini-minnie-cupcakes-by-crafty-confections/

Spills!!!! Thank you so much!!!

Ugh, I like IMBC, but that seems so much frosting for that little cupcake. I guess a lot of cupcakes have that much and more, but that just seems like too much.

But importantly, the mystery has been solved!

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your help. This site is a God-send

Thank you, Spills! Now on to figure out how she scoops such a perfect mound of IMBC and how it doesn't get squished by the circle of fondant...just kidding.

Haha! No, but seriously...

Icecream scoop? Then chill the cupcakes with icing on them to firm? That would be an absolutely necessary step with IMBC.

BTW, imagenthatnj: what the heck! Do you know how many times I have needed something like those dome molds in the last year?! Well, twice... but it was a very important twice! To me anyway, probably not so much to anyone else. I am so buying those. Thank you for the link.

It IS a scoop of IMBC under the fondant.

Very honoured to call the creator of these fabulous cupcakes my best friend!

Suzanne x

Herekittykitty, I thought about that, but then I would be afraid the cupcakes would dry out!

Those little dome molds were going to be my choice to make cake pops...lol...until I found the BabyCakes machine and I bought 2 that I haven't used yet!

I am always on that site, pastrychef, checking out what they have and saving the picture in a folder...for later.

The icing will firm up in 10 minutes? Less if you put them in the freezer. Won't dry out at all

You could make the fondant domes ahead of time and let them dry on a mold. Then you could just set them on top of your cupcake with however much icing you want. The fondant would be hard and probably not very tasty that way though.

I just wanted to thank everyone for your replies and post an update. I followed the advice of multiple people I used a pan that made small little domes and stuck that on top of the cupcake and then put IMBC in top, chilled and then shaped the dome with acetate and then covered in fondant.

Here are the results:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moochified/6142510553/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moochified/6142461303/in/photostream

(The uneven bow on HK kills me )

I've noticed that Vinny from Staten Island cakes uses an ice cream scooper to ice his cupcakes; at least his assistants did on the show where he gave out cupcakes at the zoo. Have any of you ever done that?

Christy

I did use an ice cream scoop too, but it still needs to be smoothed out to make it completely even.

I baked my cupcakes too high so I wasn't able to tuck the fondant into the wrapper