Please Help, Making Kitten Cupcakes
Decorating By emricmacy Updated 1 Aug 2017 , 1:50am by johnson6ofus
My sister has hired me to make these cupcakes for Saturday. I am EXTREMELY new to decorating. I have a few different tips, but am not sure what size she used. I have never made or worked with fondant before. I have pink, heart shaped candy that I will be using for the nose, and am thinking about using the brown m and m's for the eyes. I don't think I'm going to do multiple colors for the buttercream, I think I'm going to do white buttercream, and go from there. Where do I start with the ears and whiskers, I'm so nervous! I feel bad that I'm only going to do one color of kittens, but I don't want to get to overwhelmed. Any advice would be appreciated! 
If you're trying to recreate the cupcakes in the picture you attached, they're actually not super complicated. I haven't worked with fondant yet either so that would be my only concern, but if you have cutters or a steady hand you should be fine.
The buttercream part is easy though. They're decorated similarly to how you would do a hydrangea cupcake. You need a closed star tip, and just make short, quick bursts all over the cupcake. For your kitten cupcakes, it looks like you want an overall rounded shape, so keep that in mind as you pipe your frosting. I would watch this video for some inspiration. You're going for something like this but a little less ruffly:
Go to Walmart (the Wilton isle) and buy the smallest pack of gum paste, one black, one white and one pink. If they do not have small packs of gum paste, but they do of fondant, you can use fondant, but it requires a longer drying time. Gum paste is stiff, so you must work it in your hands to warm it up and soften it. Choose which color you want to be the outside of the ear, roll out to about 1/8" thickness and cut with a sharp knife using a templet for the outline. Then choose the contrasting color for the inside of the ear, roll to 1/8" thickness and cut out using a smaller templet. Stick the two pieces together by lightly dampening the back with water or fresh egg white. To give them a more natural shape, curve (vertically) slightly over a large wooden spoon handle or something, to dry. Let dry about one day before using.
You can make the eyes by rolling little balls of black gum paste and it will give them more life if you add a tiny (really tiny) dot of white gum paste to each "eye" as a highlight. The whiskers can be made from vermicelli or white, paper covered floral wire (also available at Walmart).
No reason you can't do more than one color. Just divide your batch of buttercream into equal parts - about 1/4 cup each - and add your colors a tiny bit at a time until the desired tone is reached.
You can do this! Stop worrying and have fun. It is cake, so it doesn't have to be perfect!
Sandra-
Thank you for your reply! You have definitely calmed my nerves! I just checked with my local Walmart, and they have a 10oz bag of Wilton White Gum Paste. That's all they have for gum paste!
For fondant, they have a 24 oz box of white fondant, and a 4.4 oz and a 24 oz box of black fondant. So, I'm missing pink.
They do have the Wilton color mist in pink. Would this work since they don't have the gum paste or fondant in pink?
Those kitten cupcakes are so cute!!! I am sure your cupcakes will turn out fine. Have fun with it!!!
Color Mist would work, @emricmacy , but it would be cheaper to buy a jar of pink or red gel color and use that to color your gum paste or fondant pink. It is very concentrated, so only a tiny (TINY) amount is required, especially if you are using red. You just soften (by kneading) your gum paste or fondant and use a toothpick to add a drop of gel color, then knead it in until you get the desired color.
If you have any questions, give a shout! You got this :o)
I would NOT use floral wire for whiskers...I am afraid they would be eaten! I think the Vermcelli or thin spaghetti is fine. I would also considers just melting some whit chocolate and piping lines on waxed paper to break up as the whiskers.
Sandra is right about making the eyes...makes a BIG difference with the small highlights--- it adds life!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%