How to Make a Cupcake Stand

Build-A-Bear Cupcake Tower

Cupcake towers has been a trend at special events lately. I've looked at cupcake stands online and they can cost you from $20 to $70 depending on the design. So, here's a quick tutorial of how I make my cupcake stand. You can customize it to match your theme or whatever the occasion you are celebrating. Plus all the materials are very cheap. I think it cost me less than $5 for everything. The foam boards were on sale at $1 each and I had the ribbons on hand already.

Fondant for Beginners: How to Make a Fondant Bow

The easiest and simplest way to add "wow" to your fondant cake is by adding a fondant bow. It is so versatile and is the perfect touch for elegant wedding cakes, baby shower cakes, wrapped gift-box cake and basically, any design needing that "celebration" feel.

The bow can be done by using fondant or gumpaste. I always use fondant and add just a little bit of Gum Tex to help my fondant to dry quicker.

You can always color your fondant or gumpaste to the shade you want. Just roll fondant or gumpaste into a ball, kneading until it's soft and pliable. Using a toothpick, add dots of icing color in several spots.Knead color into your ball until it is evenly bleaded.

I was about to throw out this leftover chocolate fondant I made weeks ago but decided to play with it before I do. So, please pardon the cracks that you see on the photos.

Fondant for Beginners: Covering Cakes with Rolled Fondant

So you got your tools, baked your cake and now ready to cover it with fondant. I recommend that you use pre-made rolled fondant for your first fondant cake. I've used two brands, so far. Satin Ice Rolled Fondant which I bought on eBay and Wilton Ready-made Fondant.

 20 lb bucket I got online

 

Wilton brand I bought online for decorations

I also make my own home-made marshmallow fondant when I need a big batch of the same color.

Fondant for Beginners: Preparing your Cake to be Covered

Before you start covering cakes with fondant, you gotta make sure that you've got the filling and layering and icing down. Otherwise, any imperfections of the cake will show. So, I decided to add this to the series on Fondant for Beginners.

You need a solid cake and a crumb-free environment. Last May, I attended Wilton Course 1 at a Michael's near us. Here are a few tips I've learned:

Fondant for Beginners: Marshmallow Fondant (MMF)

Marshmallow fondant (MMF for short) is the home-made version of the rolled fondant you see adorning those incredible looking cakes on Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss or The Ultimate Cake-off. I recommend that marshmallow fondant NOT be your first experience using fondant. Your first time making and using it may not come out right and easily discourage you from ever doing it again. With traditional fondant, you knead it prior to use to make it soft and pliable. I started with MMF right away, it felt like I was kneading forever. I'm just glad that my husband was there to the rescue. When I tried Wilton Rolled Fondant, it was like "hallelujah"! So easy-breezy. Maybe, you should know what real fondant feels like and how it's supposed to behave before you experiment with MMF.

I started out with MMF because it's inexpensive. It's just a mix of mini marshmallows, powdered sugar and water - pretty simple right? You can knead it by hand but if you have a stand mixer (kitchenaid or similar) then you're all set for a hands-free fondant experience. Here's the recipe and videos on how to make it using a mixer or kneading by hand.

TOOLS

• Large Microwable Bowl
• Wooden Spoon or Spatula
• Stand Mixer with Dough hook attacment (optional)
• Microwave Oven

INGREDIENTS

• 16 oz. bag of mini marshmallows
• 2 lb bag of powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons of water
• Crisco (all-vegetable shortening)
• Gel food colors or Cocoa powder (optional)
• Flavoring (optional)
• Plastic Food Wrap

STEP 1 - Grease all your tools with shortening
Melted marshmallows are sticky and is a nightmare to clean up. Don't forget this step to make it easier for yourself later.

Step 2 - Melt the marshmallows in the microwave.
Put the marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and add the water. Put the bowl in the microwave oven and heat it for approx. 2 mins. until the marshmallows puff up like on the photo.

Step 3 - Stir and add optionl ingredients.
Stir the marshmallows until they get smooth. This is the time where you can add your chosen food color/cocoa powder for the entire batch rather than trying to knead it in later. You can also add few drops of the flavor you desire. I added 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder in this batch.

Step 4 - Add powdered sugar.
If you are using a mixer, go ahead and put about 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the mixer bowl and add all of the melted marshmallows over it.

If not, just add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time onto the bowl of melted marshmallows and stir with a well-greased wooden spoon.

Keep mixing on low-speed (or stirring with the wooden spoon) and adding the remaining sugar until the fondant is firm, neither dry or sticky.

Step 5 - Turn out into greased surface and knead
Turn out on to a clean, firm work surface and knead by hand just for a minute until there are no flecks of dry powdered sugar remaining. Rub a little bit of Crisco on it and wrap in plastic food wrap and seal it in an airtight bag (Ziploc).

Let it sit for at least an hour before using but I prefer to let it rest a day before I use it.

WATCH AND LEARN

Here are the videos I watched to learn how to do it. I really like seeing it being done before I do it myself.










Stay tuned for the remaining posts in this series:

• Tools to start decorating with Fondant
• Preparing your cake to be covered
• How to cover cake with Fondant
• How to make a Fondant Bow