Royal Icing Beavers

Today's post is a shout out to The Beaver State: Oregon! Beavers already look like balls of icing; just look at a beaver skeleton! This makes them exceptionally easy to render in icing. All you'll need to pipe beavers is stiff consistency brown royal icing, round tips #12 and #5, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a black food-safe marker like AmeriColor's Gourmet Writers, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above the surface and squeeze steadily while slowly moving the tip along for about an inch to form the tail.

 Pipe the body, also with the #12 tip. Start by piping a ball directly on top of the tail shape, then move the tip away at an upward angle while decreasing and then stopping pressure and pulling the tip away. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the icing into this squatty shape. It already looks like a beaver, huh?! Allow it to firm up for a while.

 Switch to the #5 tip to pipe the ears, which are nothing more than dots of icing that you flatten with a fingertip. Pipe four short shots of icing for the legs, gently tapping the ends where they attach to the body with a fingertip to make sure they are firmly adhered.

 The face is basically three black dots from the food-safe marker. If you want to go the extra mile, pipe some yellow teeth with a tiny tip like a round #1. Most photos of beavers don't show huge snarling teeth sticking out, though, and I really wanted this guy to be, just, cute. And his name is Justin.