Royal Icing Sardines

A couple years ago I produced a production of the play "Noises Off," which heavily features sardines. If only I'd known how to make these then; what a cute decoration for cast party cupcakes these would have been. All you'll need to pipe sardines, (or, as my husband observed, airplanes), are white stiff consistency royal icing, oval tip #55, round tips #12 and #5, petal tip #101, a flower nail, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, periwinkle Color Dust, silver Pearl Dust, soft decorating brushes, round toothpicks, and black food coloring like AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Squeeze while moving the tip along for about 1.25".

 Touch your fingertips to the dusting pouch and use them to taper the ends.

 Switch to the #55 tip and squeeze out two short bursts of icing for the tail.

 Switch to the #101 tip to pipe the fins on the top and bottom. You might want to practice these on a fingertip first; they're a little hard to explain, but as long as they're more or less the shape of fins your fish should look more like a fish and less like a plane.

 Allow the icing to firm up for a few minutes, then apply some of the periwinkle dust along the back with a decorating brush.

 Dust the fish completely with the silver dust.

 Pipe a dot of icing for the eye with the #5 tip and flatten it slightly with a dusted fingertip.

 Paint a line of black dots of food coloring along the body with the pointy end of a toothpick (just dab the toothpick; go easy or you'll pierce the icing).

 Smash the other end of the toothpick against the countertop and use it to dab in the pupil of the eye when the icing is fairly hard. Good luck convincing folks that these merely LOOK like sardines; the resemblance does not extend to the taste!

Royal Icing Mustache for Movember

Today's post is a tribute to all the guys growing mustaches in November to commemorate Movember, an annual, international effort to raise awareness of prostate cancer. This post is also, of course, a tribute to all the guys having to deal firsthand with this dreadful disease. I swear, once this tiny icing mustache is dry enough tp peel off the parchment, I'll post a shot of me with it stuck to my face. All you'll need to pipe iconic handlebar mustaches to decorate cupcakes, brownies, cake pops, whatever, for Movember are stiff consistency royal icing in any color (but black is particularly fetching), a round #10 tip, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue sick, 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 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Squeeze while moving the tip in an S shape. Increase pressure during the first curve, and decrease pressure as you continue through the second curve. 

I found it easier to make the sides even by piping the other side upside down. Rotate the nail, and pipe the other half. Overlap the second half slightly, and gently tap down the center with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch. You could probably stick a toothpick into the icing when it's wet to serve as a handle or cupcake pick (I haven't actually tried this myself, but there's really no reason it wouldn't work if it's properly embedded and the icing is allowed to dry completely). 

Royal Icing I Voted Stickers

I said on Facebook that I'd pipe an elephant or a donkey, depending on how things went in today's election. I wasn't being serious, because these both sound like VERY challenging things to render in icing. I came up with an idea that will hopefully appeal to members of ALL political parties: an "I Voted" sticker. I think the way to get more people to the polls is to serve up batches of cupcakes decorated with these. All you'll need to pipe edible "stickers" are round tip #12, stiff consistency white royal icing, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, and food-safe markers like AmeriColor Gourmet Writers. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface, and pipe an oval while squeezing firmly and moving the tip steadily. Stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Generously dust a fingertip by tapping it against the dusting pouch, then gently tap the icing to smooth it out.

 Pipe an oval for each "sticker"; hopefully you'll need a lot of them if you actually are decorating cupcakes for a polling place!

When the icing is dry, do your best to recreate this general design…

…using food-safe markers. Start working on them now for the next election; they'll keep pretty much indefinitely in a cool, dry place.  

Eyeball Cupcakes

This'll be one of the quickest blog posts ever, because, well, we have a party to throw! I have a feeling you can follow along with a minimum of text, anyway. Bake a batch of cupcakes… 

 …frost them with white frosting when they're cool…

 …press a green gummy apple ring in the center…

 …and press a black M&M in the center.

 Load a bag with red icing, such as Wilton Ready-to-Use Decorator Icing and a round tip (I used a #4). Pipe a scattering of veins around the perimeter on the white frosting (as usual, I'm inspired by the letters I, V, and Y when creating veins).

 Set these cupcakes anywhere near children and watch them disappear! Happy Halloween!

Royal Icing Eyeshadow

I just had to pipe a companion piece to yesterday's lipstick: eyeshadow! That project was pretty easy, and this one is even easier. All you need are round tips #10 and #12, stiff consistency royal icing in black and any colors you like, parchment paper squares, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Fit the bag of black icing with the #12 tip, hold it just above the surface of a parchment square on your countertop, and pipe a quarter-sized circle (if a hole remains in the center, don't worry).

 Touch the dusting pouch with a fingertip and tap the disc to even it out (and to fill in the center hole, if there is one). Alternately, shake the dusting pouch over a spot on your countertop and touch that spot instead of directly touching the dusting pouch with a fingertip that may have black icing on it.

 Allow the discs to firm up for a while. You can speed up this process by placing them under a desk lamp.

 When they've firmed up, pipe the eyeshadow part. Using any color you like and the #10 tip, pipe a smaller disc on top of the black disc using the exact same method.

 Make this disc as thin as possible (but not so thin that you can see through to the black).

 Allow them to firm up. And if you're wondering if these are actual eyeshadow colors…

 …they are.

 Use them to decorate any girly-girl dessert!

Royal Icing Lipsticks

Girly-girl cakes are quite the rage, and invariably seem to feature life-size lipsticks crafted out of fondant. I wanted to try piping teeny-tiny cupcake-sized lipsticks out of royal icing; as you can see, there's not much to them. All you need is stiff consistency royal icing in black and whatever lipstick color you'd like, round tips #12 and #10, parchment paper squares, an offset spatula, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, a flower nail, glue stick, and Styrofoam block to rest the nail in (or just pipe directly on the parchment paper squares on any flat surface like your countertop). Start by sticking a parchment square to the glue stick with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Pipe a #12 cylinder of black icing about 3/4" long; keep the tip almost flat against the surface. Tap the offset spatula against the dusting pouch, and use it to flatten both ends.

 Pipe a cylinder for each lipstick tube.

 Pipe the lipstick itself with the #10 tip. Butt the tip against one end of the black cylinder, squeeze out about 1/4", then angle the tip to a 45 degree angle…

 …then slide your dusted angled spatula in between the tip and the icing and pull the tip away.

Remove the spatula before the icing has too much of a chance to cling to it. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and neaten the tip so it has that iconic, chiseled shape. 

 You'll probably also want to pipe some royal icing eyeshadow (perfect for any girly-girl cupcake, cake pop, petits-fours; any tiny dessert that needs something just cute perched on top).

Royal Icing Flip Flops

 Shoes don't come any less complicated than flip flops (aka thongs), making them one of the least complicated decorations you can pipe. How sweet would these be on a cake or cupcakes to celebrate summer or the beach? All you'll need are two colors of stiff consistency royal icing, round #12 and #3 tips, a small star tip like #16, parchment paper squares, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by holding the #12 tip just above and perpendicular to a parchment paper square. You'll want to pipe both "soles" on the same square, so you'll have the best chance of getting them close in size.

 Squeeze until the icing is barely visible around the edges of the tip, then move the tip along and just above the surface in a gentle curve, while decreasing pressure. When you get to the "heel," stop pressure and pull the tip away. If a peak remains, touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap it into place.

Pipe its neighbor, and use your dusted fingertip to nudge them into being as identical as possible. Don't get carried away refining them; absolutely no one will call you on it if they aren't perfect. 

 Make as many pairs as you think you'll need and allow them to firm up for a few minutes. You can speed this process up by placing them under a desk lamp.

 Using a contrasting color and the #3 tip, pipe two diagonal lines from the center to the outer edges (basically an upside-down V). 

 Tap down any unsightly peaks and allow the straps on the flip flops to firm up. The project could be considered done at this point, or you could add some decorations…

 …like tiny flowers piped with a star tip (the smallest I had on hand was a #16; smaller might have been better).

 Finish them off with a dot from the #3 tip. Allow the flip flops to firm up completely before peeling away the parchment and wowing everybody with their cuteness.