Royal Icing Blueberry Muffin

Today is the last of my 50 state tributes: the official state muffin of Minnesota, the blueberry muffin! It's quite simple to make; all you'll need is stiff-consistency yellow royal icing, star tip #199, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, 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 a blue food-safe marker like the AmeriColor Gourmet Writer. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

Hold the tip just above the surface at a right angle, and squeeze while moving the tip upwards for just over half an inch. Stop pressure and pull the tip away. A peak will remain…

…which you can tap flat with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch.

You can pipe several muffins on one square of parchment…

…and allow them to dry.

Peel away the parchment, and stud the flat surface with a random scatter of blue dots from the food-safe marker to suggest blueberries. You could use these to decorate any blueberry dessert, or invite over a bunch of mice or fairies for breakfast. 

Miniature Royal Icing Cupcakes

I’m not sure if these “cupcakes” are eligible for the Guinness Book of World Records, but they sure are mighty tiny (smaller than a dime). All you’ll need to pipe them are a couple of different shades of royal icing, an open star tip #199 (it has many small teeth and is perfect for piping the “cup”), a #14 star tip, parchment paper squares, an offset spatula, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. 

 Hold the tip #199 against the parchment square. Squeeze firmly while drawing the tip upwards. After just under a half-inch, stop pressure and pull the tip straight up and away.

 A peak will remain.

 Tap the offset spatula against the dusting pouch…

 … then tap it against the peak to form the flat base of the cupcake.

 Allow it to dry.

Peel it off the parchment. 

 Attach a #14 star tip to a bag of any color icing you like, and hold the tip perpendicular to the surface. Pipe a tiny swirl on top of the cupcake; start with the star tip just inside the edge.

 Allow it to dry, and serve it to dolls (or use it to decorate cupcakes, I guess!).