How to Pipe Peacock Feathers

So it has been so long since I did a blog post but life and the business has been busy and it is only getting busier. I wanted to share a recent cake I made with you guys and show you how I accomplished the look if piped peacock feathers.

 

 

This cake was a slight challenge for me since I wasn't sure what to pipe the feather on with buttercream or royal icing. I started with royal icing because it gave bright vibrant colors but ended up going with buttercream because I wasn't achieving the look I wanted with royal.

 

 

I made a template for how I wanted the center of the feather to look and traced it onto the side of my cake.

 



 

From there I started to build my feathers with color based on how the actual feathers look.

 



 

 

The centers of the feather can all be different so just mix of the shape and symmetry of the centers to achieve a more realistic look.

 

 

I piped in a tan buttercream for the middle part of the feather and later went back and painted it gold to give the feather more of a pop.

 



After I had filled in the feather with color I took a skewer and drag lines through the feather to make it appear more realistic.

 



Then I started to add the tendrils that make a peacock feather come to life. You can be pretty free flowing with this portion since no two feathers are the same.

 



 

I was really happy with how the finished cake turned out. I think the feathers look very realistic and beautiful for the side of a wedding cake. (Sorry about photo quality it is very hard to snap a good photo at this venue).

 

 

 

 

So in the future if you want to pipe feathers instead of painting them I hope this little tutorial will help with that. I will try to get some more posts up in the coming weeks. I just have to find the time in the schedule. Thanks for reading!

Mother's Day Cupcake Bouquet Tutorial

With Mother's Day quickly approaching I wanted to share this super sweet and easy cupcake bouquet tutorial that any mother would love! 

So first up you will need the following items to make your cupcake bouquets. 

• Terracotta pot
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Mini cupcakes
• Toothpicks
• Styrofoam ball
• Icing in different colors
• Piping tips Wilton 2D, Bakery Crafts 68, Wilton 32, Wilton 352

1. Start by having child(ren) paint a fun design on the pot for their mother. After the pot has dried seal pot with clear acrylic sealer.
2. After the pot is completely dry insert Styrofoam ball into pot. You want about half the ball to stick out of the pot so you may attach the cupcake flowers.
3. Ice the cupcakes to look like flowers using assorted tips.
4. After cupcakes are iced apply cupcakes to Styrofoam ball using toothpicks. You may need to use more than one toothpick per cupcakes. Try to get the cupcakes as close as possible to avoid to many large gaps. 
5. Use the Wilton 352 leaf tip to fill in any holes between cupcakes and present to Mom!
6. After the cupcakes are consumed Mom can use the pot for planting her favorite flower (that you also bought her for the occasion)!
7. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    He has no idea what is happening to him!
   
    My little helper loves to bake!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

How to Ice Cupcakes

• Rose

Start with a piping bag filled with icing color of your choice and the Wilton 2D tip. Start with the tip in the center of the cupcake and apply pressure. Swirl the design outward to complete the rose. 

• Mum

Start with piping bag filled with icing color of your choice and Bakery craft tip 68. Place tip on the outer edge of the cupcake and apple pressure and pull away to make a petal. Continue around the cupcake to complete one row. Once first row is complete pipe next row directly on top until the entire cupcake is covered in petals. 

• Ball Flower

Start with piping bag filled with icing color of your choice and Wilton tip 32. Place tip on outer edge of cupcake and apply pressure to make a small dot of icing. Continue applying dots around cupcake until entire cupcake is covered. 

Have fun with this project! If  you do not have certain tips or piping bags don't worry cupcakes do not have to look exactly like a certain flower to look nice.

Top Tutorials Round-up

So I have been meaning to for this post for a while so that if you haven't been following me from the beginning you can see some of the older popular tutorials that I have posted in the past. So here is a round-up of some of my most popular tutorials.  Hope you enjoy!

 I know that the most popular tutorials have been my topsy-turvy cake construction tutorials. I still receive a lot of questions regarding this method of construction so I have thought about doing a video tutorial for this method. if you would like to see a video tutorial on these methods please let me know.

Topsy-Turvy tutorial part 1

Topsy-turvy tutorial part 2

Topsy-turvy wedge tutorial

Scroll work tutorial pin prick method

Pirate Ship tutorial

Dancing Hippo tutorial

Hibiscus Flower tutorial

I hope that you enjoyed this round-up of some of the most popular tutorial posts. If you would like to see more round-ups of tutorials and other past posts please let me know.

Mini edible taco cookies tutorial

So I'm back to show you my how to make cute taco cookies for your very own Dragons Love Tacos party. These cookies are so cute and tasty and all the kids will love them. [Buy the Book] If you are planning your own Dragons Love Tacos party. To check out more great party ideas check out my guest post on Spaceships and Laser Beams.

So first up you will need vanilla flavored and regular Oreo cookies, hot tamales, shredded coconut, chocolate buttercream, and orange flavored tootsie rolls. First take your regular Oreos and grind them up in a food processor. Then add the ground Oreos to a small amount of chocolate buttercream to make taco meat. Then take green food coloring and add it to your coconut to make lettuce. Next, take your orange tootsie rolls and shred them through a cheese grater to make cheese. Lastly, cut the ends of the hot tamales to make tomatoes. 

 Now that you have all the fixings you need for tacos it’s time to make the taco shells. First, pull apart the vanilla Oreos and scrap out the filling. Then you will need to cut a small portion of the end of each Oreo so that it will stand upright. Once you have completed preparing all of your taco shells you are ready to assembly your tacos. Remember for each Oreo you have you can make one taco.
Start with a line of chocolate buttercream towards the bottom of the taco where you made the knife cut. Then add the other side of the taco shell (cookie) against the buttercream line. Once you have both ends together the buttercream should hold them together upright. Make sure that you put the writing on the Oreos to the inside of the tacos so you don’t see the writing when the tacos are assembled.

Once you have your taco shells assembled you can add all of your fillings to complete your mini tacos. Start with the Oreo “taco meat” and make sure you get the Oreos to stick to the buttercream line you added previously. After the “taco meat” is added then add some shredded coconut lettuce on top. Complete each taco with shredded Tootsie roll cheese and two or three hot tamales.  Then just repeat until you have as many mini tacos as you want for your party. 

There you go super cute edible mini tacos for your Dragons Love Tacos party or for your very own Mexican fiesta. Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and stay tuned for another great gender reveal party I have to share with you guys.

How to make a 3-D Edible Teddy Bear

 Many of you probably know that I do a guest post every month for Spaceships and Laser beams where I plan a party and then make a tutorial on how to make one item for a dessert table or cake. I want to share those tutorials here on this blog as well in case you you miss them over there. So last month was all about baby showers (hint this month will be too since my sister-in-law is due in just a few weeks) and how to make a teddy bear topper for cakes or cupcakes. Hope you enjoy!

 

 So lately I have had a lot of baby shower cakes I have been asked to do. (Must be something in the water around here). So with that in mind I have designed a Teddy Bear Baby Shower for you guys.

 

For this bear you will need gray, white, and blue fondant (or any colors that match your parties theme). You will want to start with a rectangular shape for the body and a round ball for the head of the bear.

 

Attach the head to the body with some water. You may want to place a small down through the body and into the head for support.  Then make two matching logs for the legs and attach with more water. (Note you do not need a lot of water just enough to wet the surface of what you are trying to attach).

Now make two small matching half moon shapes for ears and attach to the head.

Lastly, make two matching logs slightly larger than you made the legs and attach as the arms of the bear. Now you have the basic body of the bear and are ready to add the details to make him pop.

The next step is to take a small oval or white fondant and attach to the head to make the muzzle. On top of that attach a smaller blue oval and imprint to small holes for the bears nostrils. I also added a patch detail and stitching to the bear’s body at this point to make it look more like a teddy bear. This step is optional depending on the look you want.

The next step is to take blue fondant and add small paw pads to the bears hands and feet. I again added stitching to the pads to match the rest of the bear.

 I then went in with black edible food paint and highlighted the stitching marks on the bear’s pads, and his patch. I also added the blacks of his eyes above his muzzle.

 The last and very important step is to add a dot of white to the black of the bear’s eyes. This will make the bear’s eyes pop and look more realistic.

 Now that you have completed your adorable bear you can add him to the top of your cake. If you want to tie in the baby theme more try adding a pacifier to the bear’s mouth or have him holding a baby blanket.

So there you have an adorable baby bear that will make a great topper for any cake. If you are feeling ambitious you can make several small bears to top the cupcakes as well. I really hoped you enjoyed this tutorial and will be able to use it in a future party of your own.

Don’t forget to check out our Pinterest board for many more great ideas.

 

Hope you guys liked it! If you have a party in mind that you would like some help or ideas for please sot me an email or leave me a comment with your suggestions!