Bugs All Over

Not that my kids have ever had realistic ideas about what theme of cake they could have for their birthday...........I mean you did see the one where Ben said "I want a pop tart cake"......and there is that whole pesky parental fall back saying Dave and I use with the kids that goes "you can do anything you set your mind to". We use it we have to live up to it. At some point it began to be applied to cakes. Which can be a challenge, but always fun. This year for Andersen's birthday she asked for cupcakes. And she wanted to put cute little bugs on them. And she wanted to do them herself.

I spend so much time saying, "I wish you could help, but this is for someones special day and they asked me to do it so I need to be the one doing it." that it is fun to say, "It is your cake jump in and help."


And that is just exactly what Andersen did. I made some quick fondant - here is the recipe we used for this:

Fondant
1/2 cp Glucose
1 Tbs Glycerine
1 pkg Gelatin
1/4 cp cold Water
2 Tbs Shortening
1 tsp Vanilla
8 cps Sifted Powdered Sugar

Step 1 - Combine gelatin with water - let sit until thick. Place in top of a double boiler & heat until dissolved. Add Glucose, Glycerin and mix well. Stir in Shortening and just before completely melted remove from heat and add Vanilla. Set aside to cool until lukewarm.

Step 2 - Place 4 cps of Sugar in large bowl - measure out remaining 4 cps. Make a well in sugar in bowl and pour gelatin mixture in. Stir - continue to add more sugar a little at a time. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands any longer. If too soft add in more sugar. If too stiff add water (a drop at a time).

Use immediately or store in airtight container. I prefer to wrap mine in plastic wrap and then place in airtight container.


The bugs were pretty simple to make. But for new hands I think it got somewhat frustrating. Rolling out tiny balls and tiny strips of black for Bumble Bee stripes can be hard when you haven't practiced it a ton. We did not yet have all the wonderful tools like a lovely fondant roll mat. Still - Andersen did a great job. Her friends were all excited about what she made and the cupcakes were a hit at her party.

These cupcakes were a Chocolate Cake and a Vanilla Butter cream icing.