I'd never worked with fondant before, so I was a bit hesitant to jump into these cupcakes. I did a bit more research (as any smart baker should) and found some good guidance on how to work with this sticky material. I'd originally planned on buying fondant, but read that the most easily available type to purchase (Wilton from Michael's craft stores) is a terrible kind to use. It tastes awful and isn't the greatest consistency. You can find fondant at some local cake stores here, but I wasn't too keen on spending a fortune on some molding dough. Plus, I need a variety of colors and only small amounts of them. Making my own fondant was my best (and cheapest) bet.
I decided on a marshmallow fondant recipe since it required few ingredients and seemed generally simple. (Found here: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm)
It claimed to make one batch of fondant... but I had no idea how much that actually would turn out to be, so I ended up buying enough supplies for three batches. I still only needed one batch, but I'm glad I was prepared with back-up. So for future reference, one batch of marshmallow fondant equals about 24 cupcakes, depending.
Rolling out the fondant was tough work. It went from really sticky to tough very quickly and my poor arm strength struggled to keep kneading. Once I got the dough to a smooth texture, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.
The next day was dedicated to coloring the fondant and putting together the cupcakes. Thankfully my brother was out of town so I was free to use the entire kitchen without worrying about him catching on to what I was doing..
While I baked the cupcakes (Devil's Food box mix, for time's sake) I started adding edible dye to balls of fondant about an inch to and inch-and-a-half around. I guesstimated on how much of each color I would need for the whole batch and still ended up with leftover fondant, which was a nice cushion in case I completely faltered with a color. One cool trick I learned was to use chocolate powder to make brown fondant. It makes it taste much better too.
To get a deeper, richer color, I wrapped each ball up and tossed it into the fridge while the cupcakes cooled completely. The longer they sit, the more the color deepens, particularly for the red. I'd also learned from watching the Food Network that fondant is near impossible to work with when your cake is still warm, so I gave the cupcakes a good couple of hours to settle.
To make each character, I first topped the cakes off with a dollop of buttercream frosting. This acts as a sort of glue for your fondant. With the photo above as a guide, I made sixteen out of the twenty cupcakes shown. I used a small cup to cut out circles that same size as each cupcake and used an exacto knife and wooden skewer for all the smaller details. I used edible coloring pens and a small paintbrush with dye to mark out the lines and faces.
After finishing up the cupcakes, I let them sit overnight in the fridge. We surprised my brother the next day on his birthday when we went to Disneyland. I thought these cupcakes were fitting since we were anxious to ride the updated Star Tours ride.
For my first time working with fondant, I think they came out really well. I'm naturally really picky and a perfectionist when it comes to baking, so I can find a lot of flaws in these. But I've made note of the things I would and would not do differently. For instance, my fondant came out too shiny. Partly because of the extremem humidity we've been dealing with in San Diego this summer (97% humidity is NOT normal for Southern California... thanks global warming!), but also because I skimped on the powdered sugar. The more sugar you add, you sacrifice a nice deep color of fondant and I preferred the color over the texture. Next time I'll work a little harder to keep the shine down. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with me too.
Happy Baking!
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