Fast Bubble Sugar Cupcake Decorations

             mini cupcake topped with bubble sugar (isomalt) topper

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Well, you know I love a bubble sugar decoration... today an even faster way to produce *isomalt bubble sugar toppers. 3 minute baking time, cool and taaa daaa you have bubble sugar toppers for your cupcakes and plated desserts.

For this method use CakePlay isomalt sticks or left over cooked isomalt. Ideally two Silpat baking mats but two good quality silicone mats will do. 

CakePlay sticks are precooked isomalt, available in clear and a range of colours. I used left over cooked isomalt that had already been coloured with americolor electric shades. 

Method

Pre heat oven to 180c (355 F)

Grind a few sticks or left over isomalt in a mortar and pestle (or zip lock bag and a rolling pin) until you have a fine powder. Isomalt shatters quickly with little effort.

Sift the crushed isomalt over your first Silpat. Reverse the second Silpat and place on top of the crushed isomalt to create a "sandwich". 

Bake 3 to 4 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from oven and allow to cool without lifting the top Silpat.

Once cool peel back the top Silpat and break bubble sugar into shards. Wearing gloves will protect the pieces from fingerprinting. Pieces are tissue paper thin, yet sturdy enough to handle. 

Happy Baking :)

Coca cola cupcake topped with traditional bubble sugar, where hot sugar is poured over a tilted alcohol covered tray.

*Why Isomalt??: Bubble sugar made from sugar tends to be a thicker and we don't want to take out someone's crowns when they are eating your cupcake. The isomalt method is alcohol free. Isomalt holds up better than sugar work, that said it's always best to top your cakes/desserts just before serving.

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You might also like to see another method of making bubble sugar with isomalt...

Baking isomalt powder bubble sugar

Or try your hand at toffee springs 

Gold Fish Cupcake

fondant goldfish cupcake pick tops a fondant covered jasmine tea cupcake

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I loved my goldfish, I truly did. I lugged around my fish tank, filters, pumps and paraphernalia from apartment to apartment when I was young. Then the inevitable happened the fish tank sprung a leak and my father said to me "don't worry I'll come over and get your fish and put the fish in my pond" and so he did... where his giant fish proceeded to gobble up my fish in 39.9 seconds! 

Today we are making a fondant goldfish, mine is flat backed but you can make it 3D the same way. I've added a toothpick to turn it into a cupcake pick.

Okay let's get started.

You'll need:

Fondant (with some *CMC added) or modelling paste in colours of choice

lustre or petal dusts in colours of choice

toothpicks painted with food colour of choice

cake/flower glue (optional)

leaf glaze (optional)

Start by making an egg shape with your fondant and shape it into a "fish" shape.

Add scale indents with the tip of piping nozzle or similar. I wanted lots of texture on my fish, but if you want a more realistic fish make your indents further apart.

Role out some of the fondant laced with CMC as thinly as you can. Cut fins and tail with a small knife or small scissors, adhere to your fish body with water. Shape slightly to give add the illusion of movement.

Use plastic wrap or small pieces of foam to support shaped tail and fins.

Add a ring for the eye socket, add a small piece of thin fondant for the gills, cover the join of the tail with another piece of thin fondant and blend in. Check whether you need to add more scales or any finishing touches. Make a hole in the underneath of the fish with a toothpick. Allow to dry, 6 hours to overnight.

Once dry take a small dry paintbrush and dust with colours of choice, starting with the back of the fish. I used white lustre dust and red petal dust. Blend, blend, blend with your paintbrush until you have desired finish. You can let the base colour show through like I did or fully cover with the dusts. 

Dip you toothpick into cake/flower glue or dampen with water and insert into the base of the fish. Add the eyeball to your fish with a little black fondant, glaze with leaf glaze if desired. That's it! You have your self a fish cupcake pick.

Happy Baking :)

*CMC powder, modelling paste, leaf glaze, cake/flower glue, lustre dust and petal dust are available from cake decorating suppliers/shops. 

or how about going a little Japanese with a chocolate goldfish covered in gold leaf

Then there is roses made from Starburst fruit chews.

White Chocolate Plastique (Modelling Chocolate)

chocky rocky, fondant, modelling paste and white chocolate plastique

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Well it's happened, after 18 years of marriage my husband Mark has a new and younger love; gone is his "man crush" on the looking slightly worse for wear Sylvester Stallone, replaced by the much younger action star... Jason Statham.

For his birthday this weekend Mark wants a slew of "Jason" movies ... hence a teary farewell cupcake for Rocky, Rambo and all that is Sly. Well that and I wanted to show you what a 50/50 ratio mixed together modelling paste and modelling chocolate looked like.

white chocolate plastique rose, dusted with gold lustre dust

Today I have an easy and excellent icing sugar (confectioners sugar) based white chocolate plastique for you to try. With no cooking involved you can whip this up in minutes, ready to create flowers or figures. This plastique can also be added to your precoloured fondant.

White Chocolate Plastique (Modelling Chocolate)

suitable for modelling figures and flowers, not for covering cakes. 

Ingredients

25g (0.88oz)white chocolate (I used couverture) 

100g (3.5oz) icing sugar (confectioners sugar)

75g (2.65oz) cocoa butter

100g (3.5oz) glucose syrup

Method

In the bowl of a food processor combine the first three ingredients, until well blended. Add the glucose syrup and blend. Depending how warm your kitchen is, you will now have a ball of mixture or coarse breadcrumb like mixture... either way, tip contents onto non stick mat and knead until smooth and elastic. *Your chocolate plastique is now ready to use. 

Uses

The chocolate plastique can be rolled paper thin, perfect for petals.

roll paper thin with a plastic rolling pin

Use it to create figures. Knead in food colours as desired.

Mixing half and half with pre-coloured modelling/flower paste will give you the flexibility of the plastique combined with the strength of the paste. Depth of colour is easily reached by over tinting your modelling paste before knead together with plastique. 50/50 is the ratio I usually use, however in hot weather I use 70 modelling paste/30 plastique. 

Storage

Keep leftover chocolate plastique well wrapped in plastic wrap and in an airtight container.

*Troubleshoot: if you have hot hands, your plastique might seperate a little... just leave to one side for 10 minutes & then try kneading again. A few minutes of refrigeration can also help.

Glucose syrup if you haven't used it before is extremely sticky, have a scrapper on hand if any adheres to the inside of your bowl to make sure you get it all out and incorporated into plastique. 

Happy Baking :)

You might also be interested in liquid sweeteners and syrups

Strawberry agar agar jelly pearls

strawberries and cream cupcake topped with strawberry agar agar jelly pearls

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Goodness, I had a fabulous finish to 2010 when I was invited in December to give an interview on the gorgeous blog Haniela's, then on Christmas Eve I was featured on my all time favourite cupcake blog Cupcakes Take The Cake which caused me to burn the turkey I'm sure as I was so distracted and happy!! 

On to the first cupcake of 2011, which ties into answering the first email of year (ok, technically this a December 2010 mail but you know I'm always running behind) which comes from Issy in Auckland NZ and read.....

hi love your blog and I wanted to know if you can make fruit pearls without the chemicals. I'm a vegetarian so gelatine isn't an option. i wanted fruit pearls to go on cupcakes. 

Thanks for the mail Issy. The chemicals Issy is referring to are from an earlier post I did on making fruit caviar/pearls with the molecular gastronomy method favoured by many chefs. 

Ok, Issy you can make fruit pearls or caviar with just agar agar, however you have to use them immediately if you are using them for cupcake toppers as they shrink dramatically when exposed to air. They do taste exactly of the juice you use & are easy to handle. Unlike the molecular gastronomy version that are a gel "case" with fluid inside the agar agar version are a solid soft gel. 

Making Strawberry Agar Agar Pearls

you will need accurate scales and a plastic syringe

Recipe

100 ml (3.4 fluid oz) of strawberry juice or juice of choice

1 gram (0.035 oz) of agar agar powder

1 cup of flavourless vegetable oil

Apple juice for storing the pearls in. 

Method

In a small saucepan whisk together the juice and the agar agar powder. Over medium heat, whisking constantly bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the agar agar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let the mixture stand for 4 to 5 minutes.

Fill your syringe with the juice mixture and add to the oil... drop by drop.

Strain the pearls from the oil and transfer to apple juice until ready to use. The apple juice washes away the oil residue and the leftover cup of oil can be reused for baking.

 

Now you will have perfect small fruit pearls ready to top your cupcakes.

And here comes the "but"... these guys shrink dramatically when exposed to air.

On the left is one of the fruit pearls after being exposed to air for 3 hours, on the right is a nonpareil (a hundred and thousand sprinkle). 

As you can see the shrinkage is extreme, but if you're serving them straight away they are pretty, taste great and easy to make. 

Hope that helped Issy, let me know if you decide to  make them. 

Happy Baking :)

Related posts...

Plum fruit caviar/pearls the molecular gastronomy method

A hybrid gel that moulds easily and is extremely stable, made from gelatine/agar agar is used to create gel shapes for topping peanut butter frosting.