Amazing Custom Cake Toppers

Using Fondant, Chocolate and Royal Icing

Custom cake toppers will make any cake unique. Whether you are making a baby shower cake, wedding cake or birthday cake, unique cake toppers can set your cake apart from the many cakes you see at parties.

General cake toppers can be found at cake supply stores and craft stores. Often these toppers are made of plastic and are sold by the hundreds. They are quick and easy to use and may be what you need for your cake. However, if you want your cake to be a little more special, the generic cake toppers may not be enough.

In order to get a unique cake topper for your special cake, sometimes you need to spend a bit of money for a porcelain cake topper or hire someone to make a custom topper for you. If you have limited time, but a larger budget, take this route.

However, if you have time, you can create your own custom cake toppers with fondant, modeling chocolate, gumpaste and royal icing. There are several simple techniques that can help you mold a cake topper that is unique and fits your cake perfectly.

Fondant

Fondant is an easy medium to use when creating a cake topper, especially if the topper is a popular character. Fondant shapes easily, similar to clay and dries very hard. If you have used adequate supports, your figure will be strong, withstanding breakage.

There are several fondant modeling tools and molds available for fondant decorating and shaping. Because fondant is similar to clay, many clay modeling tools can be used with fondant as well.

When making a popular figure, such as Winnie the Pooh, it is often helpful to have a picture or a small toy model to refer to as you create. Look for the shape each element of the figure has. Most figures can be created by breaking down sections into shapes. For example, the shape of the head may be round, the body a fat cylinder, the arms and legs slender cylinders. Don’t worry about perfection in the features. A bear becomes Winnie the Pooh when wearing a red shirt and holding a pot of honey, not because you captured Winnie the Pooh’s facial features perfectly.

Modeling Chocolate

Modeling chocolate makes a wonderful edible cake topper. Many people have been able to create amazing cake toppers with modeling chocolate. Modeling chocolate is similar in its ability to mold as fondant and it dries hard when cold. It can also be rolled thin and cut with cookie cutters to make cake decorations.

One challenge when using modeling chocolate is heat. Modeling chocolate can become too soft to mold and must be refrigerated before it is hard enough to mold. Make sure to keep the room cool when you use the chocolate and plan on refrigerating it a few times during the modeling process. This may increase the time it takes to complete a project.

Even when the project is finished, the chocolate can soften. The only way to prevent softening and distorting your figure is to keep the finished project cold.

One benefit of using modeling chocolate is that your finished product can be eaten because it will soften, unlike fondant. For some, especially children, eating the cake topper may be just as fun as eating the cake.

Royal Icing

Royal icing is another great medium to use when making a unique cake topper. Royal icing can be used to outline images and then thinned to fill in images creating a solid (although two-dimensional) topper. Royal icing will dry very hard, but can be brittle and fragile, so it must be handled with care.

Royal icing can also be used to make amazing flowers that will dry hard and can be stored for a long time.

Using a combination of royal icing flowers and a flooded shape can create a three-dimensional cake topper.

Combining Mediums

Combining fondant and royal icing, for example, can add to the unique look of your custom cake topper. When making a fondant figure, sometimes using royal icing for the features is easier than cutting a small shape of fondant and trying to attach it. Royal icing can also be used to outline fondant figures, giving them a more polished look.

There are many options when it comes to custom cake toppers. With fondant, modeling chocolate and royal icing, you can make an amazing cake topper for your special cake.

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