Thursday, September 1, 2011

white chocolate tiaras and red velvet cupcakes


My friend Cindy was helping to plan a bridal shower for one of her best friends, and she asked me to make cupcakes for it.  The theme was going to be "fairytale wedding", so I offered to pipe little tiaras to go on top of the cupcakes.


I tested the idea out by wrapping a few small bottles with waxed paper, and then using royal icing to pipe the tiaras on the bottles (to get the curve of the tiara).  They looked nice, but I couldn't get them off the waxed paper without breaking them!  So I tried using melted white chocolate instead, and it worked beautifully!  And to make them look even nicer, I also added a few pearl sprinkles to the tiaras while they were still wet.


For the red velvet cupcakes, I used my favorite recipe from Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" book.  Then I topped them with my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe.  We decided to do half of the cupcakes with white cream cheese frosting, and the other half with pink.


The bride loves pearls, so we decorated the cupcakes with pearl sprinkles and tiny white non-pareils.  The original request was to have silver dragees also (those silver ball sprinkles), but they are apparently they are illegal in California!  Online stores won't even ship them to an address in California.  Boo!  (hint hint, to my friends and family who live outside of California!)


I loved the end result - the white and the pink, the different size "pearls", and the tiaras for that fairy tale feel.  I hope the bride and everyone at the shower enjoyed the cupcakes as much as I enjoyed making them!


43 comments:

  1. Red velvet cupcakes are such a favorite! They have won so many cupcake contests-you made a great choice. The decorating was spot on for a wedding-glad they enjoyed them!

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  2. GORGEOUS!!! I am seriously in awe of your creativity...these are wonderful!

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  3. These are brilliantly done! I love the detail of combining the small and large ball sprinkles. (And while I'm apalled that silver dragees are illegal in CA... WHY???... I think the white looks better.)

    I'm especially thankful for this idea. I've done lettering in chocolate for cakes and found it so much easier than piping icing directly onto the cake. But it had not occured to me to pipe cupcake decorations using the same method. Seriously, lightbulb moment for me. Thank you for this post.

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  4. Wow - these are absolutely stunning! What a clever, creative cupcake! They're sure to be a hit!

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  5. These are adorable and so elegant. You're so creative to pipe the icing on the plastic bottles! :) Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Adorable! The tiaras are such cute toppers.

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  7. So, did you pipe out the tiaras on the wax paper directly or did you pipe each one around a bottle?
    Great idea and I really want to try this!

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  8. @Tina - thank you! red velvet is the bride's favorite too!

    @Lizzy - awww thanks! you're so sweet.

    @Carissa @ Pretty/Hungry - i KNOW, it's so sad that CA is the only state where they're illegal! some lawyer filed a lawsuit claiming the silver in the dragees are harmful. but it's not like we'd eat a whole handful at a time!!! anyway, i'm so glad you had a lightbulb moment, i can't wait to see what decorations you come up with! :)

    @Amrita - i wrapped the waxed paper around the plastic bottles and then piped the tiaras on top of that. this way the tiaras would get the right curve, plus would come off the bottles easily.

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  9. These are so pretty! I love the effect of the different sized pearls on top. I'll bet they were delicious too, Martha makes one tasty cupcake :)

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  10. These cupcakes look so cute. You should have a lot of patient to make the tiaras. Wonderful work...!!!

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  11. These are truly beautiful. I love to visit here. You've created a lovely spot for your readers to visit and I really enjoy the time I spend here. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  12. Just discovered your blog- what a treat!! I loveit!!!

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  13. I just did these for a friend on Sunday, I got white chocolate and tried the the plastic bottles and waxed paper. 4 out of 5 of them broke. I could not get them off for the life of me!! Finally I just decided to pipe them onto a cookie sheet that had a thin layer of granulated sugar. It didn't have the curve, but they came out So cute. Thanks for the idea.

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  14. @Anonymous - great idea to pipe them on top of granulated sugar! as for getting them off the bottles, i had to first remove the waxed paper from the bottle, and then i peeled the wax paper away from the white chocolate tiaras. hope that helps!

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  15. These are gorgeous, so perfect for a baby shower I am having for my friend. Can I ask what kind (brand) of white chocolate you used?

    Thank you for posting! I'm browsing your blog now and enjoying it!

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  16. @Jessie - sure! i used white candy melts, so that it would be easy to melt and pipe the tiaras. so glad you're enjoying the blog! :)

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  17. These are adorable. Somebody pinned a picture with the tiaras like yours on Facebook. I have been trying to find out how they were made and came accross your blog. I am not crafty nor a baker. Could you tell me what 'piping' is? Is it just melted chocolate using a round cake decorating tool? Thanks!

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    1. sure! 'piping' i just squeezing frosting out of a pastry bag that is fitted with a pastry tip - usually the tips are cut so that the frosting comes out in some sort of design. here's a link that shows some examples of various tips and the resulting shape:

      http://www.wilton.com/decorating/decorating-basics/decorating_tips.cfm

      hope that helps!

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  18. Hello :)

    first of all , thanks alot for this. I made a few cup cakes and they looked great, especially those cute little tiaras on top.When i took them out of the fridge the tiaras melted into oblivion !

    How can i avoid this from happening ?

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    1. @Avon-Oriflame Lady - oh no, so sorry they melted! what kind of chocolate did you use? i tend to use wilton candy melts for stuff like this, as it's pretty stable with melting and smooth for piping etc.

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  19. Hello Friend,
    Can you email me a template of the tiara you used? I am hoping to make these for my daughter's class? Thank you. Shelly . punjabi0926@yahoo.com.

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    1. @shelly - actually i didn't use a template. i just piped them free-hand. it's pretty simple to do though, I just piped a straight line for the base, and then a bunch of pointy ovals overlapping on one another. good luck, can't wait to see how yours turns out! :)

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  20. Love it! And a little freaked out see another Michele with one "L" : ) I just made cupcakes with crowns and was trying to find a sample image when I saw this post. Beautiful job!

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    1. @Michele - yay for michele's with one "L"! :) thanks for the sweet comment!

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  21. Hi Michele,
    These are beautiful. I plan on doing them for a 'princess' baby shower. can you tell me how you keep the chocolate warm enough to pipe. I've tried in the past and the chocolate would harden in my tip (metal tips). Thanks so much!

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    1. @Anonymous - thank you! i like to keep a bowl of hot water for the chocolate (in the piping bag) to sit in while i'm working with it, that way it stays pipeable :)

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  22. Your blog is really great! I definitely have to add your blog to my blogroll so more people can enjoy your amazing recipes!
    congrats!

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  23. These little tiaras are so awesome!!! I'm helping plan a shower where these would be the perfect fairy-tale touch! I'm wondering how long you had to leave around the bottles before taking off? Also, about how far ahead of time do you think these could be made? I would really like to try making them! Thanks for the great idea! Love your site also :)

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    1. @Mrs. V - thank you! i didn't have to wait long before removing them from the waxed paper, just long enough for the white chocolate to cool (it helps to put them in the fridge so that they harden faster). you can make them days or a couple weeks in advance if you need to, just store them in an airtight container and somewhere cool where they won't melt! good luck! :)

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    2. Thank you SO MUCH for your reply!! I am going home to try this! Oh, and that's Awesome! Hope mine turn out as pretty as yours :)

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  24. What frosting cream recipe for pinkish you used?

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    1. @Yuliya SIDORCHUK - i did a cream cheese frosting! recipe is my book! http://amzn.to/1mEKwi2

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  25. I'm wondering if these can be stored for a full week in a Tupperware-type container in the refrigerator? The event will be outdoor Oct. 1 and the weather may be 75 degrees. Will the decorations melt on top of the cupcakes?

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    1. @Leadbelt Belle - yes it should be fine in an airtight tupperware container. i haven't had the decorations melt before, however i have not tried having them outdoor in warm weather.

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  26. Beautiful! I was wondering if you could email the print out of the tiaras to me?

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    1. thanks @AzNobles ! actually i didn't use a print out or anything, i just piped free-hand directly on to the waxed paper.

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  27. I'm ateattempt these!! Thanks for the idea! I am using shot glasses covered in was paper and it is working really well.

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    1. @craftieabbie - yay! and the shot glasses are a great idea! would love to see your finished tiaras!

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  28. Hi lovely cupcakes. What frosting did you use for these cupcakes ?

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  29. Hi lovely cupcakes. What frosting did you use for these cupcakes ?

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    1. thanks @Rupal ! i used a cream cheese frosting for these.

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