The waiting is over as I am here with my cupcake decorating part 3. My first thought was that this would be the last of my little personal good to know about (my) cupcakes posts. But as this is all about buttercream domes and fondant discs, I have decided to make an extra part 4 with focus on the swirls. I hope you done mind that?

Previous posts part 1 & 2:
Cupcake decorating part 1
Cupcake decorating part 2

So today’s post is about how you can turn a “flat” cupcake into a pretty domed cupcake perfect for a fondant disc. If you dont like a buttercream dome, you could then bake some cupcakes using the great vanilla cupcake recipe that will make a beautiful dome and the need for buttercream is very small, if you want to decorate with a fondant disc.

You can of course substitute the buttercream with a chocolate ganache. Only make sure that you use 1 part cream and 2 parts of chocolate, as this ratio sets perfectly overnight without the need for refrigerating (btw, I got the tip from this excellent dvd). You will have to chill the buttercream dome, to decorate it with fondant. But we’re not talking about hours of refrigerating as this can make the cupcakes dry, but it will make the fondant part much more easy and less messy. I hope that the next steps will help you how to do it. Again it is all about practice.

How to make a buttercream dome.

Step 1:

The only tool you will need to make a buttercream dome is an offset spatular and of course some buttercream or chocolate ganache. Take your cupcake and a small amount of buttercream on your offset spatular. Apply it to the cupcake like I have on the photo. Make sure that you have your bowl of buttercream close to you, because you may add and remove buttercream as you go.

Step 2:

Go anti-clockwise with your spatular, while you are building up a short top of buttercream, but do not go all the way out to the paper case. It do not need it to be very smooth at this point, as you will need to add 1 more thin layer of buttercream. Try and keep the paper case clean from the buttercream. Place the cupcake in the refrigerator and start with the next cupcake. By the time you have made 3-4 cupcakes, the first one should be firm and ready for the final layer.

Step 3:

Apply the last thin layer of buttercream. Here you apply buttercream all the way to the paper case. Then chill again and with a warm spatular smooth the buttercream dome. Depending on how many cupcakes your are making, place the cupcake back in the refrigerator until you are ready to decorate with the fondant top.

Ok, so now you should hopefully have made some nice buttercream domes on your cupcakes and they are now ready for the fondant discs. I show it here with embossed fondant, but you can of course skip the embossing and just cut out the discs.

Decorating cupcakes with rolled fondant.

Step 1:

Roll out your fondant (3-4mm thick) and try to roll it out so that you can cut out more fondant discs at a time. Dust some cornstarch on your work area, take your embosser and dip it in the cornstarch. Then tap the embosser to get rid of excess cornstarch.

Step 2:

Now take your embosser and emboss the fondant randomly over the entire piece of fondant. Be careful not to cut right through the fondant with the embosser. If there are any white cornstarch dust on the embossed piece of fondant. Then use a brush to remove it.

Step 3:

Take a round cookie cutter (3 1/16″ -78mm. This works for me) and cut out the round fondant discs. Store the rest in a plastic bag, to prevent them from drying out.

Step 4:

Now take the top between your fingers and carefully pull and stretch the discs a little.

Take a cupcake and place it on top of the buttercream dome. Gently smooth out any pleats with the palm of your hand and your cupcake is finished.

Step 5:

If you should wonder how much buttercream there is under the fondant disc then here is a “cut through” photo.

If you like to read the other parts about my cupcake decorating, you can find them here:

Cupcake decorating part 1
Cupcake decorating part 2
Cupcake decorating part 4

Happy Caking!

Louise