Sugar decorations are a great way to dazzle your cakes and cupcakes.
They are very easy and cheap to make and you can also make them in any shape or color of your choice.
I used small cookie cutters to make some heart and star sugar decorations for cupcakes.
But, you can easily use chocolate molds too. That would be more efficient and you can make some unique sugar designs that would otherwise be impossible.
To make these toppers, you will need the following ingredients and supplies:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp water
Gel coloring
Small heart cutter
Small star cutter
Spoon
Small plastic containers
Tray (I used a toddler tray with divided sections)
Wax paper
These are the instructions:
Step 1:
In a small bowl, add sugar and water.
Mix everything with a spoon…You will end up with a chunky mixture.
Divide your sugar mixture into separate plastic containers.
Add different colors of gel coloring in each container.
Use a spoon to mix the color into the sugar mixture thoroughly.
Note:
You may have to add more water depending on your weather conditions.
Start with 1 tsp and add more if necessary (1 drop at a time) until you have a thick chunky consistency.
Step 2:
Spread the different colors of sugar mixture into separate sections of a toddler tray.
Use your fingers to really pack the mixture together tightly
Press a small cutter into this mixture.
Step 3:
Carefully, remove the cutter from the mixture.
It should be filled with the sugar paste.
Tap the cutter gently on a sheet of wax paper until the sugared heart/star piece comes out.
Do NOT move these pieces… they are very fragile right now and will crumble easily.
Let the pieces dry on this sheet of wax paper overnight.
The next day, they will be hard and you can easily move them around.
Step 4:
You can also make rainbow colored sugar pieces…
Just add spoonfuls of different colored sugar mixtures into a section of the toddler tray.
Then, use your fingers to push it down and really pack all the sugar crystals together.
Finally, just do step 2 and 3 again.
Tip:
You can also use chocolate molds instead of small cutters to make these sugar decorations.
Just let the sugar paste sit in the molds for a few hours.
Then gently turn the molds on a sheet of wax paper and the pieces will come out easily.
And you are done!
Use these pieces to decorate your cakes/cupcakes and store leftovers in an airtight plastic container away from moisture.
Happy Caking! 🙂
If I was going to put these on a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting, what color(s) should I use?
I have always loved the color combination of light blue and white. Those colors are also great for a winter theme. So, light blue sugar pieces on white frosting would look beautiful!
You can also do a christmas theme and stick to red and green colors. So, maybe green frosting with red sugar pieces.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks so much!
Hey, I think I caught a typo — in the ingredients list, you have “1 tsp sugar” — I think you meant 1 tsp water?
Thanks for these directions — I’ve always wondered if I could make those sugar decos I see in the store but refused to buy because they are so expensive per piece!
Thank you soooo much for catching that typo! I just fixed it.
You are right… those deco pieces are so expensive! You can use this recipe to make simple deco pieces at home…Yay! But unfortunately, making fancy deco pieces with a lot of details that we find at stores are hard to make at home with this recipe.