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How to Make Autumn Cupcake Toppers (Tutorial)

by Renée 6 Comments

autumn cupcake toppersAutumn is my favorite time of year. I love the smell of the leaves, the changing quality of the light, and the holiday preparations.

So I really enjoyed making these adorable autumn-themed cupcake toppers from a few simple cutters. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make three of these designs.

autumn2.jpgWhat I used:
Clean work surface
Cornstarch
Rolling pin
Rolling cutter
Gold shimmer dust and small brush
Water pen
Stick tool
White icing writer
Large black sprinkles
Leaf cut-outs
Oval cut-outs
Round cut-outs
Toothpicks
Various colors of fondant
Small flower cutter
Cookie sheet lined with parchment (not pictured)

autumn3.jpgWhen I saw these cut-outs in my local craft store, I decided to challenge myself to create a set of toppers using them as my primary tools. These are affordable and easy to find.

autumn4.jpgAcorn Toppers
Step 1:

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. This will serve as a staging area as you make the toppers.

autumn5.jpgStep 2:
Using the largest circle cutter, cut out six yellow and six green circles as the  backgrounds of the autumn toppers. Place them on the lined cookie sheet.

autumn6.jpgStep 3:
The first design is the acorn. Roll out the light brown fondant rather thick.To create a “puffy” effect, place plastic wrap on it and use your mid-sized oval cutter to cut out several acorns.

autumn7They will look like this. Smooth out the edges gently with your fingers.

autumn8.jpgStep 4:
Repeat the step above with the dark brown fondant to create the caps of the acorns. Roll them out very gently to make them a bit wider than the acorn bottoms. Trim them as shown so they will fit together nicely.

autumn9.jpgStep 5:
Use your rolling cutter to very gently score the acorn tops.

autumn10.jpgStep 6:
Lightly wet the backs of the acorn pieces and affix them to the background color of your choice. Trim a small scrap of dark brown for the stem.

acorn cupcake toppers Step 7:
Give this simple acorn some added interest by dusting it with gold shimmer powder.

autumn12.jpgFox toppers
Step 1:
Knead equal parts red and dark brown fondant to create a reddish brown for the fox design.

autumn13.jpgStep 2: Again to achieve a “puffy” effect on my design, I’ve rolled my fondant rather thick and placed plastic wrap over it. Use the mid-sized oval and leaf cutters to create the head and body of the fox.

autumn14.jpgStep3:
Use your thumb and pointer finger to model the head of the fox into a triangular shape.

autumn15Step 4:
Use your background circle to judge the scale of the shapes. Trim off the top and bottom of the leaf shape as shown.

autumn16Step 5:
The middle part of the trimmed leaf shape becomes the fox body. Trim the scraps to create two pointy ears.

autumn17.jpgStep 6:
Use the smallest-sized oval cutter to gently make impressions as shown on the head and body. Do not cut all the way through the fox. Just make a visible impression.

autumn18.jpgStep 7:
Use the water pen to adhere the fox to the background at this point.

autumn19.jpgStep 8:
Using the smallest-sized oval cutter, cut out several white ovals. Trim them to fit where the impressions were made and attach them with the water pen.

autumn20.jpgStep 9:
Use the stick tool to make three dents in the spaces for the eyes and nose.

autumn21.jpgStep 10:
Squeeze a tiny bit of the icing writer into each dent to act as edible glue for the three sprinkles.

autumn22.jpgStep 11:
Firmly press the sprinkles in place and the fox is done!

fox cupcake toppersOwl Toppers
Step 1:
Use the largest oval cutter to create several owl bodies.

autumn24Step 2:
Use the tip of the large oval cutter to hollow out the top of the owl’s head.

autumn25.jpgStep 3:
Use the smallest-sized circle and leaf cutters to cut out two circle and leaf shapes for each owl.

autumn26.jpgStep 4:
Use the water pen to attach the circle and leaf shapes to the owl body as shown. Also attach a tiny orange triangle for a beak. Use the stick tool to place dents where the eyes will go.

owl cupcake toppersStep 5:
“Glue” the large black sprinkles in place by following the same steps we did for the fox. Then you can imprint a small shape on the owl’s body for added detail.

autumnendpic.jpgAllow the toppers to harden for at least three days on the parchment-lined cookie sheet. Then add them to your cupcakes for your holiday party. Just be careful…they might upstage the pumpkin pie!

Happy caking!
Renée

Previous Post: « Tutorial: How to Make Cowboy Hat Cupcake Toppers
Next Post: How To Make Fall Leaf Cupcake Toppers »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. IFeelCook

    November 11, 2013 at 6:19 PM

    So cute!!! Great toppers 🙂

    Reply
  2. Rebecca

    November 10, 2013 at 12:44 AM

    They look so amazingly cute! And I cant believe how easy the tutorial looks 😮 But I am sure it is a lot of work and I would take days for doing it as good as you 🙂
    Thanks for showing, take care!

    Reply
  3. Louise Bloom

    November 8, 2013 at 4:58 AM

    Adorable cupcake decorations! Thanks for sharing with us how to make a topper. This kind of cupcake is a trend now. Will try to make some of these.

    Reply
  4. Melanie

    November 4, 2013 at 6:46 PM

    Too cute!

    Reply
  5. Rose

    November 4, 2013 at 6:03 PM

    Love these Renee! And fall is my favorite time of year as well 🙂

    Reply
    • Renee

      November 5, 2013 at 3:51 AM

      Thanks Rose! I love all of the cakes you’ve been creating! 🙂

      Reply

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Kristen is the author of Cake Journal and a graduate of the Professional Baking program at Renton Technical College. She has worked as a pastry chef at a top Seattle restaurant and loves sharing her passion for baking amazing cakes on this site.

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