How to Make a Love Birds Wedding Cake Topper

 

This step by step tutorial shows you how to make a love birds wedding cake topper to decorate your next wedding cake. This love birds cake topper is simple to make and the result is quite charming. If you’d like to expand on this basic design, the birds could easily be customized to reflect something personal about the bride and groom. There is also room on the birch base for the couple’s initials or the wedding date.

This is what you need:

• Work surface
• Small rolling pin
• Fondant in white, black and yellow
• Small round birch piece (mine is 5″ across)
• #5 piping tip (for eyes)
• Toothpicks
• Pink edible dust and small brush
• Glitter tulle fabric (veil)
• Rhinestones on wire (optional to hold veil

Not pictured:

• 1 inch circle cutter (top hat brim)
• 1/2 inch circle cutter (top hat)
• Daffodil cutter (tail shape)
• Leaf cutter (2 inches long for wings)
• Fondant smoother
• Corn starch
• Corn syrup

 

Step 1: Form two large balls of white fondant. With corn starch-coated hands, roll them until they are smooth and free of creases.

Step 2: Using your hands and a fondant smoother, shape the balls into a bullet shape. These pieces will be the birds’ bodies. They should be round by the chest area and taper down to a narrow tail area.

Step 3: Place the bodies on the birch base to make sure the scale is good to fit on the base. If they are too big, start over and reduce them in size until the scale is correct.

Step 4: Next you will work on the heads of the love birds. Form two ball shapes of white fondant. The size will be approximately as shown (around 2 inches across.)

Step 5: With your hands dusted in corn starch, roll the balls until they are completely smooth and free of creases. Put the heads to the side so they can harden.

Step 6: With a 2-inch long leaf cutter, cut out four shapes. These will be the wings.

Step 7: With a daffodil cutter, cut out two shapes. These will be the tails. If you don’t have this cutter, just use an exacto knife to make this shape.

Step 8: Lightly wet the wings and tail with water and attach to the body as shown. If needed, you can use a support to hold up the tail as it dries.

Step 9: Use a small dot of corn syrup to adhere each bird body to the birch base. I spread it out a bit before placing the body on it.

Step 10: Press a toothpick down through each bird body until you feel it reach the base. This will act as a support to hold the head on straight.

Step 11: Using a Wilton #5 tip, cut out 4 black dots for the eyes. I rolled them out a little to make them bigger before attaching them with water. Make sure they are wide-set and even.

Step 12: Next apply the blush with a small brush and pink dust.

Step 13: Roll two small balls of yellow fondant and form them into beak shapes with your hands.

Step 14: Attach the beaks with a little water. Make sure they are nice and small.

Step 15: Roll a small piece of black fondant and use an exacto to cut two tiny triangle shapes. Attach these to the chest of the male bird as a bow tie.

Step 16: (Allow the bird heads to dry anywhere from 3 hours to overnight before moving on to this step.) Mark a tiny hole on the center bottom of each head using a toothpick. Using a wet Q-tip, lightly dampen the touch points where the head will join the body. Then using your guide mark, slowly lower the heads onto the bodies of the birds.

Step 17: To make the top hat for the male bird, roll out some black fondant. Use the base of a large piping tip to cut out the hat brim. Then use a 1/2 inch circle cutter to cut out a thick piece of the top of the hat. Join these pieces together with water.

Step 18: To anchor the hat firmly on the bird’s head, use a small piece of a toothpick. Place it into the part of the head where you want the hat and lightly dampen the surrounding area with water. Press the hat firmly in place on the toothpick.

Step 19: This photo shows the bird with the top hat in place.

Step 20: To make the tiny veil for the female bird, cut a small square of the glitter tulle and fold one side in an accordion shape.

Step 21: Push the end of your rhinestones on a wire through the accordion shape completely so the wire comes out the other side. Then trim the veil with scissors to the desired length.

Step 22: Press the wire into the back of the bride bird’s head and arrange the rhinestones and veil into a position you like. A small piece of toothpick would work to attach the veil if you cant find the rhinestones.

This topper could be altered to coordinate with the color scheme, decorations or theme of any wedding. It would look beautiful on a traditional wedding cake, at the top of a cupcake tower, or as the center piece of a dessert table.

Happy Caking!
Renée