Decorate your Christmas cake with the perfect snowy scene by creating a loveable, fondant snowman topper! Perfect for beginners or to make with the kids for some creative festive fun, this tutorial will show you how to make a snowman made from fondant (sugarpaste).
Top tip! You could make a second snowperson – put on a few eyelashes and some pink earmuffs and you’ve made a ‘snowmantic’ scene!
Fondant snowman tutorial
By Lisa Elliott.
You will need
Edibles
- 250g white modelling paste (Saracino)
- 50g black modelling paste (Saracino)
- 100g red modelling paste (Saracino)
- 250g white Covapaste
- Light blue and pink dusts
- White edible paint
- Red edible pen
Equipment
- 6in cake board
- Thin paintbrush
- Small flat paintbrush
- Cocktail sticks
- Rolling pin
- Craft knife
- Dresden tool
- Ball tool
- Blue ribbon
Cover the cake board
1. Place some random lumps of white sugarpaste on your cake board and cover with white sugarpaste. This will create a snowy landscape for your snowman to stand on (you can also do this directly on top of your cake!).
Make the head and facial features
2. Mix the remaining white sugarpaste with the white modelling paste and leave a pea-sized amount of modelling paste to one side for the eyes. Roll out two balls, one slightly larger than the other, to create the body and the head.
3. Place an oval of black paste towards the bottom of the smaller ball in the middle to create the nose on the head piece. Don’t stick it down just yet – you’ll use the nose as a guide for where to put the eyes and for the size.
4. Using the larger ball tool create the eye sockets. Take your pea-sized ball of white paste and cut it into two smaller balls. Then cut the bottoms off to make them flat to create your eyeballs.
5. Place the eyeballs into the sockets and push up against the bottoms to keep that flat edge (you can remove the nose while doing this for ease and then stick it to the face once the eyeballs are in place).
6. Using the smaller ball tool create a hole in each eye and place a small black ball of modelling paste in each.
7. To create the mouth use the rounded end of the Dresden tool, pulling down slightly to give him an open smile (you could keep it to one side or make it central – the choice is yours!).
8. Fill in the snowman’s mouth using the black modelling paste.
9. To give your snowman glowing, rosy cheeks use a soft small brush and dust some pink petal dust on his cheeks.
10. Give him eyebrows with some more black paste, shaped in elongated teardrops with the larger end closer to his nose. You can experiment with how to place the eyebrows to give your snowman different expressions!
Need to brush up on your cake modelling skills? Read our handy guide on cake modelling tools and how to use them!
Make the hat and scarf
11. Take a small amount of red paste (a walnut-sized ball) and flatten it on one side with the palm of your hand. Then, using your finger and thumb, tease the thin edge to create a thin peak for the hat.
12. Using the sharper end of the Dresden tool, push inwards against the top of the hat to give a definite line between the puffy top of the cap and the peak.
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13. Using the red edible pen, draw red check lines on the cap.
14. Using the red paste, roll out and cut a long red ribbon for the scarf. Draw lines across the scarf, using the red edible pen, either free hand or with a ruler.
15. Cut the end of the scarf with a knife to create the tassels.
16. Place the body onto your snowy landscape, then place the scarf onto the body and cross it over so it looks tied (the head will be placed on top).
17. Place the head on top of the body and move the scarf if needed. Then place the hat on top of the head.
Make the arms and legs
18. Using the white paste, roll two balls and cut at a diagonal angle – these are his feet/legs, so you can make them whatever size you like (I’ve kept them quite small and marble-sized).
19. To make the arms, take two cocktail sticks and roll some black paste around them, rolling until really thin and into a tip. If you need to, you can trim the edges to keep them even thinner.
20. Place the arms and the feet onto the body, keeping the arms pointing upwards so your snowman looks like he's giving a big wide hug!
Finishing touches
21. To create mittens for your snowman use the red paste and create two teardrop shapes and flatten them. Cut a small triangle out on the inside of each and round the edges to create the thumbs.
22. Place the mittens onto the ends of the cocktail sticks (you may need to shorten the sticks before doing so).
23. Using your soft brush and some light blue powder brush over the snow to make it darker underneath the snowman for some shadow and definition.
24. Using a thin paintbrush paint a white dot on each eye and on his nose to give some light reflection.
If you’re using a cake board add a ribbon around it... and your snowman is finished!
Now you know how to make a fondant snowman, why not read this fantastic tutorial on how to make some adorable edible robins, to join him on your Christmas cake?
