Easter chick cupcakes: 4 adorable toppers!

Edibles

• 4 cupcakes baked in spring dotty green cupcake cases (Squires Kitchen)
• Buttercream
• 100g bridal white sugarpaste (Squires Kitchen)
• ½tsp CMC (Squires Kitchen)
• 2g black modelling paste (Saracino)
• 160g white modelling paste (Saracino)
• Coal black dust (Magic Colours)
• Clear alcohol (vodka/gin)
• Edible glue

Pro Gels (Magic Colours) to colour white modelling paste

• 80g egg yellow
• 5g neon blue
• 10g neon pink
• 5g neon purple
• 5g orangino
• 100g neon green

Equipment

• 58mm round pastry cutter
• Ball tool - various sizes
• Dresden tool
• Bulbous cone tool
• Mini scallop tool
• 00 paintbrush
• Tiny Decorations mould (FPC)
• Palette knife
• Jem 2J piping tip and bag

Make the stand

1

Colour 100g of bridal white sugarpaste with the neon green gel colour. Knead 1/2tsp of CMC into the coloured paste. Wrap and set aside for a few hours to activate. Cut out four circles using the pastry cutter. Use the Dresden tool to score lines coming from the outer edge of the circles in towards the middle. Set the circles aside to harden for a few hours.

Make the cracked egg topper

1

Roll 30g of white modelling paste into an egg shape. Press the Dresden tool into the paste to create a circle with a cracked edge. Press the wide end of the Dresden tool into the middle of the circle and push the paste to indent.

2

Mix the coal black dust colour with the clear alcohol to form a paint. Use the paintbrush to paint the inside of the cracked circle and then to paint fine cracked lines emanating from the cracked circle.

3

Roll two small balls from the white modelling paste and push a small ball tool near the edge for the eyes. Fill the hole with a small ball of black modelling paste. Add a small white highlight to each eye. Take a small pinch of the orangino paste and shape into a cone for the beak. Glue the eyes and beak in place. Add two small sausages of egg yellow modelling paste to the top of each eye and press with your finger to shape around the eyes. Use the neon pink modelling paste to create a bow with the tiny decorations mould. Glue in place on top of the egg

Make the bunny Easter chick topper

1

Shape 8g of egg yellow modelling paste into an egg. Combine a piece of white and egg yellow paste to create a pale yellow. Add a small ball of pale yellow paste to the front of the egg and use your finger to flatten into it.

2

Shape two small cones from the orangino modelling paste and gently flatten. Use the side of a modelling tool to create two indents into the wide end of the flattened cone. Glue in place underneath the body for the feet. Add two small flattened cones from egg yellow modelling paste to the sides of the body for the wings.

3

To make the head, roll 15g of egg yellow modelling paste into a ball. Add a beak using the orangino modelling paste. Push a medium ball tool into the face on either side of the beak. Push a smaller ball tool into the face and to the sides of the eyes.

4

Fill the small wells with small balls of pink modelling paste. Fill the eye holes with white modelling paste. Press a small ball tool into the inner edge of the eyes.

5

Fill the eye holes with two small balls of black modelling paste. Roll a very small ball of black modelling paste into a tapered sausage.

6

Paint a thin line of glue around the top of the eye and then glue the tapered sausage in place. Use the Dresden tool to fit the paste around the eye. Add a small ball of white paste to the outer edge of each pupil.

7

Run the wide end of the Dresden tool over the top of the head to create a groove. Roll a tapered sausage of pink modelling paste to fit into the groove. Glue the pink paste into the groove and use your fingers to flatten into place.

8

For the ears, roll two large pea-sized balls of white modelling paste into long cones. Press the modelling tool into the centre to create a channel. Pinch the narrow end of the ear into a point and bend one into a light curve. Leave to set for around 45 minutes.

9

Push a small ball tool into the pink band on top of the chick’s head. Add a little edible glue and then insert the two ears. Glue the head on top of the body.

Make the chick in the egg topper

1

Shape 13g of white modelling paste into a ball. Press your finger into the top of the ball to create a well. Pinch around the sides of the well to pull and thin the paste. Begin to shape it into points by pinching and stretching.

2

Glue a 6g ball of egg yellow modelling paste inside the cracked shell. Add two flattened cones to the body, with the wide end resting on the cracked shell. Create another head following Steps 7 to 10. Roll three fine elongated cones from the egg yellow modelling paste and glue together. Attach to the top of the head with a little glue. Glue the head in place on top of the body.

Make the laying down Easter chick topper

1

Roll 15g of egg yellow modelling paste into a pear shape.

2

From the outer edge of the wider end of the pear, begin to extrude the legs by pinching, rolling and stretching the paste into a short sausage. Repeat on the other side. One leg should be facing upwards as though he is lying down.

3

Create two small feet following Step 6. Attach to the bottom of the legs.

4

Create a head using 15g of egg yellow modelling paste. Press the mini scallop tool into the paste in place of the open eyes.

5

Add the cheeks and three cones of egg yellow on top of the head. Roll two fine tapered sausages from the black modelling paste and glue in place on the scallop shapes created in the previous step.

Decorate the Easter chick cupcakes

1

Spread a spoonful of buttercream on top each cupcake. Starting in the centre, drag the palette knife towards the edge of the cupcake case. Wipe off any excess buttercream and continue until the cupcake is fully covered

2

Fill a piping bag with the buttercream and the nozzle. Begin piping from the centre of the cupcake, following in a circle.

3

Keep piping in a circle until you reach the outer edge of the cupcake. Stop squeezing the bag and quickly pull the nozzle away.

Finishing touches

1

Split the neon blue, pink and purple paste into 12 balls and roll into eggs. Glue the chicks in place on top of the neon green circles from Step 1. Add three eggs to each topper.