Know somone who loves fashion, bags or all things 'mini'? These handbag cake topppers are perfect for a variety of occasions and they're so easy to create using fondant, a.k.a. sugarpaste!
The following tutorial will show you how to model five different bag styles in miniature form. Once you've mastered the shapes, you can personalise in design, colour and size to suit the cake(s) of your choice!
Fondant handbags tutorial
by Marie McGrath.
You will need
Edibles
- Sugarpaste: white and black
- Edible colours: blue (Colour Splash)
- Gel colours: ivory, pink, yellow, gooseberry (Progel)
- Edible glue
Equipment
- Rolling pin
- Dresden tool
- Knife
- Paintbrush
- Small daisy cutter
- Small rose mould
- Knitted embossing mat
- Stitch marker
Method
Colour sugarpaste in your chosen colours. In this tutorial each handbag uses about 60g of paste. This size is ideal if you'd like them to sit on top of cupcakes, or as a group on a celebration cake, but you could use the same techniques to make bigger models too.
Black bag with white piping
1. Roll the black paste into a smooth ball and shape into a semi circle by flattening the ball down slightly, turning it on its side and flattening the bottom. Sharpen the edges as a guide for where to attach the white piping.
2. Roll a thin sausage of white paste. Stick it onto the black shape to create the illusion of the bag having a flap. Start at the back so the join is hidden. Add more thin sausages at the front and the back of the handbag to add detail along the edges. Add a tiny ball of white on the front and flatten it down, then stick a tiny sausage of white on top of this to make a clasp. Roll a small sausage of black and stick to the top of the bag to create a handle.
Pink clutch bag
1. Make a thin rectangle of pink icing. Roll paste in the same shade and cut out a further rectangle of the same size but slightly smaller. Use a Dresden tool to mark a hatch pattern on both pieces.
2. Turn the rectangle over and add glue to the back. Stick the rectangle over the top edge of the flatter rectangle for the flap on the clutch. Add a thin sausage of white for a button.
Yellow barrel bag
1. Roll a fat sausage of ivory paste. Flatten both ends and sharpen the edge around each end.
2. Roll thin sausages in the same colour and stick to the sharp edges.
3. Add a small white rectangle to the top of the bag, and using the Dresden tool mark a line down the middle of it and then mark lines at an angle on both sides of this to create the zip. Stick a small sausage at one end of the zip and make a mark in the centre of this.
4. Roll out two fatter sausages for the handles and stick them either side of the bag, joining them about the zip. Mark holes in the bottom of each one with the end of a paintbrush or a small ball tool and then add small white balls in the holes. Push a tiny ball of paste into the small rose mould and stick this on the front of the bag in between the handles.
Blue knitted bag
1. Make a rectangle in blue paste. Using the knotted embossing mat, push the mat into the paste on the front, sides, top and bottom to create the texture.
2. Add a pocket on the front using the same method. Roll two thin sausages of paste on the same colour. Twist them together to make the handle and stick the ends to the top of the bag.
Green bag with daisy detailing
1. Make a cuboid in the green paste, sharpening the edges.
2. Using the stitch marker, mark a line of stitches along each edge of the cuboid. Add a flap in the same way you did for the clutch bag, adding stitches to edges.
3. Add two small rectangles to the sides of the bag, with stitches again and sticking them so they're not completely flat against the bag. These will be the pockets. Roll out some white paste and cut out a small daisy shape. Stick this to the front of the bag and add a tiny centre using a ball of yellow.
4. Roll and cut a thin strip of green, adding stitches down the length of the handle. Stick to the bag, letting it flop down over the top.
