Nautical Cupcakes

Celia,



















I told you I would be back again tonight! One of my coworkers had to bring something to a nautical-themed bridal shower, so she commissioned me to make some nautical cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves are just a white Duncan Hines box mix, because that's what she asked for. The frosting is a plain white buttercream made with shortening instead of butter because I didn't know if this would be an inside or outside event and buttercream can melt in the heat. The decorations are marshmallow fondant, which I think is a little harder to work with but much tastier than regular fondant.


For any readers unduly impressed with the frosting, this is super easy - just use a piping bag and a big star-shaped piping tip and squeeze it onto the cupcake, with a little swirling action. Instant snazziness! To make the frosting look a little more like ocean water I mixed up a thick batch and then added milk and coloring, but didn't mix it well, so there were swirls of white and areas where the frosting was thicker. That came out of the piping tip looking like foamy water.


I made the shapes out of marshmallow fondant (I'll put the recipe for that below) and used cookie cutters for the life preservers. The anchors are a little wonky, but those I did freehand. I painted the shapes with gold and silver luster dust mixed with some vodka, which is becoming one of my favorite things. Luster dust! Not vodka. Though that's ok too.

Marshmallow Fondant

8 oz. marshmallows
1 lb (4 c.) powdered sugar, plus more for surface and kneading
2 tbsp. water
Food coloring (optional, but I recommend gel colors for this)

Pour the marshmallows and water into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for one minute, until the marshmallows have puffed up hugely. Mix in the powdered sugar until you have a very sticky dough. If the entire batch is going to be the same color, add the coloring here. Grease your hands with Crisco and dump the dough onto a surface liberally dusted with powdered sugar. Knead the fondant for several minutes, adding more powdered sugar when it gets sticky, until you have a smooth, fairly stiff fondant. At this point you can divide the fondant and knead in food coloring, or package it up and save it. I like to make colored fondant in advance, because gel colors often get more intense after about a day. This will keep for about a week.

Your turn! Much love,

Amanda