I have two exciting thing for you today… Graduation Cupcakes and a fun announcement!
Many of you, my lovely readers, have been requesting more cupcake decorating ideas, and I’ve been listening! So if you know someone graduating pre-school, middle school, Jr. High, High School, or college, these are a great way to help them celebrate!
And… the fun announcement is that I have joined The TomKat Studio team as a regular contributor! I’m sure most of you know The TomKat Studio as a great source for beautiful party inspiration and custom party printables. I will be adding to that sweet combo with ideas for fun and beautiful cakes, cupcakes and desserts. My fridge is stocked with butter and cream, and I can’t wait to get started! =)
For this set of Graduation cupcakes, I made a few special fondant Graduation Hat Toppers (full instructions below), topped some cupcakes with printable toppers from The TomKat Studio, and dressed up a few cupcakes with simple paper “diplomas”. The diplomas were made by simple rolling a piece of white paper, and tying with a gold ribbon.
The cupcakes themselves are my favorite Chocolate Cupcakes with delicious Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.
~ How to make a fondant Graduation Cap ~
If you’re not familiar with working with fondant, start with my Fondant 101 post.
1. Color your fondant as desired (more detailed instructions HERE).
2. Roll out the color of fondant you plan to use for the hat.
3. and 4. Cut fondant into strips about 3/4 inches wide and 3 3/4 inches long.
5. Roll up a strip of fondant to create a ring (overlapping slightly). Use a teeny, tiny bit of water or corn syrup to help the ends stay together. Set aside to dry.
6. Cut a square (for the top of the hat) about 1 3/4 inches x 1 3/4 inches.
7. Allow hat bases (the rings) and tops (squares) to dry for several hours or overnight. They should be totally firm before moving to the next step.
8. When the pieces have dried, use a tiny bit of “edible glue”- made with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and a tiny bit of water (it should be the thickness of toothpaste) and apply with a (clean) paintbrush along the top edge of one ring. Set the top of the hat (a fondant square) on top, and set aside to dry.
9. Once the top of the hat has been secured to the base of the hat, make a tassel. For the tassels, simply roll a tiny piece of fondant into a little “snake”. I used my finger to press down one end just a bit, then used a knife to create just a bit of texture to represent the individual strings at the end of a tassel.
10. Add just a drop of your “edible glue” to the center of the hat, and attach the tassel. Bend tassel over the side of the cap just a bit. Set aside to dry (at least 1 hour). Add toppers to cupcakes right before serving (up to a few hours before). Fondant decorations added more than a few hours before serving will begin to get soft and lose their shape.
Congratulations graduates!
Lisa says
also, how did you make the diplomas? is that fondant as well?
Lisa says
by the way the above anonymous post about making these for the party saturday was me…Lisa 🙂 I just figured out how to add my name
Lisa says
i am nervous since i haven't used fondant much before. how long should i let them dry? i bought americolor burgundy coloring i will try. i just keep adding a little and kneading it in right? i really want them to look perfect. do you guys think it will look ok to use a 1M swirl on the cupcakes and then the toppers on that?
Glory/ Glorious Treats says
Smc823- I'm not sure how many pounds you might need, each cap only requires a small amount of fondant, so I would guess you could make 25 caps with one pound or so.
Anonymous- Yes, adding gumpaste would make the caps stiffer, although you don't need it if you let the caps dry fully before adding to the cupcakes, unless the caps will be on the cupcakes several hours before serving. The burgandy color is a mixture of colors I have… mostly burgandy, with some brown and red as needed.
Anonymous says
I am going to make these cupcakes for a party on Saturday. I am going to put cupcakes around the base of my cake. Would it help keep the toppers stiffer if I mixed half gumpaste half fondant. And how did you get this perfect burgundy its the exact color I want!!!!
Smc823 says
I love this idea, how many pounds of fondant do you think I need to make 25 or 50 caps
Glory/ Glorious Treats says
Amy- I used a large round tip. The opening is about 5/8" diameter. I have a post in the works for cupcake decorating that will include some help and sources for decorating with large tips, but I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to get together the post (I'm always limited by the 24 hour day!)
Amy says
What icing tip do you use for icing like this? Trying to expand my selection, but I'm not sure what I should be buying. 🙂
SweetCharity says
You inspired me to make graduation cupcakes!
Gina says
I'm working on grad cookies as we speak!