Well, today I put in a lot of time trying out some new decorated cupcakes for Halloween, so get ready for lots of posts about Halloween/Fall cupcakes!  I know most of my readers like tutorials, so I took the extra time to document the creations step-by-step…hope you like them!  Before I go into the cupcakes though I want to announce the winner of The Perfect Scoop…it’s #11 DanaD!!! Congratulations Dana…just email me your contact information and I will ship the book off to you.  Now onto the cupcakes!  This first posting is going to be all about pumpkins and Fall leaves.  

These pumpkins are quite easy to make and can be decorated any way you like them.  You can leave them all one color (which would be the easiest route) or you can choose to make a multi color pumpkin like I did. Here are some photos of the process…

First you mix some fondant colors together…I choose two different color oranges, white, and sage green. To get the swirls you have to fold the fondant over itself and then stretch/roll it out.  Continue doing the fold over and stretching method until you get the look you want. Then roll the fondant into one or two balls (depending on the pumpkin you want).

Then using a toothpick make a hole in the top and make ridges on the side of the pumpkin.

Next, using a little brown fondant or modeling chocolate make the bark/stem and use the toothpick to make grooves into it to give it a realistic look.

Use a little green fondant to make the vines and then stack the pumpkins if you are doing a double decker. Brush on luster dust on the pumpkin if you have it to give it a shimmery look. 

Now onto the Fall leaf cupcake!  

This leaf was made with modeling chocolate, which is basically corn syrup and chocolate melted together and formed into a paste/dough.  It tastes sort of like a tootsie roll (not quite as good) and is very easy to work with.  It holds its shape pretty well and is easy to mold into figures.  So here is how you do it…

First you roll out the modeling chocolate to whatever size you want it…mine is about 1/8″ thick.  Then use a silicone impression to imprint the look of a real leaf onto the modeling chocolate.

Next, cut out the leaf shape with an x-acto knife and brush it with luster dust to give it a copper shine.

Definitely try these out, they are a lot of fun!  If you don’t have modeling chocolate you can use fondant or marzipan and they will work great too!

Get ready for some more Halloween cupcakes this week…watch out because they might get a little scary!