Fondant Dinosaur Tutorial

Hello friends!

I wanted to share this little thing I did over the holidays. It's nothing much, but I really enjoyed working on it. I wrote a more elaborate and detailed tutorial - complete with photos - on how to make fondant Stegosauruses for cupcakes and cakes. It's posted on SheKnows.com, a site that curates many lifestyle articles.

Please take time to check it out and I would love your feedback, either here or on the tutorial. I would love to work on more tutorials with the SheKnows team again, so if you enjoyed it or found it useful, please give it the old "like" and share it with your friends and family. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you! That's all for now!

Sincerely,
Sylvia

PS: I have a byline and a bio and everything!

Maila's Dinosaur Cake and Cupcake Tower

We received an amazing e-mail this week from Maila, all the way from California. A sunny state we would love to visit one day. But back to the story, these kinds of e-mails make us so happy! We're grinning like the T-Rexes on the cupcakes above.

Maila wrote to tell us that she made a 6-inch cake and a 4-tiered cupcake tower for a friend's son who was turning three years old this year. The request was made on short notice, but instead of having a meltdown (hey, look, a volcano...), she spent a sleepless night working hard.

In those 24 hours, she must have looked up cake and buttercream recipes and found our fondant dinosaur tutorials.

She also wrote to tell us that this was her first time making a birthday cake and working with fondant. She had never worked with fondant before.

Yes, we were impressed. Your jaws probably just dropped too.

If it were our first baking project, we probably would not have pulled off such an amazing display of cupcakes.

Maila wrote to tell us that the T-Rexes on the grassy field also have a haven of water, it's blocked by the large "3" candle, but you can see the start of water there.

You know what we love? Party hats. These dinosaurs know how to rock the age. Lucky Cody.

Once again, thank you Maila for writing to us and sharing your photos. Then, for giving us permission to share your photos on our blog and facebook page. We are not surprised to hear that the party was a hit. Thank you for making so many people happy!

Photo credits: Maila

Dino-mite in Today's Parent Magazine

Something really cool arrived in the mail yesterday!

Er, no, we're not becoming a parent anytime soon. . . . But this is for all the moms, dads, and soon-to-be parents out there. There's some great things in the August 2012 issue of Today's Parent magazine.

First, there's a great spread about summer books for kids!

Second, a fabulous article about all the wonderful book stores in our area.

And of course a section about food! Yum, I could use some of those right now.

This issue also includes articles like: "How to host an Olympic party," "20 of the cutest kids’ sneakers," and "Coolest apps for kids."

And if you make your way to the last page of the magazine, you'll see all the monthly birthday wishes. Guess who made those cupcakes?

Yes! We did! Our first magazine feature!!

On our blog, you can find the step-by-step fondant instructions for the Tyrannosaurs Rex, Stegosaurus and water creature.

We have to give special thanks to Catherine Doherty, Freelance Prop-Stylist; Jodi Pudge, Photographer; Natalie Russell, Retail Account Manager; and Kate Stewart, Assistant Editor.

Most of all, thank you to Anita Chong and Griffin who received our very first dinosaur cupcakes! These cupcakes went on to inspire others here and here.

Wordless Wednesday: April 11, 2012

Fondant Dinosaur Round-Up 2

It is time to do another round-up featuring your fondant dinosaur cupcakes! We left off our round-up here and we have been joyfully hearing from more and more of you. We tried our best to post these in the order that they appeared, if we missed yours, please let us know.

1. Shared on flickr by Melinda from Fantasy Cupcakes in the UK:

We love how she added spots on some of the dinosaurs and those eyes, you just get lost in them! A great set and she even made dinosaur bones and prints.

2. Posted by Kim M. Byers from the Celebration Shoppe blog in Ohio:

There are the dinosaur cake toppers she made!

Cole is one lucky birthday boy!

You have to visit the blog for the full effect - the dessert table, the dino-ROAR party ideas, and the decorations! Great colour co-ordination and attention to details.

3. Posted by Sandi Oh from Oh, just put a cupcake in it.... in Minnesota:

So many dinosaur cupcakes! Once again, we love the added touch of patterns on the dinosaurs. They turned out really good and she made a volcano cake:

Do you want to see something cool? Sandi also posted a video showing the volcano eruption using dry ice.

4. Posted by Christine from Pure Joy Events in DC:

Here is the full post about their DinoFOUR Birthday party. It looked like a lot of fun, we would have loved to do a dinosaur hunt as a kid!

Love how the cake stands are decorated with a grass border. The cupcakes are from Georgetown Cupcakes, you may have heard about their show on TLC, DC Cupcakes?

5. Posted by Netty from Babycakes in New York:

We hope that Louis loved them!

Grinning T-Rexes make us grin too! Nom!

6. Photo shared by Carol Delp from facebook:

Smooth frosting for the cake and great use of icing for the nest too! I thought the eggs were jellybeans or candy, but Carol confirmed that they were also made from fondant.

7. Photo shared by Stephanie Bouffiou from facebook:

Smiley dinosaurs, nice and neat grass frosting too. We know how tiring piping lots of tiny grass can be, so great job! What flavours are the cupcakes? We see two colours...

8. Photo shared by Darlene Grucci Darden from facebook:

Great photo! Volcano and dinosaurs for Sean's birthday.

9. Photo shared by Auradell from the comments below. Visit her blog, she also made an amazing guitar cake!

This guy is ready to party!! Such a cute hat!

Thank you to everyone for sharing! It looks like most boys turning 3 or 4 are really into dinosaurs! We like seeing that our dinosaur tutorials are being found useful, so don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions or suggestions for future tutorials. =)

How: T-Rex Cupcake Topper

Since I did one for our spiky friends, here's a tutorial for sharp tooth!

Fondant Tyrannosaurs Rex

Rolled fondant
Gel paste colours
Clean toothpicks
Water
Brown or black sprinkles/jimmies
A rolling pin
A knife

1. If you are lucky enough to have coloured fondant, then you can skip these steps! Unless you want white-coloured T-Rexes, you will have to dye your white fondant. Get the gel paste in the colours you want and use a clean toothpick to dab into the gel.
2. Transfer the gel from the toothpick onto the fondant. Knead and roll until the fondant is completely coloured. Please do not double-dip the toothpick, use a new one if you need more gel for a darker shade.
   
   
   
3. There are 6 parts to making a T-Rex. You will need to make the head, body, arms, and legs separately. The body is almost in the shape of a triangle. There is the narrow and pointy tail, but the rest of the body remains the same size.
   
   
   
4. You will need to use a sharp knife to cut the mouth on the head. One sharp cut will do, then gently open the mouth. Fill the mouth with white coloured fondant.
   
   
   
5. Attach the arms and legs to the body. Use a small dab of water if you need to. The arms on a T-Rex are tiny and short! =)
   
   
   
6. Using a sharp tip or knife, etch in the teeth. Create a zig-zag pattern along the center of teeth. Add a sprinkle or jimmy to create eyes. Then, carefully attach the head onto the body of your T-Rex. Use a tiny dab of water if you need to. Set it aside to dry.
   
   

   My! What GRReat teeth you have!

Fondant Dinosaur Round-Up

This is so cool! Not only do I have readers and followers of my blog, I have readers and followers that write to me and share their creations with me!

For that, I am truly grinning from cheek to cheek.

Here is a round-up of bakers who were inspired by our dinosaur cupcakes and our tutorial:

Pauline from Malaysia, she also posts her baked goods on Pauline's Cakes 'N' Bakes. Here is the link to her Frolicking Dinosaur Cake:

Rachael from South Australia, she has a website showcasing all of her custom cakes, jnr cakes. Here is the link to her gallery that include her Prehistoric birthday cupcakes:

Can you believe that this was Erin's first fondant project? She even homemade the marshmallow fondant and created these adorable smiling stegosauruses for her 5-year-old!

These cuties are made by Heather from Stepford Life. Her rrrroooooaring good pterodactyl and brontosaurus:

Here are the ones Stefanie and her husband made for their son's second birthday, it was her first time working with fondant!!

Thank you to Pauline, Rachael, Erin, Heather, and Stefanie for sharing! Your e-mails brightened up my day! So please, don't be shy! If you want to share your creations with me, send me a note!

How: Stegosaurus Birthday Cake

My favourite little cousin was born on New Year's Eve and I asked him what kind of birthday cake he would want. My aunt was whispering and nudging for a chocolate cake, but Justin politely asked for a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, decorated with dinosaurs. Done and done!

I can tell that Justin will be a good baker when he grows up. Justin occasionally helps me out in the kitchen. He is very good at using the ice-cream scoop to evenly distribute cupcake batter, keeping an eye on the oven, and taste-testing. This year, he made a fondant snowman for one of his cupcakes.

Fondant Stegosaurus

Rolled fondant
Gel paste colours
Clean toothpicks
Water
Brown or black sprinkles/jimmies
A rolling pin
A knife

1. If you are lucky enough to have coloured fondant, then you can skip these steps! Unless you want white-coloured dinosaurs, you will have to dye your white fondant. Get the gel paste in the colours you want and use a clean toothpick to dab into the gel.
2. Transfer the gel from the toothpick onto the fondant. Knead and roll until the fondant is completely coloured. Please do not double-dip the toothpick, use a new one if you need more gel for a darker shade.
   
3. I prefer having the plates and spikes a different colour than the body, so I will dye two colours for each Stegosaurus!
4. To make the body of the Stegosaurus, roll out this hill shape: a pointy end for the tail, a round end for the head. The body should be thicker than the head and the tail. It kind of looks like a fat slug:
   
5. Roll out four square-like shapes for the front and back legs. Attach them onto the body.
   
6. Using the rolling pin, roll your fondant smooth and flat. It should be about 2-3mm thick. With your fondant cutter or knife, cut out a long rectangular shape. Trim it so that it is not longer than the Stegosaurus' body that you made.
   
7. Again, using a fondant cutter or knife, cut out small triangles. This will create the back plates:
   
8. Carefully lift the plates and using a tiny dab of water, adhere it to the back of the Stegosaurus:
   
9. Create 3-4 fondant spikes or use long sprinkles for the spikes on the tail.
   
10. Lastly, take two sprinkles or jimmies to make eyes. You can also make a mouth using a thin knife:
    

Bonus! Fondant Water Creature

Rolled fondant
Gel paste colours
Clean toothpicks
Water
Brown or black sprinkles/jimmies
A rolling pin
A knife

1. It is basically the same concept as the Stegosaurus above - except you do three parts. You will need to make the tail, body, and long neck separately:
   
2. Make sure you make the tail and long neck longer than it needs to be. Why? Because they will need be submerged in the cake.
   
3. After making these parts, leave it out to dry for at least an hour so that the fondant hardens. This will help keep the tail and neck standing in the cake (or 3 cupcakes).
   

Ta-da! Some kind of water creature slash dinosaur!
I'm sure it is related to the Stegosaurus...

What? Stegosaurus and water relative can have birthday cake too!
Happy Birthday Justin!!!