Star Wars BB-8 Cupcakes

• Baking & Spices

  • 12 Chocolate chips
  • 12 Chocolate chips, mini
  • 1 Corn starch
  • 24 oz Frosting - i used savory sweet life's buttercream frosting, white
  • 1 Royal icing in orange and silver/grey - i used cake wiz's royal icing

• Bread & Baked Goods

  • 12 Cupcakes - see above, mini

• Desserts

  • 16 oz Fondant - i used the bearfoot baker's easy fondant

• Other

  • 3-inch biscuit cutter or glass
  • 12 Cupcakes in white or silver liners - i used a double batch of martha stewart's vanilla cupcakes
  • A piping bag w/ small tip
  • 12 White toothpicks, cut in half and black tips colored on in sharpie

Found on bakingmischief.com

Description

Directions

• If your mini cupcakes baked up so tall that they look too large for your bases, cut a bit off their bottoms, until they look appropriately head-sized. Set aside and make sure your work surface is crumb-free before you roll out your fondant.
• Sprinkle your work surface with a bit of corn starch and knead the fondant until it is pliable and easy to work with. If you are using marshmallow fondant, a quick (5-10 seconds) in the microwave can help speed things along. Just be careful. If left in too long, it will be HOT.
• Start with the heads. Because my fondant was a little dry, I rolled, cut and attached the fondant to the mini cupcakes a couple at a time. If your fondant is holding up well, go ahead and cut out all twelve at once. When your fondant is not in use, make sure to keep it in an air-tight container.
• Roll out fondant slightly thinner than 1/8 inch thick and cut out your three-inch disks. Take the mini cupcakes one at a time, frost the entire thing (sides included) lightly and lay a fondant disk over it. Carefully, smooth it down so there are no folds or bubbles. Cut the excess, leaving a little space around the edges and then pick up the covered mini cupcake and, using scissors, trim the rest of the excess.
• Press a chocolate chip into the top half of the head for the eye and a mini chocolate chip to the lower right. Use a little bit of royal icing in the socket to secure them. Complete the rest of the heads and set aside.
• Roll the remaining fondant to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 12 three-inch rounds.
• Spread frosting on top of each large cupcake. Your layer can be as thick or as thin as youd like it, but make sure not to put a heavy coat around the edges or the frosting may squeeze out. Cover frosting with the fondant and smooth. If your cupcakes dont have a huge dome on them and your fondant is too large, just cut it down with clean scissors (alternatively, you could just pile more frosting underneath to fill up the extra space). Finish all of the cupcakes and set aside.
• Using a piping bag and a small tip, pipe the orange designs on the base and head. I found it helpful to use a toothpick in the head and spin it as I piped the lines. You can get as complex as youd like. Im not super confident in my ability to pipe icing, so I kept things pretty simple.
• Switch to silver and pipe the insides of the gears and finish the head. Insert the toothpicks/antennae into the heads and let sit until the icing is dry (it wont take long). Dab a little frosting or royal icing where you want to attach the head. Place the head on the body and you are done!