Cupcakes are really popular right now. Today a food that used to be a staple of children’s parties is now seen at weddings as part of the menu, they are given as gifts and they are for sale in all good bakeries. Many people are making their own cupcakes at home and decorating them themselves for that personal touch. If you are interested in fancy cupcake decoration here are some of the points that you will want to think about.

Start with Icing

This is the basis of all good cupcake decoration and when you get it right you are halfway there. The icing provides you with a base for the decorations and looks and tastes amazing. You can go as crazy as you like with the icing by using different food colourings and flavorings to make it even better. Most people will use a basic butter-cream icing for cupcakes, which is:

4oz / 100g of good quality butter which has been beaten until it is soft mixed with 4oz / 100g of icing sugar. Mix the icing sugar into the beaten butter one tablespoon at a time to avoid lumps and you will have a super smooth icing that you can spread or pipe onto the top of your cupcakes. If you want to change the taste of the icing use flavorings such as: chocolate, vanilla or lemon. When you have your icing on the top of your cupcake it is time to think about the decoration.

Popular Decorations

Some of the most popular types of decorations for cupcakes are – pieces of fruit, sugar paste or fondant shapes, edible glitter, rice paper toppers, hundreds and thousands and sweets. These can be placed evenly on the cupcakes or scattered over them, depending on what type you are using. You should always make sure that the decorations that you put on your cupcakes are edible, especially if you are making them for children. If you are making and decorating cupcakes for a special occasion, like a wedding, you might want to make decorations that go with the theme.

Use Your Imagination

With cupcake decorations the sky is the limit, so you should use your imagination when you are making them. You can go wild with different colours and mix things up with homemade decorations. Many people will check out websites with cupcakes on them to gather ideas and don’t forget what you see in bakeries. You can make whatever you like and one thing is for certain, they are bound to taste fantastic, so try some decorations on cupcakes out soon.

Image credits: xsomnis and whitneyinchicago.

Author Bio: Tom Reynolds is a creative writer and twitter maniac at Cooks Paraphernalia. He helps to connect with communities interested in design cookware such as moomin mugs and iitala glassware. Cooks Paraphernalia sells its product all across the UK, offering affordable design products and every day kitchenware.