Cowboy cupcakes
(Image credit: Future)

Do your kids love cowboys? If you're throwing a special cowboy themed birthday party, you have to give these a go. All you need is to assume modelling paste/fondant, which can be bought in most supermarkets in the cake decorating section, a steady hand, a little patience, and lots of imagination. Victoria says: 'I used white modelling paste/fondant and coloured it myself with Sugarflair food colours. Packs of coloured fondant are available in the supermarket if you don’t want to colour yourself.'

Ingredients

  • 1x batch of our basic cupcake recipe
  • 1x batch of vanilla buttercream icing
  • 100g blue modelling paste
  • 100g white fondant
  • 60g brown fondant for the head
  • 30g light brown fondant for the chin
  • 30g skin tone fondant
  • 10g red fondant
  • 40g grey fondant
  • Silver lustre dust
  • White alcohol for painting
  • Black sugar pearls for the eyes
  • Dusky pink petal dust for rosy cheeks

Step 1

Make up a batch of our basic cupcakes and allow to cool. Whip up our classic vanilla buttercream and either pipe a swirl onto the cakes or spread a layer with a palette knife.




Step 2

Roll the blue modelling paste and cut 12x 68mm scalloped circles and pop them on a drying sponge or greaseproof paper. Roll the white fondant and cut 12x 58mm plain circles and with a brush of water stick onto the blue scalloped circles.



Step 3

Draw a cowboy hat on a piece of paper. Draw it to 45mm wide and 28mm high and then cut it out to use as a template. Roll the dark brown fondant out and cut 4 cowboy hats.




Step 4

Cut one star for each hat and paint it silver using the silver lustre and a touch of white alcohol.

Roll the skin tone fondant and cut 4x 35mm circles, then, using the 60mm circle cookie cutter, cut a section away from the top to place the hat into.

Roll the dark brown fondant and cut four small triangles for the hair and stick on with a brush of water.

Stick 2 black pearls to each head for the eyes and make a smile using the smile tool or the edge of a cutter. Brush the cheeks with a teeny touch of dusky pink petal dust.

Place the hat into position and stick on with a brush of water. Roll 2 long thin sausages and twist them together for the trim on the hat. Once twisted, cut into half, trim to size and stick onto the hat with a brush of water.

Step 5

Roll the red fondant and cut a triangle for the neck scarf. For the ties, roll 2 tiny sausage shapes, squash at one end and pinch the other to a point. Stick the scarf and ties onto the topper with a brush of water.






Step 6

Roll the dark brown fondant and cut a long 25mm wide strip. Using the plain nozzle, cut a hole out of one end and stick along the centre of the topper with a brush of water. 

Roll the grey fondant out and cut 4 scalloped ovals. Emboss ‘Cowboy’ onto each oval with the clear stamp and stick the oval to the centre of the belt. Paint silver using the silver lustre and white alcohol. Don’t worry if it looks streaky, once it’s dry, brush over with a clean brush and it will even out the colour.



Step 7

Roll the dark brown fondant and cut 4 plain ovals. Roll the light brown and cut 2 plain ovals trimming the section off each end for the chin. Stick on with a brush of water.

Mark the nose with the balling tool or the end of a teaspoon and add a smile with the smile tool or edge of a circle cutter. Add the black pearls for the eyes.

Roll the red fondant and cut a thin strip for the nose band. Mark with a sharp knife to create the pattern. Stick along the top of the nose with a brush of water.

For the ears, cut a square and cut in half. Fold the triangle in half and glue to the top of the head with a touch of water.

For the mane, roll and cut long strips of light brown fondant. Trim triangles from one edge and stick along the back of the horses’ neck with a brush of water. Stick 2 triangles at the top of the head between the ears for the fringe.



Step 8

Cowboy cupcakes

(Image credit: Future)

Pop the finished toppers onto the iced cupcakes.



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Victoria Threader
Recipes Writer

Victoria Threader is 'the queen of cupcakes' and a contributing Recipe Writer at GoodTo. Not only can she bake delicious cupcakes, she can decorate them too - with each of Victoria’s cupcakes topped with handmade edible toppers. Some of her most popular cupcakes include: rainbow cupcakes, hidden shape cupcakes and even giant cupcakes.