cupcake ideas?

[mightyh]

Help! I'm hoping all of you creative minds out there will come to my rescue once again. I'm still planning for a baby shower that's in a few weeks and am now thinking about cupcakes, specifically the decorating.

In Martha Stewarts' most recent Baby magazine, she shows ladybug (?) cupcakes--chocolate cupcakes where she cuts off the domed top, splits it in half and flips it to make the "wings" and then decorates all with icing and various candies to make antennae... that's just background.

I was wondering if I could do something similar to make a blanket with a baby's head sticking out.... I'd cut off the domed top and use part of it flipped as the blanket, ice one way. Then make a baby's head peeking out somehow (icing or otherwise, necco wafer maybe?).

What do you think? I've never done any cake decorating before, so would appreciate tips and/or ideas (even if they go a totally different direction than this) from all of you experts--on anything from how to tint icing, what type icing is best to use, which tips to use, how to make the sleeping baby in blanket look authetic, etc?

Also, could I make the cupcakes ahead and freeze them? Then ice them early the day of the shower?

Thanks for your time in helping me brainstorm ideas!

[Beth]

Have you thought about making the round cupcake the baby's face and piping icing or using rolled fondant or marzipan to make the edges of the blanket at the bottom? You could even pipe the blanket stich on the edges. Try licorice whips or toasted coconut to make the peach fuzz hair or one perfect curl. You could use blue and green M&Ms for eyes, but I'm kind of stumped for mouths. If you want a nose, mini chocolate chips for nostrils, or maybe a pink grapefruit jelly belly for a blushing bump of a nose. Try a the candy aisle or a specialty shop for inspiration.

BTW, the ladybugs are really cute without cutting up the cupcakes and making them more complicated and more fragile. I pulled out a couple of pages from a magazine last year when my sister was PG. I'll see if I kind find them for other ideas.

[JJeannette]

How about cinnamon candies for the mouths? Or this time of the year there should be all sorts of heart shaped candies available. You could also use the fondant or marzipan to make bundled babies in blankets---color some pink and shape into small balls, color more for blankets, roll out, shape like a log, dent for head, place ball in dent, play with it until you like it--toothpicks in food coloring will color features on face---. There's also the chocolate "plastic"---melted chocolate (or white chocolate) combined with corn syrup---makes a "dough" that can be rolled and shaped much like fondant.

[mightyh]

Thanks for your help.

Where would I get/make marzipan/ fondant? Are there any tricks to working with it? Do I color it the same way I do icing (with food coloring)?