Princess Cake Decorating 101

When I saw this cake online, I fell in love. It was perfect for my birthday, as I've mentioned before. The glass slipper in this photo however, is studded with edible diamonds and expensive professionalism, something this newspaper reporter could not afford.

But anyone can make a shoe out of a cupcake and a few other cost effective treats.

My godmother, Sandy, recently posted this photo of high heel cupcakes on my Facebook, just in time for my glass slipper substitute.




But let's start with the base of the cake, which my friend Kayla was so helpful for. We added just a couple drops of royal blue food coloring to the white frosting to get this Cinderella blue color. Then take a mini metal spatula, and spread the the entire top of the cake with blue. Spread white frosting around the sides.

Tip from Kayla: dip a paper towel in a cup of hot water and go over the top and sides with the towel. This smooths the frosting out perfectly and gives it a professional look.

You'll want a border around your cake for prettiness. A star tip is best for this. Go around the entire cake to make a star border. For this one, I did a kind of "streamer" border. Small dips and waves that might look like the bottom of Cinderella's dress, if you're optimistic. You'll want to do this on the bottom of the cake, too. (I think I forgot that part!)

I just bought these new cake decorating stencils, which are awesome. Simply press the stencil onto the cake, it will leave a trace, and go over it with your frosting using a 3 or 5 point tip. So cool and easy to use.




Now for your glass slipper. Place a cupcake on your cake, without a cupcake wrapper. Frost the entire cupcake, including the sides, by making big stars one by one. Frost around the bottom edges so you cannot see any cupcake. (Make sure someone who loves frosting gets to eat this!)

Next, place a Pepperidge Farm Milano pirouette into the cake where the heel should be, stick it in so that its the height you want it to be from the cupcake. Frost this with the star technique as well, covering any part of the pirouette that is showing.

Then, stick a Pepperidge Farm Milano cookie so that it sits diagonally from the top of the pirouette to the top edge of the cupcake. Frost this completely, also. Covering the cookies with frosting makes it look more like a slipper, at least that's what I was going for.

Last, pour white sparkling sprinkles or sugar crystals onto the whole high heel. Thus you have a diamond-studded glass slipper fit for a princess.






High heel cupcakes are great for a lot of occasions: birthday parties, bachelorette parties, bridal showers, girl's night out, mid-week pick-me-ups, you name it. Like in the picture, you can get all kinds of colors and designs. It's like getting the shoes you couldn't afford to buy, and then eating them. What's better than that?

And if you'd rather have someone do the work for you, you know who to call ;)

I also have an obscene amount of princess decorating products, but so far they've only been for my enjoyment. If your little (or adult!) girl's birthday is coming up, princess treats are Princess with a Mixer's specialties!