Soldier cupcakes

I love these little soldiers. I think they're my favourite cakes I've made so far.

The base is a basic chocolate sponge cake, and they are covered in vanilla buttercream before the final soldier cupcake topper. 

They were really easy to make. I bought some gum tragacanth and some sugar flair colouring in paprika / flesh especially for the little faces. It was the first time I'd added gum tragacanth, inspired by the wonderful Victorious Cupcakes (via www.goodtoknow.co.uk) and I do think it made them a little more sturdy than the cupcake toppers I have made before. However, the shop bought sugarpaste I was using (Renshaws) already contained gum tragacanth in the ingredients. 

I added the gum tragacanth to the icing the night before rolling and cutting the icing and assembling the soldier cupcake toppers.

The brown, black and green took quite a bit of colour to get the dark shade I was looking for using sugarflair gels, so I was quite generous with the paprika / flesh too and it turned out to be far too intense so I had to add twice as much white icing to it and knead it all together. I've stored the remainder in a plastic bag in an airtight container so I have plenty for the next project. 

I added the gum tragacanth after the colour. I don't know if that's the right way but I read it on another blog, sorry I cannot remember which one. 

The first stage was cutting the circles out for the face and rolling the little ears and noses. I stuck them on using gin but have made a note to myself to invest in some edible glue. I'm such a cheapskate!

I gave them all a little smile using an icing nozzle before using the same circle cutter for the hats from the same icing as the camouflage cupcakes. I then cut thin strips out of green icing for the brim of the hats. 

Last thing I added eyes and tried to give each one a little character of his own. A few even got a bit of camouflage paint in the form of sugarflair's green powder dabbed on with a cotton bud.

The cute little soldier cupcake toppers were left overnight and added on to the buttercream swirls on top of the cupcakes before taking them to the party. I remembered too not to put the lid on the cake tin so the cupcakes don't sweat. This can lead to the cases coming away from the cake and ruining the whole effect. I did leave one box of cakes in the kitchen whilst cooking and they did start to peel so I will definitely remember to leave them in a cooler place next time before they get transported to their final party destination.

Related posts: Military (Army( Cake and Camouflage cupcakes