The Easter parade in NYC is a random affair. Like the song, it takes place on Fifth Avenue and draws all kinds of Easter headgear from the austere to the outrageous.One year I brought Teddy, one of my Shar Pei puppies to the parade. He looked so perverse in bunny ears, I just had to.
 |
| Teddy makes a new friend at the parade – Photo By Alan Kaplan |
After meeting up with my friends Wendy and Alan, Wendy promptly affixed her fabulous homemade hat on Teddy and presto, just like that, he was the grandest lady in the Easter parade.
 |
| Photo By Alan Kaplan |
Or at least I thought so.Ahh memories. After 10 years, I still miss Teddy 🙁 RIP my little angel. And that little cutie behind us in the picture. She’ll be starting Smith College in the Fall. Holy time goes by at warp speed!
There is no NYC Easter Parade for me this year in Germany so I made my own parade of hats, cupcake style.
- Cupcakes, your choice of flavor – I used the vanilla cupcake recipe from the Hello, Cupcake! book.
- Frosting, your choice of flavor – I used Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla buttercream Recipe.
- Colored Fondant (recipe follows)
- Large Round Fluted Cookie Cutter
- Small round cookies (I used a fake mini Oreo I found here in Germany)
- Large white sugar crystals
- Small flower cutters (or not if you are good at cutting shapes freehand)
- Sharp knife
- Colored pearls (or whatever decorations you like)
- Disco dust (of course!)
- 1 teaspoon clear drinking alcohol (I used vodka)
- Shortening and water for smoothing and affixing shapes to hats.
- Bake cupcakes and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Roll out fondant and cut out round shape.
- Flip the circle over and place a cookie in the middle.
- Flip over again and gently secure the fondant over the shape of the cookie.
- Cut out shapes from fondant, fashion bows, etc. Affix them to the hat by slightly moistening them with shortening or water.
- Decorate with pearls, dragees, sprinkles, etc. I just pushed the pearls in and for the most part they stayed put.
- Apply disco dust accents.
- You can make the toppers one day ahead. I stored them in a covered plastic container and put parchment in between them.
- When your Easter bonnet toppers are finished, make the buttercream and frost cupcakes.
- Dip or sprinkle the outside edges with sugar crystals.
- Place Easter bonnet topper on cupcake.
- Cut 2 strips of fondant for each cupcake and affix to either side for ribbons.
- 1/2 bag (1/2 pound) marshmallows (minis melt faster but you can use regular-sized ones as well.)
- 2 tablespoons of water
- 1 pound of powdered sugar
- Crisco or shortening
- plastic wrap or cling film
- Gel or paste food coloring
- Cover the inside of a heat safe bowl and a wooden spoon with Crisco or shortening.
- Place marshmallows and water in the bowl.
- Microwave the marshmallows for 30 seconds at a time stirring the mixture in between with the wooden spoon.
- When the mixture is the consistency of Marshmallow Fluff, stir in 3/4 of the powdered sugar one cup at a time.
- Cover your work surface with powdered sugar and cover your hands with Crisco or shortening.
- Dump the fondant on the sugared surface and knead the rest of the sugar in.
- Separate the fondant into different parts and tint as desired by adding a few drops of gel colors at a time and kneading it in until the color is evenly distributed and you get the color you want.
- Wrap each piece in plastic wrap until you use it.
- Wrap leftover fondant tightly in plastic cling film and store in a zip lock bag.
8 comments
What a lovely post! And Teddy's Easter bonnet is a sure show stopper! I've always wanted to make my own fondant. Thanks for the recipe!
oh my, these are beautiful. And teddy was definitely the grandest lady that year! He looks very preverse indeed!
LOL@Teddy!
Your fondant hats look so lovely!
Wonderful photos! Sorry that you had to say good-bye to your Teddy 🙁 Your Easter Bonnets are too cute and a wonderful cupcake topper.
Thanks ladies!
@ Joanne – good luck with your fondant. Keep a LOT of powdered sugar on hand. I always use more than I think I need.
@Sprinkle Bakes – Now you know why I have a crush on Biscuit. I am a total sucker for a squishy face!
Lora, your hat-topped cupcakes are simply lovely, and your Teddy was obviously a big lovable squishy friend. I really enjoyed all the pictures, but the one of you hugging him is my favorite- you are so pretty!
I am SO glad you posted this for a few reasons. One – your puppy is adorable! Two – these cupcakes are adorable! Three – I need to make some fondant this weekend and was searching for a recipe from a source that I could trust…and now here you are!
Wow beautiful cupcakes! Happy Easter.