Summertime Sizzlin' Barbecue Cupcake Tutorial

May is National Barbecue Month, so what better way to anticipate the beginning of summer and the start of grillin’ season than with a BBQ fondant cupcake for upcoming evenings?!

Let’s get cooking with these fondant cupcake toppers.

Materials needed:

• Brown, maroon, ivory, red, green, yellow, grey and black fondant
• Fondant rolling pin and 1/8″ guide rings
• 1/4″ wooden dowels
• Small and large circle cutter
• Round decorating tip #12
• Small modeling stick
• Knife tool
• Precision knife
• Raw spaghetti
• Water/edible glue and brush
• Vegetable shortening
• Silver shimmer dust and brush
• Black edible pen
• Brown soft gel paste

Step 1:

Roll brown fondant out thick with the rolling pin and wooden dowels as guides. Cut out a small circle with the round cutter.

Step 2:

Utilize your fingers to round out the surface and perimeter of the brown fondant circle. Dip your fingers in a bit of vegetable shortening, if necessary, to smooth it out.

Step 3:

With the small modeling stick, make little indentations throughout the entire surface, including the sides, of the brown fondant circle. Once complete, shape the fondant a bit with your fingers to resemble a hamburger patty.

Step 4:

Utilize the knife tool to make a couple of indentations on the fondant hamburger patty to resemble grill marks. Repeat these steps to make an additional patty.

Step 5:

Roll out the maroon fondant thick with the rolling pin and wooden dowels. Cut out a circle with round decorating tip #12.

Step 6:

Roll the fondant circle into a ball.

Step 7:

Roll the ball out onto your work surface a bit to form a sausage shape.

Step 8:

Utilize the knife tool to make a couple of indentations on the fondant sausage to resemble grill marks. Repeat these steps to make an additional sausage.

Step 9:

Roll out ivory fondant with the rolling pin and 1/8″ guide rings. Cut out a circle with the small round cutter.

Step 10:

Cut the ivory fondant circle in half with a precision knife, then roll each into balls.

Step 11:

With your fingers, shape each circle into a triangular shape to resemble a piece of cut chicken.

Step 12:

Roll out red fondant with the rolling pin and 1/8″ guide rings. Cut out a circle with the small round cutter. Cut the red fondant circle in half with a precision knife.

Step 13:

Roll each red semi-circle into balls to form mini tomatoes.

Step 14:

Roll green fondant with the rolling pin and 1/8″ guide rings. Cut out a circle with the small round cutter. Cut the green fondant circle in half with a precision knife.

Step 15:

Roll each green semi-circle into balls, then form them into teardrop shapes. Mold them to resemble sliced green peppers.

Step 16:

Roll yellow fondant with the rolling pin and 1/8″ guide rings. Cut out a circle with the small round cutter. Cut the yellow fondant circle in half with a precision knife, then roll each yellow semi-circle into mini yellow tomato balls.

Step 17:

Cut a couple of pieces of raw spaghetti (approximately 2″ long). Carefully insert it through the center of the chicken and vegetable fondant pieces by gently twisting them through. Glue all the pieces together. With the knife tool, make a few indentations to resemble grill marks.

Step 18:

Roll out black fondant with the rolling pin and 1/8″ guide rings. Cut out a large circle with the appropriate round cutter.

Step 19:

Roll out grey fondant on your work surface to create a long, spaghetti-like shape. Fit it around the perimeter of the black circle fondant and trim it to size. Roll out additional pieces to form the pieces of the grill and trim them to fit within the circle. Allow them to dry a bit to harden.

Step 20:

Brush silver shimmer dust over the grey circle and grill pieces.

Step 21:

Glue the silver circle and interior grill pieces to the black fondant circle.

Step 22:

With the edible marker, draw black marks over the previously made indentations on all the food to highlight the grill marks.

Step 23:

Mix a tiny bit of brown soft gel paste with water. Brush the mixture over the food pieces to give them color and sheen.

Step 24:

Glue all the food to the top of the grill topper. Allow the fondant to dry prior to adorning your cupcakes!

What is your favorite summer cookout food?