These cupcake toppers are royal icing transfers. This is an easy way to add detail to any dessert. They look difficult but are really quite easy to make. They can be time consuming but fortunately can be made well in advance. Kept in an airtight container, they will last for months.
The inspiration for the open seashells came from these beautiful butterflies by Haniela. She has wonderful tutorials, not only for the butterflies, but for many other projects.
For the cupcakes I used one of my favorite recipes from Cook's Illustrated. Ultimate chocolate cupcakes with ganache filling! These cupcakes are very sturdy and easily support the weight of the frosting and royal icing decorations. For the icing, I used the American Buttercream from Glorious Treats. Another one of my favorite sites for inspiration and instruction.
To get started you will need:
Royal icing in both piping and flood consistency
A template printed out and resized to fit your project
First affix wax paper or parchment over your template
Next with piping consistency royal icing outline the image.
Then use piping consistency royal icing to add the detail to the shell. I used a different color but white on white is also beautiful. Let this dry for several hours.
You can use the shells flat and place them either horizontally or vertically on the cupcake. If you wish to use them flat let them dry overnight. To join them for 3D shells it is fine to wait just a few hours.
To join the shells, you will need a place to glue them together at an angle with icing. I used the side of a gift box. You can also use thick paper folded in half.
Pipe a layer of icing to join the two shell halves and place a large pearl sugar bead in the middle if you like. Let dry overnight.
When completely dry peel, off the wax paper and this is the final product!
I hope you enjoy these seashells! You can do so many things with royal icing transfers. This is a great way to use up leftover royal icing. So experiment! The possibilities are endless.
