The last time my mom and sister Allison came to town, we decided it would be fun to do some playing-around with my "Hello, Cupcake!" book. Allison picked the pattern and I set about icing the base coat on the cupcakes.
She chose butterflies! Using the template (not shown), we traced antennae and wings using dark chocolate and yellow Candy Melts.
Once the pieces had set, we put them together on top of the cupcakes and used chocolate icing to create their bodies. Here's my sister, working on her own cupcake.
Here's how my finished butterfly turned out:
LOVE how dragging the dark chocolate through the yellow makes really lifelike veins!
Allison and I were laughing the whole time because the chocolate icing we used for their bodies was a tad loose, and so the last bead always ended up looking like a stinger. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, I guess! :)
One tip the book suggested was to put M&M candies under the wings to lift them up a bit and make them look like they are fluttering, rather than just flat.
Here we are, my cupcake and me:
