Nina Evans Williams, of Mon Cottage Cupcakes, showcases different techniques by showing you how to decorate her beautiful Vintage Frame Floral Cupcakes. In this easy to follow guide she will take you through all the steps so you can  make your own floral cupcake toppers. Also this how to is suitable for even the most novice cake decorator!
In 15 steps she shows you how deceptively simple it is to create these 2 designs of beautiful cupcakes. Design 1 features a gold frame, cherry blossoms and a wood effect background. Design 2 is a stylish painted background of rose blossoms contrasted with a white lustre frame.
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Step 1
Roll out sugarpaste to about 3mm thick and mark with lines using the veining tool. Start making oval marks with the veining tool to make it look like knots in wood.
Step 2
Carry on marking with lines using the veining tool so that you have a realistic cut wood effect.
Step 3
Cut out round discs using the round cutter and leave to dry. Dab a tiny amount of blue ProGel into the paint palette and mix with a tiny amount of vodka to create a wash. Paint the disc and you will see that the colour will ingrain into the wood effect and make it more authentic.
Step 4
Choose your frame mould, I chose the square frame mould. Dab a bit of cornflour into it. This helps to remove the frame later on with ease. Tap the excess cornflour out. Using your finger, squeeze the white sugarpaste into the frame mould making sure that there is no sugarpaste sticking out of the frame. The frame should pop out easily for you. Leave to dry.
Step 5
Mix some gold dust with a little bit of alcohol. Paint the gold onto the frame and leave to dry, you should find that one coat should be enough.
Step 6
Roll out some pink sugarpaste to about 1mm thickness. Using the various sizes of blossom cutter, cut out a series of flowers.
Step 7
Using the petunia veiner, place the cut blossom in the middle making sure that it fits into the veiner correctly, not at an angle. Pull the top of the veiner down gently (this is the bit that sticks out) without squeezing too much and you should be left with a pretty flower.
Step 8
Using the pink edible pen, mark lines from the middles of the flowers out as seen in the photo. Add a tiny dab of glue to the centres of the flowers and add some yellow dragees. You won’t need many for each flower.
Step 9
After the gold frames have dried, dab underneath with a bit of glue and stick them to the wooden effect topper. Then roll out the brown sugarpaste into tiny thin sausages. Twist the little sausages to give them a little kink to look like cherry blossom twigs. Add a tiny amount of glue to the corner of the frame and stick the twigs onto it. Stick the different blossoms on randomly. As you can see, I used one large flower, two medium and three small.
Step 10
Dab a tiny amount of glue to the corner of the frame and stick the twigs onto it. Stick the different blossoms on randomly to create a natural look.
Step 11
Roll out sugarpaste to about 3mm thickness and cut out circles using the round cutter. Leave to dry. Then add a tiny bit of pink, green, yellow and red ProGels into different parts of the palette. Add a little bit of alcohol to each and mix.
Step 12
Randomly paint dots of pink to the disc. If there is too much alcohol, rub off excess onto kitchen roll and add a tiny bit more gel colour. Paint the rest of the discs red and yellow and add the leaves in green. Leave to dry.
Step 13
To add a bit of contrast, add black detail to the flowers and add leaves using a black edible pen.
Step 14
Make frames in white fondant and spray with PME Pearl Edible Lustre Spray. Place it onto the dry painted design where it looks best and glue into place.
Step 15
Pipe your cupcakes as usual using buttercream, I wanted them flat so I piped the rose effect. Gently place the toppers on top of the buttercream.
