Fondant Fairy Tutorial

Thanks to a few people who have urged me to share the process of making a fondant fairy plaque, I’ve created a photo tutorial. Enjoy..and let me know if you have any questions :)

I found a fairy image I liked by Googling “fairy coloring pages.”. I’ve also done several ‘Rainbow magic fairy’ cakes in the past. Print at least two copies to scale for your cake.

In this photo, you see the bottom of an 8 inch cake pan. I made a seven inch round parchment circle as a template for the background of my fairy plaque. I cut out my image to make sure she would fit on the background. The seven inch plaque leaves room for a buttercream border.

First step is to cut out your fondant background using your parchment template and an exacto knife.

Double check to make sure your fairy image will fit nicely on your background (if you’re crazy like me!)

Remember you printed multiple images of your fairy. Use one of them to cut out the shape of the wings only. This will be the first shape to attach to the background.

Cut out the shape of the wings using your exacto knife. If you think of this as a layered decorative plaque, this is the first layer.

I had an impression mat (from my daughter’s Easy Bake Oven toy) ha ha, so I pressed the wings on the mat to add an interesting design. (Use what you have, or leave the wings smooth :)

Attach your wings to the background with a thin coat of water and gently mark the spot where the fairy body will be. (I ran my straight edge around the body outline gently..you’ll see why in the next picture.

Okay, this picture is blurry. But I took a small offset spatula and depressed the area where I planned to add the body of the fairy so it would be flush.

Cut out the full body outline of the fairy (minus wings) and cut it out of flesh colored fondant using your exacto knife.

Here she is all cut out. I took a toothpick and marked some guidelines to help me later.

Lie her body on the wings and see how she looks. I think her head was sagging down so I made an adjustment that you’ll see in the next photo…improvise!

I added an oval head shape beneath her head to bring her flush with the rest of the decoration.

Add a light coat of water to the back of your fairy body and put her in place. Feel free to lay the paper template on top of your decoration to make sure you have her limbs positioned properly. Adjust her and press her down into place.

Now for the next layer, cut out her dress only from your paper templates. use that template to cut the dress out of fondant and layer some details.

At this stage, I have attached the white fondant dress and some dimensional details. To add the pink pearls, I make a small dent with a wooden tool, add liquid fondant to the dent, then press the pearl in the dent.

Okay, the fairy looks kind of crazy at this stage :) I used my paper template to shape eyes, eye brows and lips to the right dimensions. I then attached them to the face with water. (It’s helpful to grab them from behind with a toothpick and wet the back and press them in place.)

At this stage, I’ve added green irises, and black pupils (with the food writer in the picture.) I’ve also fashioned her bangs and headband. I also lightly dusted her cheeks and wings with pink luster dust.

This picture shows my white liquid fondant pen sold by Wilton. Don’t laugh at how beat up it looks! I add a lot of detail to my fairy with this pen. I add dots on her dress, headband, shoes and wings.

Here’s my fairy after some edible pearls and fondant dots have been added. The beauty is you can make her as decorative or simple as you like

She needs a wand. I cut a small length of thin floral wire.

Wrap it around a pencil, thin dowel or paint brush to make a spiral shape.

Roll a fat piece of fondant and use a small star cutter (or hand cut it!)

Stick your wire into it firmly and cut the wire to the length you need.

Plunge the end of the wire into your plaque near her hand (while it is still soft.)

If you like, dust her with a bit of silver lustre dust and a soft paint brush. I dusted her headband, dress ruffles, wings and wand. (I let her liquid fondant dots dry for a few hours first!)

This step gives her some nice sparkle. I’ll finish her with a personalized message out of tappits for a cake this weekend. But that is optional.

You can attach the finished plaque to the top of your cake with a thin layer of buttercream. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and message me with any questions! xo

The Cake Fairy
http://www.facebook.com/cakefairynj