Ladybug Cupcakes

I made these ladybug cupcakes to go with The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake for a baby shower. I love to make cupcake toppers like this because they add a fun flair to a cupcake for a party. Follow these steps to make your own ladybug cupcake toppers!

Roll out balls of red

Use a standard amount of red fondant so your ladybugs are all roughly the same size. If it is humid or you work quickly, you may leave them uncovered. Otherwise, cover them with plastic wrap so they don't dry out while waiting for embellishment.

Attach the head to the body

After you've rolled out your ladybug heads using black fondant, attach them to the red bodies. If your bodies are still tacky, you can add the black directly to the body. If they have dried a bit, use royal icing, sugar glue, or melted candy melts to connect the head to the body. Use a small gum paste tool to press a line down the middle of each body.

Leaves!

Because this is Eric Carle-themed, you will want to have some striations in your green fondant. To do this, add some white to your green and mix only slightly. You may also add yellow for variety. Use a gum paste rose leaf cutter for cutting. The cutter is is a plunge cutter, so you may press it to embellish the leaf. However, I chose not to use that feature for this project. Eric Carle leaves need a less realistic approach, so I used a gum paste tool to press a single line down the middle.

Embellish

Now let's make those little ladybugs really look like ladybugs. It is up to you how much you want to embellish. Should they have eyes? Do you just want them to have spots? I chose to add spots only and lay them on their leaves. These cupcakes were about completing the theme, not about being truly realistic ladybugs. Once I laid them on their leaves, I let them dry in their flower formers so that the leaf would retain a curved shape when it was placed on top of the cupcake.