Hot Dog Cupcakes

Today's project is in the cake decorating genre!  These hot dog cupcakes were what Nathan wanted for his birthday this week.  Although they look impressive, they are super easy to make.

First we'll cover the hot dog itself.  If you have yet to discover it, I made these using fondant.  You can buy it at any craft or cake supply store, or even in the Walmart craft section.  It is a sugar product that is entirely edible, but I think of it as playdoh for adults.

The first thing you need to do is to color the fondant.  I use the Wilton color gels.  I paint the colors onto a flattened piece of fondant and then work it into the fondant by pulling and squishing, kind of like kneading bread.  To get the desired finished color, mix different gels.  The beige bun color was achieved by using brown and a bit of orange.  The reddish hot dog color was a mixture of red, burgundy and brown.  The mustard was a yellow and orange combination.  You will need equal parts of the beige bun color and the reddish hot dog color.

To make the bun and hot dog, roll and form two of approximately the same size shapes.  To create the bun, using a knife, slice the cylinder about 75% of the way down.  Mark the top of your hot dog with three slashes and then place inside the bun.  For the mustard, simply roll out a thin long pieces and make "s" shapes across the top.

For the bakery looking icing on top, I say it again- get thee a 1M tip for your pastry bag.  Also available at craft stores the 1M gives that fluffy bakery finish that everyone loves.  Just start at the outer edge and make a spiral circle inward.  Ta dah!  Finished!

Here are all of the cupcakes headed off to school!

And here is my Nathan in his Nathan's Famous Hot Dog hat ready to deliver his goodies!

Check back next week for more about Nathan's Famous Hot Dog birthday bash!

I'll be linking up here: