Why do my icing images go floppy on cupcakes?

Edible images (the icing kind) are made of sugar. Most of the time, they are quite soft, and flexible. 
Once they are placed on top of your icing, they tend to mould to the icing, making them easier to cut and eat.

However, for presentation purposes, this isn't always the most beautiful thing to look at - especially on cupcakes!

So, how do cake decorators get their cupcakes to look so darn good?

They use fondant.

It's an extra step they take when using edible images on their cupcakes, to create a very gorgeous end result.

Fondant can be purchased from your local Coles or Woolies, in small packs (in the cake section)

To achieve this yourself, you will need:

Fondant (not much,  a 500g pack is plenty)
Rolling pin (or something to roll out the fondant to be quite thin)
Baking paper (or something non stick to stop the fondant sticking to your bench)
Circle cutter (use a glass cup if you have no cookie cutters)
*cornflour helps prevent the fondant from sticking to the bench, rolling pin & cutter


All you need to do, is:

Step 4:
Cut 4cm circles (some people like to go slightly larger, so that's up to you)
* 4cm is based on our 4cm toppers - the size you want to cut the fondant will depend on what toppers youpurchase and how much excess you want to see behind the topper)

Step 5:
Pat/or brush a tiny bit of water or sugar glue (water and icing sugar) onto the fondant disc... the goal is to make them sticky, not wet. 

Step 6:
Lay your edible image onto the fondant disc - tap down gently, not to firm that you alter the shape of your disc

Step 7:
Let them air dry for some time - an hour is good.

Time management tip:
Prepare your discs, before you bake your cupcakes.
Then by the time your cupcakes are ready to be decorated, the discs should be firm enough to move off the baking paper without you accidently altering their nice round shape.