How to make cupcake stencils

by Nicole Weston, Posted Dec 15th 2006 @ 7:03AM

While I enjoy the flavor of a good frosting, I find that it can often overwhelm a cupcake, especially with cupcake bakeries pushing the trend towards really piling it on. Once there is more frosting than cake, it's time to cut back. As a result, I often opt for glazing cupcakes with chocolate or a powdered sugar glaze to make things simpler and maintain a good cake-to-frosting ratio. Another option is to just use a simple dusting of powdered sugar. Sprinkles don't really adhere to this type of cupcake topping, but by using a stencil, cut out of a stiff piece of cardstock or other thick paper, you can easily dress them up.

For this design, I used a simple line design and dusted the cupcakes with a mixture of cocoa powder and cinnamon, but anything that will create a color contrast will work well. If you are going to use a sticker buttercream-type frosting, you can use colored sugars with the stencil to make designs that way, but it's best to keep the frosting level and not pile it on to ensure a clear pattern.

Filed Under: Food Porn, Feast Your Eyes, Ingredients, How To, Methods
Tags: bake, baking, cake, cakes, comfort food, cupcake, cupcakes, decorate, design, food porn, frosting, sprinkles, stencil, sugar