Bumble bee cake decorations
(Image credit: Future)

How cute are these bumble bee cake decorations? Made with modelling paste and fondant, you can rustle these cake toppers up in no time.

We think they'd look perfect flying around a large cake or on individual cupcakes.

Spaghetti is used to make these creative bees look as though they are flying above your cake.

Ingredients

  • 120g yellow modelling paste
  • 5g black fondant
  • 10g purple modelling paste
  • White sugar pearls
  • Yellow nonpareils
  • A strip of rice paper
  • 4 strands dried spaghetti
  • 2 candy melts or white chocolate pieces
  • Dusky pink petal dust

Step 1

Roll 12 x 10g of yellow modelling paste into a ball and taper one end slightly for the back of the bee. Remember to cover the paste that you’re not using with cling film so it doesn’t dry out.

Step 2

Using the scissors, cut half the tip of a straw away so you are left with a semi circle shape at the end. Push this into the paste to create the smile. Using the water brush, add a dot of water where you’d like the eyes to go and push the white sugar pearls into the paste.

Step 3

Using the black edible ink pen, draw pupils onto the sugar pearls.

Step 4

Roll the black fondant out to 1mm and cut thin strips for stripes. The black fondant can be very sticky so don’t add water unless you really need to, and if you find you need it, add just a touch with the water brush. Stick 2 stripes around the body and trim on the underside of the body.

Step 5

For the wings, use a small rectangle of rice paper, brush down the centre with the water brush and then bend the paper in half. With the scissors, trim the top open end to a slight heart shape, brush the outsides of the wings slightly with the water brush and bend the wings down gently to give them movement. When the wings are dry they will go hard again - this allows you to push the wings into the top of the body.

Step 6

Using the soft brush and the dusky pink petal dust, brush lightly on the cheeks. Make sure the paste is fully dry before you do this or the dust sticks and looks blotchy.

Step 7

Using the primrose cutter, cut 36 small flowers. If the paste gets stuck in the cutter, push it out with a soft brush - this way it won’t leave any marks on the paste. Emboss the centre by pushing the serrated cone tool into the centre of each flower.

Step 8

Add a dot of water to the centre of the flowers with the water brush and stick the yellow nonpareils into the middle.

Step 9

Ice the cupcakes with a Wilton 1M nozzle. Make the leaves with a Martha Stewart mould and stick the flowers and leaves to the front of the cupcakes.

Step 10

Melt the candy melts or white chocolate in the microwave on 10 second bursts until smooth. Break the spaghetti strands into 3 and dip one end into the chocolate, this will help the spaghetti stay in place. Push the chocolate end into the bumble bee. You can have them at funny angles to make them look like they are flying.

Step 11

Bumble bee cake decorations

(Image credit: Future)

Pop the finished bees into the cakes by pushing the spaghetti into the icing.

Victoria Threader
Recipes Writer

Victoria Threader is 'the queen of cupcakes' and a contributing Recipe Writer at GoodTo. Not only can she bake delicious cupcakes, she can decorate them too - with each of Victoria’s cupcakes topped with handmade edible toppers. Some of her most popular cupcakes include: rainbow cupcakes, hidden shape cupcakes and even giant cupcakes.