How to Make Your Own Cake Toppers: 4 Tutorials with Step-by-Step Photos

No celebration is complete without a cake. Whether you make it yourself or order it from a professional, decoration always plays a special role. One option for cake design is cake toppers, which are currently at the peak of popularity.

You can easily make this decoration even at home, as it doesn't require any special, rare ingredients or expensive pastry equipment. In today's article, we'll look at how to make toppers, understand the difference between wafer paper and sugar paper, and answer the most frequently asked questions on the topic.

What is a cake topper?

A cake topper is a decoration that can be edible or inedible. You've probably seen a number representing the birthday child's age, or a figurine of the bride and groom on a wedding cake. Also popular for children's parties are toppers featuring characters from favorite cartoons or games.

Toppers are typically made from fondant, gingerbread, chocolate, and other materials. But one of the key components is the paper with the images. It comes in two types: sugar and wafer. Paper is usually ordered from specialty confectionery stores, but you can also make your own with a food printer.

Sugar paper is primarily distinguished by its rich and vibrant colors. So, if you need to brightly decorate your cake with cartoon character toppers, consider this option. It also has a sweet, slightly vanilla flavor. Sugar paper is quite sensitive to storage, so it is recommended to use it no more than 3 days before use.

Wafer paper is quite fragile and translucent, making it suitable for more delicate arrangements. It has absolutely no odor or taste. A particular advantage of wafer paper is that it is significantly cheaper than sugar paper.

Sugar paper toppers

If you want to decorate a holiday cake easily yet effectively, sugar paper is a wonderful tool. Creating decorations with it requires little effort or time, yet you can bring any of your fantasies to life. This cake is sure to wow all your guests and be remembered for a long time.

Ingredients:

• Mastic – 150 g
• Water – 50 ml
• Starch - a pinch
• Sugar pictures – 5-10 pcs. (depending on their size)

Cooking time: 1 hour

Number of servings: 5-10 pcs. (depending on the number of pictures)

Step-by-step recipe

Step 1

For the toppers that will go on top of the cake, roll out the mastic to a layer 3-5 mm thick.

Step 2

Using a brush, coat the mastic with water. It shouldn't be a lot, but it should cover the entire surface of the mastic.

Step 3

We take the prepared sugar picture, detach it from the film and glue it onto the mastic greased with water.

Step 4

Be sure to run your finger along the edges of the picture so that it sticks.

Step 5

Take a utility knife and cut a small piece of the picture out of the large sheet of fondant. Set the cut piece aside for 15-20 minutes to allow the edges to dry.

Step 6

For the cake toppers, roll out the fondant to a thickness of approximately 2-3 mm. If the fondant sticks while rolling, dust it and the work surface with starch.

Step 7

We coat the rolled out layer with water again.

Step 8

We peel off the film and glue the sugar pictures onto the mastic.

Step 9

We cut out the final figures and immediately work on the shape of the toppers while the mastic is still wet.

Step 10

Insert a skewer into the topper just above the middle. Control the movement of the skewer with your hand, but do not press it down on the finished shape with the picture.

If the topper is too high for the cake, we can trim the skewer with wire cutters.

We place the cake toppers on the baking pan and leave them there until they dry. This way, we get figures with edges that won't stick out when we glue them to the cake façade.

Wafer paper toppers

Pictures made from wafer paper will help create a delicate and airy decoration for your treat.

Ingredients:

• Mastic – 150 g
• Vodka – 25 g
• Decor gel – 25 g
• Starch - a pinch
• Wafer pictures – up to 10 pcs. (depending on their size)

Cooking time: 1 hour

Number of servings: up to 10 pcs. (depending on the number of pictures)

Step-by-step recipe

Step 1

Roll out the mastic into a thin layer. If the mastic is sticky at this stage, sprinkle it with starch.

Step 2

We prepare our pictures by cutting out the chosen characters.

Step 3

We apply the picture to the mastic and cut out along the outline, without pressing with our hand, but simply holding it.

Step 4

We repeat these procedures with all the pictures.

Step 5

We dilute the decor gel with vodka in a 1:1 ratio and leave it for 15 minutes, only after that we can start working with it.

Step 6

Carefully insert the skewer into the mastic figure.

Step 7

Using a brush, we apply the decorative gel over the mastic, coating the entire surface with a thin layer.

Step 8

We do this with all the pictures.

Step 9

We glue our pictures to the forms and hold them in place a little, and also go around the edges so that there are no small details sticking out later.

Next, the toppers will need time to dry and then they will be ready to decorate the cake.

5 Questions About Cake Toppers

To ensure a beautiful and neat topper, you need to follow certain rules during preparation and storage. We've compiled a list of the most common questions that arise during the decoration process: