Shhhhh....it's a Surprise!

Who doesn't LOVE a surprise shower?? Well, unless you are the one planning it - then there's the weeks of tip-toeing around trying not to spill the beans - this would be why I do not host many (or really any)- surprise parties - I am tooo big of a big-mouth and am not good at keeping such a secret :) But that said, it's definitely fun when pulled off well, and my co-worker and friend Ginger went all out (ie printing fake invitations, making pseudo plans, calling her salon for them to help with the story, etc) in surprising her daughter Kim last week with a surprise bridal shower and from what I gather it was an all-around success and good time! And lucky me, Ginger asked me to be in on the fun and make cupcakes for the big day!!

I was especially excited to make these as I have never made bridal shower cupcakes before. The only direction Ginger gave me was that she wanted 3 dozen and Kim's colors were pink and black. Hmmmm. ALmost tooo much freedom...so what to do. My favorite cupcaking buddy, Christy and I googled pink and black cupcakes and wedding cupcakes, and talked about different options until we finally came accross a great picture of a bride and groom cupcake set. (http://www.giggyscakes.com/Cupcakes.html )

Sure, there are actually lots of pictures of these kind of cupcakes online, BUT the problem is most of them use fondant and neither of us are big fans of Fondant. Not that there is anything wrong with fontdant - please don't get me wrong I have seen AMAZING things done with fondant- it's just I have never loved how it tasted (probably the problem is I've never really had good fondant :) and it's just not quite my style. In any case, the picture we found  was super cute and used a little dipped icing (melted canned icing for a hardened surface) under regular icing but no fondant-score!

So here is my version of Giggy's cupcakes. I have to admit I was pretty excited how they turned out and the best part was they were super fun to make! I felt like a little wedding dress designer or something. At first I was making all the dresses the same but then I got a little adventurous and started making each one a little different! So the long and short of it, as I mentioned before I used melted canned frosting (because homemade frosting doens't work for melting) and dipped the cupcakes in it to get the smooth skin of the brides and shirts of the grooms. (basic technique from the Hello Cupcake book). Then I just used a star tip to do the tuxedo and dresses and a small round tip to do the bows and pearls. Then I added a few hot gum paste flowers (wish I could take credit for them, but I bought them at my favorite little baking shop in Western Pa last week :) and waalaa...It's here come's the Bride Time!!!

And here's the whole wedding party on parade...

all dressed up and ready to go!!! :) :)

And to coordinate with the bride and groom cupcakes I had fun with pink and polka dots :)

Here they are getting all boxed up...

 And all three dozen ready for the big surprise... 

Happy Shower Kim - Congratulations -  Happy Forever!