Flip flop cupcakes

My sister-in-law was married in Cincinnati this weekend. It was a gorgeous wedding and she was the most beautiful bride! Look for a post of all the cool details soon!

Back in July she had a beach themed wedding shower. The party was fantastic and looked great, with the beach theme definitely carried throughout. I volunteered to make flip flop cupcakes, an idea I found on a ton of websites online. They seemed pretty simple to put together, with the fondant flip flops the only thing that really required extra time.

I'd never worked with fondant before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Instead of making my own which seemed complicated and more trouble than it's worth, I picked up some pre-made fondant in the wedding/baking section at Joann's Fabric. They have a bunch of different ready made colors to choose from and even some fun patterns like zebra or leopard print.

 

Next I needed to find a tiny flip flop cookie cutter, one that would fit to scale on a cupcake. After looking around at several places and scouring online I realized I wasn't going to find one small enough. I ended up buying a set of oval shaped cutters of which the smallest size would make the perfect cupcake sized flip flop. Then I had Dave bend in one side of the cutter, making a dip in one side forming the flip flop shape I was looking for. I used this to make both sides, the left and right side of the sandals. I also had him shape a larger cutter into a surf board by pinching in the top of the oval to form the top of the board.

From there I just rolled out each fondant color and cut my flops out two at a time, making sure to turn over one of the sides to make a complete left, right pair.

For the straps I rolled a contrasting color out to a very, very thin tube and bent it into a v-shape. Then, using a tiny bit of water, I lightly wet the fondant where I attached the straps. Laying the strap down I pressed it into the moistened fondant then used a knife to make an impression in the middle of the strap for looks and to also help attach it.

For the sand I frosted the cupcakes with vanilla frosting and then coated each with a layer of brown sugar. After I applied the brown sugar I realized that some of it, the layer touching the frosting was melted into the frosting. I think a better option would be to use ground up graham crackers because they won't melt and will maintain more of a sand like look. Later before I put the cupcakes together I ended up applying a second layer of sugar.