Easy DIY Edible Cake Toppers
These easy and edible DIY cake toppers instantly elevate any homemade birthday cake or cupcakes!
Equipment
- Piece of paper
- Waxed paper
- Food-safe wooden skewers
Ingredients
- Melting wafers (I recommend Ghirardelli melting wafers or Wilton candy melts)
- Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Draw or print your cake topper design onto a piece of paper to use as a template. Make sure the design is the size you want your cake toppers to be.
- Prep your materials. Cut a square of waxed paper for each character in your design and gather enough skewers and sprinkles.
- Add melting wafers to a heat-safe bowl and microwave on 50% power in 30 second increments, stopping to stir frequently, until fully melted but still just-slightly thick.
- Transfer the melted wafers to a piping bag and snip the end off the bag to create a very small hole for piping.
- Place a square of waxed paper over the first character you wish to make. Pipe the melted wafers onto the waxed paper, using the paper underneath with your design as a template. I find it easiest to first create an outline and then fill it in.
- Place a skewer onto the piped design, with at least half an inch of the skewer covering the topper for sturdiness. Pipe a bit of melted wafer over the portion of the skewer that covers the topper to attach and cover the skewer.
- Sprinkle the sprinkles over the still wet design. Gently press them into the design if necessary.
- Repeat for the remaining characters in your design.
- Let all toppers sit flat at room temperature until completely cooled and solid.
- Once cooled and firm, carefully lift the toppers off the waxed paper and stick the skewer(s) down into your cake or cupcakes so that only the topper sits on top of the cake or cupcake.
Notes
Storage: Store cake toppers flat in a protective container in the fridge or at room temperature for up to a week.
Make sure you choose a skewer that is long enough to attach to the topper and stick down into the cake. Skewers can also be carefully cut down if they're too long.
You can add a couple of drops of gel food coloring to the melted wafers if you want to change the color of the cake toppers without using colored candy melts.
Getting the consistency of the melting wafers just right is the key to success when making these edible cake toppers. The melted wafers should still be just-slightly thick and not runny for easy piping. If the melted wafers are too runny, wait a few minutes for them to cool and thicken just slightly. If they're too thick, squeeze them back into the bowl and re-heat (slow and low) in the microwave to smooth them back out.
Work quickly so that candy doesn't firm up before sprinkles are added. Pipe one character at a time, add the skewer and sprinkles, then move on to next character.
Using one piece of waxed paper per character makes it easy to lift and move the toppers.
