These Marvel Superhero cupcakes were part of a dessert table goodies a 12 year old boy's birthday. The theme for the birthday was Marvel Superheroes and the design on these cupcakes were made to match his Marvel Avengers birthday cake.
Since the theme was Marvel Superheroes, I tried to incorporate as many Marvel superheroes as I could in the design.
Some cupcakes were decorated with buttercream swirls and paper picks while others had 2D deco on them.
The paper picks were pretty easy to make. I printed the images from the internet, cut them into circles, glued them to a slightly larger circle red papers and attached the completed pieces onto food skewers.
The 2D designs took slightly more time and were all decorated in fondant and royal icing.
🧾Supplies Required
- Cupcakes – These were mini cupcakes and were baked using my butter pound cake recipe in muffin casings.
- Buttercream – I used buttercream as the base layer for the 2D cupcakes and as both the base layer and to pipe the swirls on the cupcakes with picks.
- Royal icing – I used royal icing to make the Hulk symbol and to accent the fondant deco.
- Fondant – This was the main medium of deco for the 2D cupcakes. Some of the colors like the bright red on Captain America’s symbol were ready made, while the rest were custom mixed with a combination of Wilton and Americolor food colors.
- Paper templates and images for cupcake picks – these were downloaded from the internet and made into cupcake picks.
- Marvel Avengers Superheroes templates – these were the Superheroes’ logos and symbols i.e., Captain America’s helmet and Wolverine.
- Sugar craft knife
- Star plunger cutter – I used this for the stars on Captain America’s symbol.
- Round cutters – These were used mainly for the base fondant pieces that covered the cupcakes. They were also used for Captain America’s logo i.e. to make red and white circles that made up the symbol as well as for Hulk’s radioactive symbol in green.
- Clikstix alphabet cutter – This was used for the letter A on Captain America’s helmet.
- Piping tip number 3 , number 2D and disposable piping bags – These were used for the buttercream swirls and royal icing deco. I used royal icing to pipe the black outlines on the Hulk's green radioactive symbol, for Spiderman’s eyes and the black sections of Wolverine symbol.
- Silver edible dust and lemon extract – I mixed these to form silver paint which I used to paint Thor’s hammer.
- Parchment paper - to pipe out some of the logos.
- Fondant glue and shortening - these are the 'glues' for the fondant decoration.
👩🍳How to Make
Step 1: Make the Cupcake Paper Picks
You can make these paper cupcake toppers in advance. To make them, print and resize the images into small circles. Cut and paste them onto red cardboard circles.
Attach a toothpick to the back of the cardboard circles and cover the toothpicks with another layer of the round red cardboard circles. You can use paper glue to stick the paper and the toothpicks.
Step 2: Bake the Cupcakes
Bake the cupcakes and cool them completely before decorating. Level the tops and apply a layer of buttercream on top.
Step 3: Pipe the Buttercream Swirls and Attach the Paper Picks
Make red buttercream by adding some red food coloring into the buttercream. For the white, leave it untinted.
Use star tip number 2D and pipe the swirls in the center of the cupcakes in a combination of red and white.
Once the swirls piping is done, attach the paper picks in the center.
Step 4: Make the Marvel Superhero Logos
For the Captain America’s logo, use, red, blue and white fondant. Cut out a red circle and attach a slightly smaller white circle on top with shortening.
And then attach another red circle, followed by a small blue circle. To complete the logo, add a white fondant star right in the center.
To make Thor’s hammer toppers, roll some white fondant flat and cut out rectangle pieces. Slice off the corners and attach a long and thin rolled brown fondant each. At the end of the brown handles, attach thin roll of brown fondant loops each.
Paint the white rectangle in silver paint and use the same paint to paint the ends of the brown handles.
To make Marvel Hulk’s radioactive green symbols, use a round cutter for the large green fondant circles.
And then use a smaller round cutter to draw out the symbols on parchment paper. Use black royal icing to pipe the outlines and fill the symbol with green royal icing. Let the icing set completely before peeling and attaching the cupcakes with dots of royal icing.
For the small round center, cut it out in fondant and attach with fondant glue.
To make the Captain America helmet topper, you can print out the template from internet (by doing an internet search for Captain America helmet) and use it to hand cut the helmets in fondant. As for the letter A on the helmet, I used the Clikstix alphabet cutter.
For the Wolverine symbol, similar to Hulk toppers, draw them out on parchment paper. Pipe black outline with royal icing and fill the symbols with yellow royal icing.
Once set, peel them off the parchment paper and attach to the cupcakes with royal icing.
To make Spiderman’s face on the cupcakes, use maroon circles. Use the needle tool to mark the spider web lines. Start in the center and draw lines similar to how one would slice a pizza. And then, use the back of any piping tip and imprint the curved lines in each section.
For the eyes, use royal icing. Draw them on parchment paper and use black royal icing for the outlines. Fill them with white icing. Once set, peel them off the parchment paper and attach to the cupcakes. .
To make this Iron Man logo, cut out large triangles that fit the top of the cupcakes. Use the triangle plunger cutter to cut out small triangle holes in the center.
Next, use a toothpick or the needle tool to draw lines at the corners. Attach these cut outs to the cupcakes before painting the centers in silver. Use the same paint to highlight the lines made with the toothpicks earlier.
And that is how I decorated these Marvel Superhero cupcakes.
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