Now I'm well aware that mine aren't nearly as perfect as the original post but sometimes you just have to say, good enough! Here is how I made them!
To save time I decided to purchase pre-made fondant. I have made my own in the past and quite honestly purchasing it saves a ton of time and the pre-made isn't all that expensive. The pre-made fondant doesn't taste as good as the homemade but I doubt anyone will be eating the toppers anyway. I found this fondant at Bulk Barn. They have a good selection of colors, and even have different flavours.
I started by rolling out some fondant until it was about 1/4"-1/2" thick, using an acrylic rolling pin and a plastic mat to keep the fondant from picking up fuzz or other things that might be floating through the air. You could also tape down some parchment paper if you don't have a mat. *TIP - when using white fondant do not wear dark clothes. Small fibers will jump off your clothing and into your fondant. I don't know what is in the fondant but it attracts dark fibers like a magnet and it will drive you bonkers!
Once the fondant is rolled out, dip the circle and flower cutters into corn starch to prevent them from sticking. I highly recommend cutting more toppers than you need in case some don't turn out the way you want, or some break once they have hardened.
Once you have all your circles and flowers cut out, place the flowers on a piece of foam. Gently press a small rounded tool into the centre of the flowers to give them a bowl like shape and make them look more realistic and 3D. You can purchase the foam and tools at Bulk Barn or Michael's, or you could use any clean, soft foam and the rounded end of a clean pen. Set aside the circles and the flowers.
Time to pipe the crosses! Now this part my be a little intimidating, but I promise it isn't as hard as you might think, especially when you know the little tricks! I used royal icing because it dries super hard. This is particularly important because I am making them so far in advance and need them to keep until then. They won't be something you would want to actually eat on baptism day, because the will be so hard, but that's OK with me.
I didn't want to make my own royal icing, so I found a bag of royal icing mix at Bulk Barn and all I had to do was add water, mix it in my stand mixer, and add icing color. This was more than enough icing what what I needed.
I use the gel icing color from Wilton with all of my icing. I find it gives the icing a very vibrant color without having to use very much, and it won't water down your icing like a liquid color will. To use gel colors, dip a clean tooth pick (I used a knife) into the gel and then run it through the icing. Mix until the color is evenly distributed throughout the icing. *TIP - never double dip into your coloring. Icing will eventually go bad, and if you deposit some into the coloring, you will have to throw your coloring out sooner than you should have too. These colors will last forever if you look after them. I have had some pots for years and I still use them!
Now the part you've been dreading, piping the crosses! I promise it isn't not hard! The first thing I did was search online for a picture of the type of cross I was looking for. Then I shrunk the picture down to the size I needed to fit on my fondant circle and printed it off. Cut several squares of parchment paper slightly larger than the design you are using. Place one square over your printed design.
I used a 10" Wilton piping bag and a #3 tip to pipe the crosses. Put a few scoops of icing in the piping bag and squish it down towards the tip. *TIP - twist the bag a few times above the top of the icing, this will keep it from oozing out the top when your piping. Start in the middle of the cross and pipe the icing onto the parchment square following the lines of the image underneath. I piped mine in one long motion so there wasn't any stop and start marks. The overlapping in the centre will be covered by the flower. If you make a mistake don't panic! Just scrape the icing off the parchment square and pipe again, or if your like me you can eat the icing the throw away the parchment! *TIP - I don't suggest eating a lot of icing especially late at night or you will never sleep. Repeat until you have a cross for each of your fondant circles.
The crosses should start to dry in a few hours, but I recommend leaving them overnight so there is less chance of them breaking when you remove them from the parchment. Store a small amount of icing in an air tight container with a damper paper towel under the lid so the icing doesn't dry out.
Once the crosses are dry, carefully remove them from the parchment. Apply a small amount of icing to the back of the cross and place it on the fondant circle.
Apply a small amount of icing to the centre of the cross and attach the flower. Then fill the centre of the flower with icing.
Let the toppers harden or place them on top of cupcakes immediately. I made mine a few weeks in advance so they will be quite hard by the time I use them on cupcakes. The fresh icing will soften the fondant so I add them to the cupcakes at the last minute.
See, I told you it wasn't ask difficult as it looks! It takes some time but I love being able to say I made them myself. Plus you will save a lot of money making them yourself rather than paying a bakery to make them for you!
This same piping technique could be used to make a variety of different shapes with royal icing. Instead of attaching them to fondant you could also stick them directly into a freshly frosted cupcake (keeping in mind that the fresh icing will soften the royal icing so you would want to do it at the last minute).
