Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

Today I have another fondant cupcake topper to share.  I love getting to try out new characters and designs for toppers! These would be great to make for your child's party! Using fondant, gum paste, and an edible marker I created the following template.

I decided to stick with that design and make a few adjustments.  Below is a simple explanation of how I created these train toppers.

Materials Needed:

• White fondant
• Black fondant (or black dye)
• Red, blue, and green dye (or colored fondant)
• Gum paste (pieces of fondant or gum paste in a small container of water)
• Paint brush
• Wilton round cookie cutter (largest of set of three - or whatever size you are going for)
• Exacto knife
• Tbs measuring spoon

Directions:

1. Start by kneading and working through a ball of white fondant about the size of a large marble (if using colored fondant for the train then knead that and skip step 2).
2. Using a toothpick, add icing color gel (desired color of train) to the fondant and work through with hands.
3. Roll out the fondant to around 1/16".
4. Using the round cookie cutter, cut out the larger round circle for the train body and set aside.
5. Knead through a combination of equal parts black and white fondant to achieve the desired gray color for the face.
6. Roll out the fondant to just under 1/16".
7. I didn't have a cookie cutter the size I wanted for the face.  I found a tbs measuring spoon was just about the perfect size. I did shape it up a little using the Exacto knife as it was a little big.  Once you cut out one size you like, let it harden and then it can be a template for future cutouts.  Exacto knives work great for cutting around the edge of a shape.
8. Dip the pain brush in a little gum glue and cover the back of the gray circle with it.
9. Attach the gray circle to the center of the colored circle.
10. Roll out a small amount of white fondant to be paper thin.  
11. Use the exacto knife to cut out the shapes for the eyes (the edible marker lid made a great template for the eye size).
12. Attach the eyes to the gray circle using gum glue and the paint brush.
13. Allow the topper to dry for a few minutes before moving on.
14. Using the marker, color in the pupil for the eyes.
15. Draw eyebrows above the eyes
16. Using the character as a template, draw the mouth/nose area to complete the face.
17. Roll out black fondant about 1/16" thick
18. Cut out a rectangle for the smoke stack and attach with gum glue.
19. Let dry overnight and then attach to cupcakes with icing.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial of my Thomas the Tank Engine cupcake toppers!