How to Make Graduation Cap Cupcake Toppers Tutorial

Today I want to give you a quick tutorial on how to make graduation cap cupcake toppers. This will not be a step-by-step photo tutorial, but rather simple typed out instructions. I don’t *think* you’ll need pics to understand how to do these!

So, to make these, first you need to know that I recommend doing them 2-3 days in advance. You could do them much earlier if you want/need to, but definitely give them a couple of days to dry/harden if you can!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Gum paste (I use Satin Ice) OR fondant with lots of Tylose added
• Tylose powder or cornstarch to dust your surface
• Sharp knife or pizza wheel
• Ruler
• Extruder
• Shell impression tool (from the Wilton Gum Paste tools set) or you could use a small knife
• Sugar glue

Here’s how to make them:

1. Roll 1″ balls of gum paste for the base of the hats.

2. Roll out gum paste on a mat and cut squares for the mortar boards on the caps. I made mine about 1.5 inches square.

3. Place all your balls and squares on a cookie sheet or mat dusted with tylose or corn starch and allow them to dry/harden for at least a couple of days (or longer).

4. When you’re ready to decorate your cupcakes, first you want to attach the square to the ball using a little sugar glue. Let this dry for 30 minutes or so and it should set up well.

5. While that’s drying, use an extruder to make the tassels. I rolled out a long strip and cut them into sections about 2″ long.

5. I used the shell impression end of a gum paste tool (from this set) to press slightly onto the end to give it the frayed tassel look. That was a super fast and easy way to do them! However, if you don’t have this tool, you could just use a small knife to cut tiny strips at the end. It will take more time but you’ll get the same effect.

6. Glue the tassels to the top of the hat with sugar glue and you are finished!

Note: For the cupcakes pictured,  I baked vanilla cupcakes and piped on a pile of vanilla frosting with a Wilton 1M tip. When I had the caps ready, I pressed the balls about halfway into the frosting before it crusted.

You’r e done!! See how easy those are to make? For this order, I did 4 dozen cupcakes. I had 24 “plain” with no toppers, then 12 with graduation cap cupcake toppers and 12 with diplomas. This gave a variety but cut back on cost a little because I didn’t have so many toppers to make.

Besides, most people aren’t going to eat the toppers anyway, so they don’t mind not having them on every single cupcake!!

Do you have any questions about these cupcakes or making these toppers? I’d love for you to leave a comment and I’ll answer and help out if I can!

more graduation treats:

• Graduation Cap Cake and Cupcakes
• Graduation Cakes & Cupcakes (plus How to Make Them)
• Nursing School Graduation Cakes
• Homemade Gum Paste Recipe
• How to Make Tiny Fondant (or Gum Paste) Bows for Cakes