For the zombie genre lovers: Creating a realistic zombie mouth cupcake for Halloween, using fondant and food coloring.

Step 1: Preparations: Coloring the Fondant

Make a basic cupcake with your chosen flavor, (mine are vanilla cupcake).

For the topper, you'll need to color your fondant (I used Wilton) as follows: for the skin tissue- use small drop of Ivory gel paste food coloring with a tiny drop of rose. for the gums- use a drop of rose with a tiny drop of red for the teeth- use a drop of Ivory.

Step 2: Preparing a Base to the Cupcake Topper

We will start with the base

of the topper, roll the skin tissue fondant about 1/8 inches thick, and by using a round cookie cutter about the same size of your top surface of your cupcake, cut a circle and place it on top of a cup or a small bowl to support the topper while working and give it the shape of a dome.

Step 3: Shaping the Gums

To shape the gums, create two

small snakes of the "gum fondant", flat them a little, and by using a "Dresden tool", create the cavities for the teeth and make the dents between every tooth.

Attach to the circle base by using a wet brush. (the pre-made cavities should face one another).

Step 4: Shaping the Teeth

Make the teeth- shape small

pieces of ivory fondant to the shape of teeth, including their roots, let them dry for about an hour. you may use tylose powder or CMC to make them sturdier. when they are firm, take each tooth and push it to it's designated cavity in the gums we've made earlier. make sure to apply it by using a wet brush to stick the root to it's place. You may skip one or two, to make the impression the zombie had lost a tooth...

Step 5: Shaping the Skin Tissue

Now, take the leftover "skin

tissue" fondant and roll it really thin. break it to little pieces and apply around the gums, creating effect a ripped skin around the gums. it doesn't have to be accurate.

Let dry completely before coloring.

Step 6: Coloring & Creating Realism Impression

To finish the realistic effect,

we will create:

fresh blood finish: mix red coloring gel with drops of vodka of lemon extract dried blood- mix red with a drop of royal blue and add drops of vodka/lemon extract. using a brush, apply the "fresh blood" color mix around the torn skin tissue, apply the "dried blood" color mix around the gums, especially where the gums meet the skin tissue. and around the teeth contour, and the dents, to give it a more 3D impression. Let it dry, and assemble the cupcake topper on top of the frosting of your cupcake.