Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana Dream Catcher Cupcakes

I’m over the moon with these Dream Catcher Cupcakes, they look exquisite!

This was a simple bake but it was really fun. I’ve never made feathers before and although they turned out not so difficult to make there was a good attention to detail put into them because feathers are so fine.

Gum Paste Feathers

I started off by making a template out of cardboard for the outline of the feathers to keep the overall shape uniform. The feathers themselves are made from gum paste, I used gum paste because it helps the feathers dry.

I cut the feathers out and scored 2 lines from the top of the feather to the base of the feather tip (the bottom of the feather body). This acts as the backbone of the feather. From there I scored very fine lines out from the center to the end of the feather. Make sure you have a sharp knife and a steady hand. You don’t want to cut through the gum paste you just want to score to add detail. If you look at my photos you’ll see I did cut through the gum paste every now and again to add some extra detail.

To get the shape of the feathers I crumpled up some tissue paper into different sizes (not massive mountains) and lay the feathers on top of that while they were still bendable. This allowed them to bend into different shapes and stay there while they set.

Finally, I added the extra detail by painting the tips of the feathers gold using a mixture of gold luster powder and a few drops of lemon extract. If you wanted a stronger shade of gold you can paint on multiple coats. Just remember to let each layer dry before the next application. Another tip is to keep some lemon extract and a dropper handy as you may find your paint dries up and you’ll need to add a drop or two more.

For the recipe, you can find here: Banana Cupcakes