Cake Blog: Hello Kitty Cake Topper

I have used this Hello Kitty cake topper for a couple of different cakes, and it has been fairly popular on my Etsy site and on Pinterest, so I decided to create a quick tutorial for anyone who wants to make their own HK cake topper. It is pretty quick and simple to make, and the good news is that fondant cake toppers can be stored for several months at room temperature in air-tight containers/Ziploc bags, as long as they are out of direct sunlight. This means that you could make the cake topper when it is convenient for you and store it until you're ready to use it.

To start, download this template. I used this template for an eight-inch cake, but you could resize it to fit any cake. Then, print the image onto a piece of cardstock (I'm sure that regular paper would work fine, but thicker paper will make it easier to cut around).

Next, put a piece of wax paper or parchment paper under the paper that you just printed and cut around the outline of HK's head. You will end up cutting off the corners of the bow and her whiskers.

Poke a hole in the center of each of HK's eyes and nose (Don't worry -- she won't feel a thing) so that you can use them as a placement guide later.

Roll out a piece of white fondant to your desired thickness and place the wax paper and cardstock on top. Using a small, sharp knife, cut around the outline of HK's head, then push a toothpick through the eye/nose holes to make marks on her head so that you'll know where to put her eyes and nose. Now you can remove your template and wax paper and save it in a special place in case you want to make another HK cake topper. :-)

To create the black outline and whiskers, I used a clay extruder, which was probably the best $14 I've ever spent, but if you don't happen to have a clay extruder lying around, you can roll out a long, thin strip of black fondant by hand.

Use a paintbrush to apply water/food glue/piping gel (or whatever you want to use) around the perimeter of HK's head, then attach black fondant strip. It is easiest to start/stop on the right side in a place that will be covered by the bow. Then use a toothpick or the end of a paintbrush to make indentations where the whiskers will be attached. Roll out another strip (or use the clay extruder) to make the whiskers, then set them aside to dry while you work on the rest of HK's face. I'm not really sure about the best length for the whiskers, but in most photos, the middle whisker is shorter than the rest. When in doubt, make them a little bit longer than you think they should be... you can always cut them later.

Roll two small pieces of black fondant into balls and then flatten them out into ovals for the eyes. Using a small amount of water, attach the eyes to HK's face. (Aren't you glad you made those placement guide holes?) Then do the same thing with a small amount of yellow fondant to create the nose.

Now it's time to create the bow... my favorite part! You can either check out my bow tutorial that I used for the princess cake, or you could follow these pictures: