Buttercream Dreams Bakery

Any Ringers out there? Today I’m sharing cute cupcakes inspired by The Lord of the Rings.

My only experience with Tolkien’s Middle-earth is from reading The Hobbit. But many of my friends are avid fans of the epic trilogy. I was excited to jump into the world a bit when I received an order for LOTR wedding cupcakes. The bride requested one inspired by the smial hobbit houses, one featuring the Leaf of Lórien, and one in deep navy with sparkle to match the wedding colors. I hadn’t made cupcakes quite like this before, but I was ready for the challenge!

The easiest of the cupcake trio was the navy glittery. But I actually haven’t used edible glitter before. I tried a couple of different options, but loved the one I settled on. There was shimmer and sparkle (the pictures don’t do it justice) without having to use candy jewels that can be really crunchy.

Next up was a cupcake incorporating the Leaf of Lórien. If you are unfamiliar, the Leaf of Lórien is a green, leaf-shaped pin with silver; it’s also known as the Elven brooch. It was given to each member of the Fellowship of the Ring by Lady Galadriel. Since it’s a piece of jewelry, I was challenging myself to make the fondant look shiny and metal-like.

I started with deep green fondant and cut out the leaf shape. I then wrapped it around with a thin rope of gray fondant. It’s important to attach fondant pieces together quickly before it dries so it hardens together. I used a shimmery silver edible marker to create the details on the leaf and to color the gray fondant, giving it more of a metallic look and dimension.

I was most nervous about the smial-inspired cupcake, to be honest! I was trying to figure out how I wanted to create the right dimension and shape. Was I going to add a cake pop on top to get the spherical look? Or a large fondant piece (which might be tricky to eat)? In the end, I decided to create the dimension with my buttercream and just add a fondant door/doorway to the front.

I actually used an ice cream scoop to put a large ball of icing on the cupcake. I then shaped it to be flat in the front with the rounded shape in the back. I used green fondant and created indentations for the panels in the door. I framed the door with small pieces of gray fondant. To make them look more stone-like, I used a black edible marker to add smudges and marks. I finished it off with some small fondant flowers and even a small mushroom (hard to see in this photo).

I can be critical of myself (aren’t we all?!). But I was so happy with how these came out. And most importantly, the bride seemed very happy with the cupcakes. When I dropped them off, I got to see some of the wedding and reception decor; it all looked beautiful!