Cinderella's Glass Slipper Birthday Party Cupcakes

Happy 7th Birthday Emilia--Please don't eat my beautiful creations.

Now that my boys are grown, I rarely make birthday cupcakes. My age group wants a full-blown birthday cake with leftovers to enjoy the next day. So when asked me to make these funky high heel stiletto cupcakes for a 7-year-old's birthday party, well, I thought...piece of cake. Twelve plus hours and lots of curses later, 36 small pieces of dessert art were carefully boxed and ready for display at the Cinderella movie premiere at the Alamo Draft House.

Well, that's how I felt at the time. Severely sleep-deprived, the following morning I carefully attached each delicate shoe to a silver-covered foam board, making sure they were perfectly spaced and color-coordinated. I could barely stand the thought that in a few hours each piece of culinary art would be ripped apart and devoured by small children with no appreciation for my detailed spacing with tiny tweezers of sweet edible pearls and fondant bows. I did mention I went to bed at 7:00 a.m. right? Reality set in when the doorbell rang and I had to allow Cinderella's mother to carry the pink boxes of delicacies out of my kitchen and into the back of her SUV. "Drive slow, don't take any curves too fast, and kick that AC up to high," I demanded as the car doors closed and she sped away. The tiny Cinderella in the back seat, wearing her great-grandmother's vintage faux glass slippers, had not a clue of the true treasure she now possessed, as she waved her sweet goodbye.

Saying goodbye is so hard...

Stepping back into the baking kitchen after a good night's sleep, I was certain that the process could go faster should there be a next time. I had followed most of the instructions on several YouTube video channels and merged them all into my technique. I couldn't decide if they had somehow made the process look easier than it actually turned out to be, or if it was just like decorating detailed wedding cookies and towering birthday cakes--once you've done it hundreds of times--it's a snap.

If you have a big or little Cinderella daughter, niece, or best friend who loves shoes, you have to make these little stiletto shoe cupcakes. Your Cinderellas will believe you are truly their Fairy Godmother. Just try and have fun with it and review the short cuts I offer below for a less stressful day...and/or night...of cupcake baking.

Cinderella's Glass Slippers

There are numerous videos on Youtube.com for making high heel cupcakes and I watched several of them before deciding what cookies and/or techniques I would use. I found these three videos very helpful:

Sweet Art by Elizabeth
My Cupcake Addiction
In the Kitchen: Glam High Heeled Cupcakes

You need the following items for this project:

Baked cupcakes
Milano cookies
Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes
Sanding Sugar in assorted colors
Edible Glitter (optional)
Buttercream Frosting
Melted chocolate or Royal icing for glue
18" piping tip
disposable piping bags
Gel food coloring
Decorative edible pearls, bows, etc.
Foil covered boards to display
Patience, a good bottle of wine, and a sense of humor!

Matching pairs of birthday high heel shoes displayed on bakery cake boards.

Short cuts from my experience making high heel cupcakes:

1. Use a good quality chocolate or vanilla cake mix. I purchased The Cake Doctor's chocolate cake mix and it was perfect--great chocolate flavor and texture. I also used a name brand from the local supermarket for a few extra cupcakes and there is definitely a difference in taste and texture. This is probably more important if you are making the heels for an older Cinderella. Not sure a 7-year old would notice, so buy according to your audience. For adults, splurge on the more expensive boxed mix--you're going to spend hours making these darlings. They should taste as well-heeled as they look.
2. You can use store-bought icing, but again--if you're going to spend hours creating....use a good quality buttercream. Your local baking supply store should carry a pre-made buttercream should you decide not to make your own. Not sure how cream cheese icing would hold up.
3. Make a small batch of your favorite royal icing recipe to glue the heel to the sole. Several of the videos use melted white or milk chocolate instead. I used a tiny dab of the royal icing to glue both the Pirouette heel and the cupcake liner to the board to keep my heels from shifting in transit. You can also use the royal icing, or melted white or milk chocolate instead of buttercream (see video) to lock the sole into the cupcake hole (see video), just to make sure everything holds together.
4. To save time, make the buttercream and cupcakes 2 days ahead of time and refrigerate. Decorate cupcakes the next day and refrigerator overnight to make sure everything is firm. No need to cover, but make sure nothing in the fridge with an odor is open.  
5. To save time, I bought pre-made bows and flowers at the bake shop to adorn the shoes. If you prefer and have the time, you can make them ahead with white or dark chocolate or rolled fondant. 
6. If you are really short on time, buy undecorated but iced cupcakes at your local bakery. Add the sole, heel and a pre-made sugar bow. Your creations will still be magical. 

 

Magical and messy at the same time. 

ENJOY sweet Cinderellas!