Hi I have a customer order rattle cupcakes for a baby shower topped with buttercream and I want to make the top look as close to a rattle as possible.

I want to do a very smooth round hemisphere from buttercream (if that doesn't work a flat top). Anyone have any ideas how to do this?

No fondant for this order.

Thanks!

I've never done it myself, but this entry on this blog:

http://www.mycakeschool.com/blog/fourth-of-july-cupcakes/

shows how she gets her buttercream smooth. She shows it in other entries on that blog as well if you have a look around.

It's a lot of frosting but someone posted a tutorial on getting a truly rounded dome by using an ice cream scooper to put the frosting on. They then covered it with fondant but you could smooth it with Viva.

Don't forget to charge appropriately for the extra frosting and time to get the rattles done

When I made these, I used a star tip like this photo; they looked great and it was much easier than trying to get a perfectly smooth top: http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1778370/baby-rattle-cupcakes.

Thanks, all three are great ideas!