AI have a December bride who is wanting cupcakes with snowflakes on them. Can I make the snowflakes out of royal icing and then place them on the buttercream or will the snowflakes melt?! And if I can't make them out RI what else can I make them out of without having to buy expensive cutters.

It can be done if they are placed as close to serving time as possible.  It also seems to ehlp if you use a b'cream that crusts.

The thinner the royal the faster it will change color and get soft, but I have never had any melt into a puddle.

You can make a spike of royal on the back (or bottom)  of the snowflake and push that into the cupcake.

One hint:  while royal is wet sprinkle w/edible glitter :)  Crush the glitter well w/a spoon and put into a salt shaker.

AThank you for your reply!! I had some extras sitting around so I icied a cupcake, and put a week dried RI rose on it. 4 hours later I could see where the thickness had thinned. My thoughts are I am decorating and delivering the cupcakes at 11 and the receptions not till 4. I'm afraid my pretty snowflakes will be no more by then.

I'm puzzled.

I have made flowers from hand beaten raw egg white royal icing for years.  They dry hard as glass.  Then I put them onto buttercream iced cakes and they are still hard 24 hours later.  And I tend to make my buttercream on the soft side...

So maybe for the best resistance to icing, you should only use egg whites from fresh eggs.  Use less sugar than you think, it will be easier to pipe the lines.  And maybe, for insurance, overpipe the backs on the major lines after drying the first time.

ACould it be due to my RI being made with meringue powder instead of fresh egg whites?

I do an italian buttercream and i was worried about this when i first started decorating cakes. I made the decorations (butterflies), let them dry completely, and then covered them with buttercream. I never had one melt. 

The were still hard as rocks, days later. My recipe is with egg whites, but as hard as these are, I doubt anyone would ever eat one. 

but if you want to do fondant snowflakes, why not cut them just like you would cut paper snowflakes with a scissors or a craft knife. You could also use white candy melts. They would be more delicate than RI, but work just as well.

jen

AI hadn't thought about chocolate. Wonder about the likelihood of them melting due to heat of room?? Ha! As you can see I'm worried about everything.... First wedding.