Easy Labyrinth Inspired Character Cupcakes

Make these simple Labyrinth inspired cakes for a birthday, thank you or any other gift for a Labyrinth or Henson fan.

You will need:

4 cupcakes (or multiples thereof)

Sugar paste in Skin colour (one pale, one darker), white, black, blue, grey, orange, red and chocolate brown

Jam to stick the paste to the cake.

White royal icing (if preferred, can also use white sugar paste).

Tools:

Straight edges modelling tool (or the back of a butter knife will do if you don't have one)

Ball shaped modelling tool, (can use finger tips if you don't have one)

piping nozzle and bag (or not if you're not using royal icing)

Small, sharp knife (such as a vegetable knife) for trimming.

To cover each cake:

Tools: rolling pin and circle cutter.

Smear jam on the top of each cake. Roll out the desired colour of paste thinly and cut a circle (as close in size to the cake as you have). Stick the paste circle to the cake.

Alternatively (if you don't have a circle cutter), place rolled out sugar paste over the cupcake and cut off the excess with a knife.

Step 1: Hoggle

Cover the cake in skin tone sugar paste. With your straight edged tool mark cheeks at either side of the face, half way up.

Mark Eye holes just above the cheeks.

Roll a small sausage of paste for the lower lip, stick on to the face and mark wrinkle lines along the top edge with the straight edged tool.

Roll a small ball of paste into a ball, taper at one end into a tear-drop shape. Stick this on as his nose. Mark nostrils.

Roll 2 very small balls of white paste, flatten slightly and place into the eye sockets.

Make 4 very small, thin sausages of paste. Place above and below each eye as eyelids. Mark wrinkles/crows feet beside the eyes.

Make a long sausage of paste, lie it just above the top of the eyes as a brow.

Roll 2 sausages of paste, flatten and shape into peanuts (wide top and bottom, narrow in the middle) and stick on the side of his head as ears. Mark lobe and top with straight edge tool.

Roll very thin sausages of white sugar paste, lay them side by side to make hair. Shape the hair around his ears.

Roll tiny blue balls of paste, flatten and add as eyes. Pipe on black royal icing in dots as pupils (or roll very tiny balls of black sugar paste, flatten and stick on).

Roll and flatten a small ball of brown paste, stick on as his hat.

Optional: Paint a small amount of paste colour/food colouring in dark pink or red across his nose and cheeks.

Step 2: The Worm

Cover the cake in light skin colour. Mark a semi-circle shaped smiley mouth with your straight tool.

Mark cheeks in line with the mouth, and a little curve for his chin.

Mark the eye sockets. Roll 2 balls of orange paste, flatten slightly and stick in the eye sockets.

Roll out some black sugar paste, cut out a semi-circle and place in the mouth hole. Pipe a white line of royal icing top and bottom as teeth (or roll out 2 small sausages of white paste and add these as teeth).

Mark 2 small holes for the nose. Roll small black balls, flatten and stick on as pupils.

Roll out 4 sausages (or 1 long one cut into 4) Stick top and bottom of the eyes as lids, mark wrinkles at the edges and over the nose with your straight tool.

Pipe a white dot at the top of each pupil as highlights (or roll 2 tiny balls of paste and stick them on).

Roll a fat sausage of blue paste, flatten it into a triangular shape. Stick it on as his hairline.

Roll out thin sausages of blue paste, stick them together side by side. Cut to shape to make his hair, stick on. For the top piece, roll longer sausages, stick them side by side, then curl over itself at the top to make his curl. Stick on.

Step 3: Sir Didymus

Cover the cake in light skin tone paste. Roll a fat sausage, taper at one end and flatten at the other to make a nose/snout.

Mark holes for his eyes. Roll a medium ball of white paste, stick it in the left side eye socket.

Roll a medium sized ball of black paste, flatten it and cut in half. Lie the semi-circle over the right side eye socket (what would be his left eye) at a slight angle. Roll a thin sausage of black paste, lie across his face to make the string for his eye patch.

Roll a small ball of black paste, flatten it and pinch it into a triangle shape and stick on as his nose. Roll a thin black sausage, lay it across the bottom of his muzzle as his mouth.

Roll a small, thin sausage of paste, stick it over his visible eye as an eyelid.

Roll small, thin sausages of white paste. Lay them side by side making little tapered, triangle shapes of fur. Make 2 large 'tufts' and 2 small ones. Stick the smaller tufts under the muzzle at either side, and the larger ones coming horizontally from the muzzle.

Roll more small white sausages and arrange them in shorter, straighter 'tufts' to make eyebrows, stick them on.

Make a blue ball, squash to peanut shaped (wider top and bottom, thin in the middle) stick on as his hat.

Make a medium sausage of yellow paste, taper at either end and flatten. Mark diagonal lines to make it look like a feather. Stick this on to the hat.

Pipe a row of white teeth along the bottom of his mouth (or roll a tiny sausage of white, stick into his mouth and mark on the teeth).

Step 4: Ludo

Cover your cupcake in light skin tone paste.

Mark a long, thin smile (mark a dimple at each edge) and a line underneath for his chin.

Roll a very thin sausage of black paste, stick it inside his mouth.

Roll a short sausage, stick it to the middle of his face as his nose. Mark nostrils.

Roll a long sausage of the light skin tone paste, taper it at each end, stick it on as his brow. Mark vertical 'wrinkles'.

Roll a little ball of grey paste into an oval. Stick on under his nose and mark nostrils.

Roll a small red ball, flatten and cut in half. Stick the semi-circle at the bottom of his mouth. Roll 2 small balls of brown paste, flatten and stick on as eyes.

Roll 2 medium balls of grey paste, taper at one end into cones. bend slightly and mark lines across. Stick on as horns.

Roll brown paste into thin sausages. Lay them side by side at either side of his face to make hair. Lie hair vertically across his brow to make his 'fringe'.

Roll 2 small black balls of paste, stick on as pupils.

Pipe a small white dot on each pupil as a highlight (or roll 2 tiy balls of white, flatten and stick on)

Roll 2 small balls of white paste, taper into cones and stick them on to his mouth as teeth.

Have fun!