Playing with Fondant...Oink Oink

I've always wanted to work with fondant, but have been intimidated in the past. But how could you not be intrigued by all the amazing things you can do with it...and with that perfectly smooth surface?

I've seen lots of recipes and photos...but as much as I like to bake, cake making is not really my cup of tea. Most of the uses for fondant were for cake decorating (wedding cake decorating to be specific) and so I've never had the drive to experiment. Cupcakes though...now that's a different story!

Here's the photo that inspired my latest cupcake creation and first go at using fondant:

Pretty cute huh? Some friends and I are going to Chef Chris Cosentino's Annual Head to Tail dinner tonight at Incanto Restaurant. So...I had the great idea...Wouldn't it be a cute thing if I made these cupcakes for everyone as a take-home goody?

It started off as a great idea, and the recipe was super easy (basic cupcake recipe). Even the fondant decorating part didn't seem too hard. Well. It ended up being a long night. The circle cutting part wasn't too hard, but when it came time to cut the ears by hand...well, let's just say, that was not so easy. Here's what I ended up with:

Umm, not quite the same. I didn't read the recipe closely enough and had initially thought the curly tails were also made using the fondant, but it's actually frosting (which of course I didn't buy and didn't have the time to make.) So, my pigs are tail-less. Not too horrible for a first try...but definitely not as cute as I had imagined in my head.

Let's see if they're a hit tonight...

In the meantime, I have the red food coloring dye all over my hands!