A couple weeks ago, my friend Susannah had a Lasik vision correction procedure. Completely elated that she no longer needs to wear glasses, she wanted to thank her doctors for her brand new 20/20 vision with some eyeball cupcakes.
I had originally wanted to incorporate gummy eyeballs, but it turns out that they are particularly difficult to find unless it's Halloween time. So when my candy supplier called (the day before the cupcake delivery) to let me know they couldn't get ahold of any, it was time to regroup!
Many thanks to my friend, Kris and her husband John who, in perfect timing, had just loaned me their food dehydrator for experiments with beef jerky. Normally, I need to let the fondant dry out for a day or two before I can paint it. (2-3 days if the weather is cold and damp as it had been that week.)
The dehydrator successfully dried out the fondant in about 12 hours, leaving me with about 3 hours to paint Susannah's eye on them.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJvkORgFKXEK4bj_9Qj6P6w6QSJRnPYikqfJgYhyphenhyphenG2o47jSjUXySCfEIjtzDsqasxFh1jS46ZCZDocGjmGS11LQUO5B4lyrJL_IAze-WnK0YZS_1UyvmO9vYtJgHZ80TG6pfirHbrFq59/s400/IMG_2360.JPG)
Butterbeer cupcake with fondant topper hand painted with coloring and luster dust.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJu8pjVlq1T6Jq_XfbrLhK3uiM-lkpkP8I6vwjbCmXDyIJOCxck3mscpGF5AmqxEG6IiuHYJSB0w_bPWOKXk6UvIB2LCoRpAOm8oNKzwosMHPJvk2NP5WS37suQeXymES_Dyfv1Zwv0f5m/s400/IMG_2362.JPG)
Painting things on flat surfaces is difficult for me. I more typically sculpt, then paint the 3-D object. But I think these little eyeballs turned out rather like something from a Keith Haring painting.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWLRkRRpl2ahn_PDY3nXNclrVrPw324J2qaGbO9XnwC-4GOwkTZpbuyPTt2L8ZSbnsQ3p7k_Qs6YcpYib_7xvp_wLupTk7UuYwi0fwX6PSlthGl2x1jQHgwnQMqL0etbpLIrjcFHq6k_4/s400/IMG_2365.JPG)
12 eyes, 6 faces, or 3 sets of Four Eyes? Hmm...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg501TgZku7uSueg4U0o11U6Yl9Q6WAE2mPvxAWo_SUxoLUh6HMHqbu2yzPCw6cfIQbj7-Fvq1rS3xjod_gK8cT2Voio-QJWIG7MuyLjwSIs1fBw1COmZinyfug3-WvqtECQVe9C7EA-0Ze/s400/IMG_2366.JPG)
I wish I'd been able to catch video of the eyes doing their rapid jiggly dance on their buttercream mounds in the car ride to San Jose. It looked like they all had Astigmatism! =D
Labels: butterbeer, cupcakes, eye, eyeballs, eyes, fondant, Lasik, painting