As dentists-in-training we mold teeth out of many materials – amalgam, resin, wax, acrylic – it really was only a matter of time before I made a few teeth out of cake, right?? As if my EKG cookies weren’t nerdy enough, I’m taking it to a whole ‘nother level with these molar cupcakes today. I’m sure only those of you involved in the field of dentistry can truly appreciate these, but for the rest of you, the anatomy is pretty accurate, and if anything, they’re pretty cute too. I had SO much fun making them, probably because they are the perfect hybrid of my life right now – baking and dentistry. Now if only I had somehow made them sugar-free, then they’d really be the perfect hybrid!
This was my project last weekend when we were expecting to lose power from Hurricane Irene. I baked the cupcakes while we still had power and prepared the fondant so I’d have the whole day, electricity or not, to work on these beauties. We were lucky and never lost power, but I still got to have a blast putting these together, especially with some TV on in the background. I used homemade marshmallow fondant for these, which is tastier in my opinion than store-bought fondants, but I still didn’t want a mound of fondant, tasty or not, as the cusps. So I made some cake ball mixture (crumbled up baked cake + a little frosting) to mold cusps on top of the cupcakes instead. This technique worked really well, and I can imagine this being used for many other forms besides teeth! (Because let’s face it, I don’t expect any of you to run off and start making teeth cupcakes after seeing this…)
After building up the teeth with the cake-ball mixture, I rolled my white fondant out thinly and cut out circles a bit larger than the cupcake’s diameter. Then I simply draped the fondant circle over the teeth, gently applying pressure with my fingers and an offset spatula to adapt the fondant along the cusps and grooves, and used a sharp knife to trim the edges. There’s a reason I only made the 4 molars – these took a lot of work! But the molars are probably the most interesting looking teeth anyway :) Here’s the breakdown for my personal favorite tooth, the lower 1st molar:
Now that I’m in my third year of dental school, I’m finally treating patients and spending more and more time in clinic and less time in class. It’s been a great transition so far and I’m definitely enjoying the patient interaction and application of the skills we’ve learned in the past 2 years on fake teeth. These cupcakes are kind of a celebration of the start of this next chapter in my education, and hopefully my crowns and fillings for patients will come out as pretty (but definitely less sugary) as these!
Tooth Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes – whatever recipe you want!
For the cake ball mixture – baked cake crumbles + frosting
For the marshmallow fondant – recipe here
Directions:
The fondant needs to be made 24 hours in advance, so prepare fondant according to recipe’s instructions and place in fridge until you’re ready to make the cupcakes.
Bake cupcakes and allow to cool completely. I baked 8 cupcakes total, decorated 4, and used the other 4 for the cake ball mixture.
For the cake ball mixture for the cusps, crumble up remaining cupcakes and mix with a few tablespoons of frosting, until the consistency is malleable but not too wet.
Apply a thin coat of frosting to the tops of the cupcakes and start forming cusps out of the cake ball mixture using an offset spatula.
Refrigerate cupcakes 30 minutes to an hour to allow cake ball mixture to stabilize
Roll out fondant to 1/4″ thickness, using powdered sugar to prevent sticking.
Cut out circles slightly larger than the diameter of the cupcakes and drape over cusps.
Use a sharp knife to trim the edges and tuck the edges in with your fingers and an offset spatula.
Oh my gosh! Those are too cute :)
I’m studying nursing and I’m involved in the whole anatomy/health thing, so I really appreciate these too! Absolutely adorable!
Haley @ The Girly Girl Cooks
Too cute — the dental student in me thinks you anatomy is spot on!
Oh my gosh, too cute!! I too am in the dental industry (other side, manufacturing) at some point I need to do a cupcake with XP curettes or Scalers on top, but might have to try these in the mean time!! :)
Oh my goodness, these are too perfect.
Wow, your cupcakes are adorable… so cute :)
Haha, what a fantastic idea! I saw these on tastespotting and clicked over immediately to see how you had done it – ingenious! I love creative cooking, and these certainly are. Two thumbs up. :)
Um, I’m so in love. My husband is in his third year of dental school too, and I know he might fall over and die if he sees these cupcakes (especially if I’ve correctly molded lower first molars for him ;)) I made him these http://fullmeasureofhappiness.com/2011/07/22/iced-coffee-with-teeth/ when he was studying for his boards–thought you might get a laugh out of them too!
Diane — April 24th, 2012 @ 4:29 pm
I checked your link and really enjoyed seeing teeth floating in coffee! ;-) Gotta find me some molds…someday.
Wonderful idea!! Quite honestly never seen anything quite like these adorable little cakes :) I had to have a filling re-done yesterday (my sugar addiction has taken its toll…) so rather apt too! You are ingenious :)
Did you make any with cavities? ;) These are quite handsome!
these are amazing! #19 is my favorite tooth ;)
I just discovered your blog and I’m in love! I’m a senior in college and I just finished the application process for dental school! I absolutely love cooking and baking, too! These tooth cupcakes are so cute!
As a fellow dentist in training (D2) these are AWESOME! I am going to have to make them. I like your cusp of Carabelli!
Haha, these are just awesome. :)
These are awesome!! I have never seen anything like them, but they’re really great.
Hah! Great job with these! I work at a dental office and these look…like many before said, awesome! :)
http://mytastyliving.blogspot.com/
I am also a dental student, and my friend just showed me this link!! These are amazinggg and I want to make some right now! (or buy some from you!!)
They are completely adorable and amazing! I’m impressed your anatomy!!
I saw your molar cookies on Pinterest! They are awesome! I’m a hygienist so I had to share this with you… http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliesbites/5642223904/in/photostream
They are the cupcakes I made for our other hygienist’s birthday.
Good luck in dental school! I can’t believe you have time to bake, too!!!
~Stephanie
Oh wow! I am SO excited to make these! Fabulous idea, as always!
These are so adorable, I just had to come and comment. Such a clever idea!
Paula @ Spoons ‘n’ Spades
I found these linked through Pinterest… SO cute! I’m a dentist and will definitely be making some molars!
ahh i want to make these for my husbands dental office!
These are fabulous!!
great idea! my bf is in d’school and he’ll love these!!
@Morgan…Dental staff love goodies! That is awesome that you think of them.
I am so making these for my doctor. I am a dental office manager and also the office baker. I do all the birthday cakes. We are going to the ADA in Vegas in October so I think I’ll be making these right before we leave!
Wow, look at the pretty white teeth!
AMAZING! I NEED to make these for my son-in-law, a dentist:) He graduated from Creighton dental school last year. Thanks for the great tutorial!
These are AWESOME! I am a 3rd year dental student too (at MUSC in Charleston). I found these during lunch, and some classmates saw my screen – we were all amazed. Awesome anatomy by they way :-) Can’t wait to make these for a special dental occasion – at least for graduation if not before. Thanks for sharing!
Wow. I love these…I’m a pre-dental student…so I think these are awesome! I actually blogged about your post here: http://creativityandcardigans.blogspot.com/2011/09/tooth-cupcakes.html
follow my blog: creativityandcardigans.blogspot.com
My husband is a D3 and saw the screen while I was looking at these and he started naming the teeth, said they look great!
These cupcakes look absolutely beautiful even if my dentist would not like to see me eating them…
These are too cute! I am also a dentist so of course they are extra special! Only thing missing is the cusp of Carabelli!!
Oops! Now I see the cusp of Carabelli! It was just too bright on my phone! Cool!!
A non-dentite emailed me a picture of your tooth cupcakes, but it only took a few seconds on google to find the source. Due to the extreme accuracy of the dental anatomy, I knew they had to be made by a dental student. I showed the photo to many of my classmates during lecture and everyone was impressed. Respect!
Your oblique ridge rocks my world
These are genius!
Hi! So happy to see a fellow dental student that enjoys baking! I’ve shown your blog to several girls in my class and we’re going to recreate these fantastic cupcakes soon. I can only hope our oblique ridges will be as awesome as yours!
A fellow Hygiene student just posted this link on their facebook and we are in love with these cupcakes! Glad to see there are lots of teeth lovers out there like us. :)
I love these cupcakes!!! My husband is in his 3rd year of dental school and I have been looking all over for some dental related fondant cupcake ideas. Thanks so much for sharing :)
As a RDH; I love these!!! and might I add they look outstanding your anatomy professor must be proud! gotta love that cusp of carabelli :)
I’ve been a dental assistant for 7 years!! I love these cupcakes :) They look great and I can tell they took time <3
Oooh Wow! These tooth cakes are really really adorable. Good job!
Cate
AHHH! I love these! I’m a dental hygienist and also love to bake, thanks so much for sharing!
Linking! These are so adorable!
I’m a dentist with a sweet tooth. and these are so cool!
I’m a dentist and love baked goodies – I think these are perfect! When I was in D-school I carved molars out of butter for our Thanksgiving table…
Maybe you could ad some realism to these with raisins crammed in the grooves!
I love these! Cannot wait to make them! I’m a dental student and I showed these to my fellow classmates and they are hounding me to make these!! They look so yummy! Thanks for sharing!
i’m glad that you’re finding time during D3 to do fun things other than stress about treatment for your new patients.
My husband is a dentist and I showed these cupcakes to him. He said your anatomy is fantastic and that you did a nice job on the cusp of carabelli. ;)
I am a dental hygienist and baker myself and I came across this recipe while searching dental related topics. LOVE them!