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! I just cannot stop staring at them! I love how you used marshmallow and made them shiny!
I’m in Dental Hygiene school right now and I LOVE LOVE to bake! I can’t wait to FIND some time to do these! So adorable!
As coworker in the dental field, we appreciate your artful cupcakes.. really want to try these for my girls in the office.. wish me luck. Thanks cute idea.
I’m a hygienist and I have a bit of an obsession with making cupcakes – these are next on the list. Love them!
This was a huge success last saturday when we gathered dentists and dental hygenists for a colleague night! Thank you so much for this superb recipe! We <3 teeth!
I would love to see a video of how you made these! Too darn cute!:)
i think this is anatomically wrong…but good try buddy! your proximal contacts on your mandibular molars are too lingual.
Very astute observation “Anonymous”. A lingual contact would precipitate a smaller than normal lingual embrasure, and would also throw off your heights of contour. And don’t even get me started on point and line angles…But hey, A for effort, right?
Sweet succedaneous, are these teeth for giants??? These aren’t feasible as implants.
HI there! I’m a dental student at Ohio State! A friend and I made these today :) They turned out great! I’ll be posting it on my blog soon! Such an awesome idea!
<3 your blog!!
as an experienced dental assistant I have seen some good and bad crowns and these cupcakes look like some pretty decent crowns! LOL
Love it! I am a dental sales rep and I am so excited to make for my doc’s! :)
I think you can say *puts on sun glasses* you got a sweet tooth, YYYYYEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH
JUST found this, and as an RDH of over 10 years I was just squealing with excitement. Thank you so much for sharing them. I hope to make some and then maybe even put an AMALGAM FILLING in one of them??? Is that too over-achieving? ha!
better than my first wax up! @UCLA dental
We are Maltese dental students… Well done they look amazing! Very impressed with your anatomy, would love to see your composite shaping and amalgam carvings. you must be pretty good at it :) keep up the great work!
Found these on Pinterest. I just might have to attempt to make these when my daughter loses her first tooth!
Being a nurse, I now have to go check out your EKG cookies!…
Ohhh my goodness I LOVE these. LOVE. I am a new dentist—-and I am a crafty blogger and a few of my blogging friends sent me to this post because they had thought of me! How cute I am so glad that they did!!! Ohhh I am so making these for a work party! :o)
Jaime from crafty scrappy happy
I am on a Dental Hygiene Committee at our local VA. I play around with baking cakes and since the unit I work on saw a Pool Table Cake/pool balls I made, I was approached to make a ‘tooth cake’ to celebrate how well we are keeping up with the oral care of our Veterans. I was at a loss, until I came upon your picture! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
Well done on the anatomy…With a Cusp of Carabelli, well done
I think these are awesome! I’m going to make these for my ortho office the day i get my braces off!
I’m a dentist and a cupcake-eating enthusiast, so this combines several of my passions. I deem these “clinically acceptable.”
I am a dental hygiene student and I just think these are the cutest cupcakes ever! I really want to try and make them. They are an awesome idea:)
OMG I just saw these for the first time and wish I had seen them before I went to my dentist (whom I used to assist for) in December! I will be making these for our next visit in June!!!!!
I officially love it!
(Fellow dentistry student)
I’m trying teeth cupcakes some time soon, but in a different way.
These are awesome. I am a dental hygiene student and I think i might make these for my class they would love them! Before I read that you were a dental student I was like wow these are really accurate this person must be in the dental field! they are great!
This is great i want to make them for my d hygiene class!
Thanks so much for this idea! My sister’s going to dental school so i made her a dozen of these :D
I am a dental assistant and am totally making these for our next staff meeting! They are adorable!
These are so cute! and I’m thinking of using these actually for my daughter’s 7th birthday. It’s going to be a Tooth-fairy Party! Thanks for helping me turn a regular pajama party into a something even more special! :)
Just stopping by to let you know that I’ve featured your craft on Family Fun Crafts! You can see it here:
http://funfamilycrafts.com/tooth-cupcakes/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, I’d love it if you would submit them. :) If you would like to display a
featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above.
so, of course, I sent this to my daughter the dental hygenist. You have a very active mind.Not a bad thing!
Really impressed with your dental anatomy skills!
I just made these for my son’s preschool class…they are having a dentist come to speak for dental hygiene month, and these are the perfect addition!! SO creative!
As a dental hygienist for the past 18 years who shares your passion for baking as well (gluten-free) I truly enjoyed this post! I may just have to try making some to share with friends at the office! Thanks for the great pictures and post :)
My husband who is a dentist loved them. I just showed him the photo and asked what they were and he said “upper and lower molar muffins” as you can tell he is not a baker…muffins
My little brother ids getting ready to graduate dental school and I think these will be perfect for his graduation party. I probably will not be able to make them look exact but I sure will try. Thanks for the idea.
Love these! I am a Hygienist and at first I thought my mind was playing a trick on me as it sometimes does! Very clever! I am about to make the PB nutella cookies :-)
As a dental assistant, and a huge cupcake fan, these may just make it into my office!
Excellent Anatomical representation. I predict your posterior composite restorations will be enhanced for the effort and skills learnt in the kitchen!
RDH here and in LOVE with these! So creative..I wish you could do a whole blog on dental stuff….So impressed! Awesome, just AwEsOmE!
What a great idea!! I study dental laboratory technitian (I think this is how you say it in english) and also love to cook, so definitly I will do this great cupcakes. Thank you very much for the idea!!
I love these! I study the evolution of human teeth. This is definitely my inspiration to make replicas of fossil teeth.
DDS here and a baker as well. I saw this on pinterest and thought the anatomy was too good to have been done by a non-dental person. Good use of the waxing technique for your cusps!
I’m a hygienist who likes baking, too! These are adorable!
these are fantastic! i’m a dentist and an avid baker … these cupcakes are great! nice anatomy :)
I will run to make theese… It wil be perfect for the clinic where I work… :D
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I work in a dental lab. Ha. These are amazing. Going to try them for sure…maybe stain the occlusal grooves… Loved your EKG cookies, too. Will be visiting your site again. Thanks.
Hi there! I saw these on Pinterest, and LOVE them! I’m a Dental Assistant here in NC, and I love to bake, so I will Def. try to make these. And they represent Molars very well! Great job!
You should have like silver colored icing and put some fillings on top of some of these hehehe
I’m Currently in a Dental Hygiene course and will be graduating very soon, I am hoping to wow my class with attempting to make these as a “fairwell” gift. Fingers crossed they’ll resemble somewhat like yours! Excellent work!
My dad has made me watch countless oral surgeries, while re-cording the video…over Sunday morning breakfast… He owns dental labs. I have just found the BEST idea ever for his birthday cake this year! Good luck with school.
If you’re serious about trying some sugar-free baking, I recommend getting a bag of xylitol or erythritol and giving it a try! Both of those taste great and work almost exactly like sugar. Lots of info online…and the xylitol has added benefits for teeth and other things.
Love it…going to try to make these tomorrow as a way to review my dental anatomy! I am a D2 student!
I was surprise how I was browsing through your blog and was able to recognize each tooth’s characteristics while my friend sitting next to me look at me all weird.
Just made these for my husband as he wraps up 3rd year of dental school – thank you!
So cute! My husband has been a dentist for almost 11 years, and though he is uninterested in anything tooth related now, I remember his enthusiasm for all things dental during school! Good luck to you. And a plus, everything is better than being a D2!
WHAT ABOUT POWDERED XYLITOL!?!? I’m SO gonna try that instead of sugar! Xylitol is a cavity inhibitor also! :D :D :D How awesome would THAT be!
I have been in denistry the majority of my life.Great idea,unique and colorful.
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love this! My husband is now in his second year of orthodontic residency, thinking this would be an awesome thing to make for his class as they start the new year, any ideas on what would make good braces?
Erica — June 25th, 2012 @ 5:57 pm
Hmm maybe some fondant dyed grey with a bit of silver disco dust painted on?? Good luck!
I love these. The Kid is in dental school, but I don’t think these will ship 3000 or so miles. Won’t he be surprised at xmas. Found them when I was looking for DIY dentite-themed xmas ideas. Think I’ll send him a felt gingerbread tooth garland to get him in the spirit of the season before he gets home. It’s considerably easier than the brain stuff I did for his dad.
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OMG, they are adorable! Just found your blog on pinterest and I am amazed by these cupcakes!!!
I really appreciate the anatomy! Have you ever tried to do premolars or canines? If so, I’d be interested in seeing!
http://stippledpink.blogspot.com
These are adorable and your dental anatomy is superb! I understand the whole dentist-love sweets dilemma….although, I don’t think it’s a dilemma. Happy Baking!
They are adorable, would be wonderful idea to use them as gifts for birthday parties.
wow, they look a bit like cake pops.
My sister is a hygenist and her husband is a dentist. I love finding cute tooth stuff for them. I love it.
This is amazing. I think this will have to be my study break between clinic and studying for tooth morphology… :)
You are the best… I’m a dentist and I just started cake decorating for fun but this my dear is the best! I’ll give it a try once i learn how to make and manipulate fondant.
It’s so perfectly nerdy! Totally me as well
Good job Doctor!!!
These are so great!!! My dad is a dentist and will be retiring very soon. I would love to make these for his retirement party.
I loooove these!! My sister is graduating as a dental hygienist soon and I can’t wait to try and make these. Mine might not be as anatomically correct :)
love these just graduated my dental assisting classes n im going to make these for my party!
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MUST MAKE THESE! My husband is a dental tech and after 13 long years working for a lab started working for a private dental group that houses their own in house lab. I adore the group of people there so much and will have to make these for them. What a hoot! I also must make the EKG cookies as I am presently in school for medical assisting and we just finished our cardiology section. :) So stinkin cute!!!
I’m a dental hygiene student and a Certified Orthodontic Assistant and when I seen these I was so impressed with your passion for the field of dentistry. My name is Aricka too and these made me love dental anatomy class I wish I saw them before we attempted to make teeth out of clay! P.S. I will be making these soon #toocute
Goodness, the amount of name-dropping & d-measuring (& “d” doesn’t stand for “dental” lol!) on here! Anyone being ugly about your (AMAZING) dental anatomy skills needs to put their dough & oven mitts where their mouths are… Because you did GREAT!! I’m so in love with these. My husband is a DS2 (OUHSC), & we’re having a “Bah Humbug to Boards” party over the break (HOORAY for that being over!)… I cannot wait to surprise everyone with this! I’m just in school for hygiene, so my waxing experience has only been for fun… Luckily, my husband saw these & was more than pumped to help me with them!! ;) Cannot wait. I really appreciate you sharing!!
Did you know there are cookie cutter molars? Not anatomically correct, but hey, still cute & quick to make in a pinch :) I made hem to thank offices I’ve shadowed! If you ever find time & a method to make premolars & canines, I’d sure love to see! I’ll bet you’re the most talented baker-slash-dentist around! :)