How to Make Soap Cupcakes

Soap making is one of my favourite hobbies, and recently I decided to mix things up by creating some soap cupcakes for my friend's birthday. I made them mostly using ingredients from my kitchen cupboard with a few cosmetic ingredients like melt and pour soap base, cosmetic colourants and fragrances.

Some great websites for buying soap making supplies are:

Just a SoapOils 4 Life
Soap Basics
Perfumer's Apprentice
Nature's Garden Candles
Bramble Berry
Sculptures in Soap
Flexible Molds

Ingredients and Equipment

• Melt and pour soap base, grated (opaque looks best)
• Food colouring or cosmetic colourants (yellow/brown for the base and pink or white for the frosting).
• Essential oils or cosmetic fragrance oil (vanilla or chocolate for the base and something sweet like cherry or strawberry for the frosting)
• A cupcake mould (one for making real cupcakes)
• Jojoba beads to use as sprinkles (optional)
• Baking soda
• Citric acid
• Corn starch
• Mineral salts 
• Coconut oil/vegetable oil
• Pretty cupcake cases 
• Mixing bowl
• Mixing spoon/whisk
• Spatula/frosting piper

Instructions

1) Melt the soap base in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until it has melted into a liquid.

2) Quickly put in a couple of drops of yellow/brown colour and a couple of drops of vanilla or chocolate fragrance oil and stir well. If it starts to set, melt it in the microwave again.

3) Pour the mixture into the cupcake mould, right to the top.

4) Leave to stand somewhere cool for about an hour or so (the longer you leave it the harder it will be)

5) When it is completely solid, gently turn it upside down and press it until the soap falls out, and you have your cupcake base.

6) Next it's time to make the frosting. Mix the baking soda, citric acid, corn starch and mineral salts in a bowl. Then add a couple of drops of fragrance (strawberry, cherry etc.) and a couple of drops of colour (pink, white etc) and a few drops of coconut oil/vegetable oil. Mix until you have a smooth paste. If it's too thick add warm water in tiny amounts until you have the right consistency.

7) Use a spatula or a frosting piper to spread the frosting over the base soap that you made earlier. Be creative and make it in any shape you like.

8) Before it hardens you could sprinkle on a few bath beads.

9) Leave to harden. The frosting should firm up within an hour or so. When it's ready you will have your very own soap cupcake. You can even put it in a pretty cupcake case to make it look more realistic. If you do a few and put them into a decorative box, they make a really great birthday present for someone.

When you use them in the bath, the frosting part should fizz like a bath bomb, but the bottom part will be like normal soap so it will last longer. Enjoy! But oh....don't try and eat them!