1 1/2 cups Meringue Powder
1/2 to 1 cup warm water
1 3/4 cup powdered Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS)
8 tablespoons Jojoba Oil
2 cups Powdered Sugar (plus more if needed)
1 1/2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1/2 ounce Fragrance Oil
a few drops of Canary Yellow LabColor
Tools:
Mixing bowl
Electric mixer or whisk
Piping bag, cookie spritzer, or knife for spreading the frosting
A few notes: The meringue powder is powdered egg white which gives the frosting body and also helps it to harden (which is why it’s frequently used in royal icing). The SLS makes bubbles – so really you’ll end up with a Bubble Bath Bomb. Using an electric mixer is the easiest way to make a smooth fluffy frosting – but you can also make this recipe with a whisk and some elbow grease!
Directions:
1. Blend the Meringue powder and 1/2 cup water together and mix until you have a smooth lump free consistency.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well until you get a smooth, stiff frosting. You can add more water or powdered sugar to adjust the consistency if necessary. The thicker the frosting, the easier it is to maintain a tall frosting swirl with a distinct pattern.
3. Fill up your piping bag (see instructions how on our sugar scrub tutorial) or try using a cookie spritzer gun like we did. Alternatively, you can always just use a knife to give your creations that authentic bake sale look.
4. Allow the frosting to harden for at least 24 hours before you sell, use or give away your fabulous creations. If you are shipping the product, shrink wrapping the entire bath bomb cupcake ensures a safe arrival to your destination.
Click here for Day one – the cupcakes – tutorial
How do you get the icing to stick to the base it always wants to brake off.
Hi Marty!
This icing is pretty hard and should adhere to the base, but if you are having problems, the easiest way to fix that is to melt a bit of M&P base and use it as “glue” to stick the two parts together. 🙂
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I hate to keep going but could a deep red color possible cause slow icing times? Or the fact I can’t get the tops to stay on?
Hi Kevin! We’ve never found that coloring our bath bomb frosting has ever caused it to slow down the icing drying times. I’d love to help you troubleshoot this, are you using this recipe?
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Also has anyone tried the corn starch / corn syrup recipes for the icing thats out there?
I’ve heard that incorporating epsom salt into the icing mix helps cure time but haven’t attempted it yet
We haven’t tried the corn starch/corn syrup frosting recipes for our bath bomb cupcakes yet. But, if you do try it, let us know how it turns out.
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Is there any recipe or way to dry the icing faster? Or has anyone else experienced issues with using metallic liners? For me it seems that the metallic liner prevents the base from curing as it traps moisture in. Not at first of course but after the icing is done the base absorbs the moisture from the icing and gets trapped resulting in the base expanding uncontrollably …
The frosting in this recipe does take a couple of days to harden up, so I would let it sit out for about 1-2 days to harden up properly. I’m not sure if the metallic liners are causing your moisture problems, but I would try just using the paper liners instead of the metallic ones to see if that helps.
And, if you are having problems with the humidity causes your bath bombs to prematurely fizz, I’d suggest running a fan over the bath bomb cupcakes and keeping them in a dry room to prevent any moisture problems.
I hope this helps! 🙂
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Hi Anne-Marie,
Do you think this frosting would get hard enough to use in a 3D silicone cupcake mold? I have a mold that makes a realistic-looking topping, and you can remove the mold in two halves if needed. I’m just wondering if this frosting would work with the mold, or if it needs to be piped or spread?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Janna!
The frosting in this recipe gets really hard after 1-2 sitting out in the open. If you used this recipe in a mold, then you would probably want to give it a couple extra days to harden up.
We’ve never tried putting the frosting in a mold so it’s definitely going to be an experiment. Keep us posted. Your idea sounds super cute, we would love to see pictures =)
-Becky with Bramble Berry
dear Anne-Marie, when i use my cupcake bathbombs in my bath the frosting doesnt disolve tha easily… what can i do to change that? maybe i could add citric acid or baking soda so it could also fizz. But im not sure. what do you think? x 🙂
Hi Ines.
The frosting in these cupcakes isn’t meant to dissolve as fast as the fizzy part of the cupcake, so the frosting is going to stick around a little longer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your recipe, you did everything just right!
If you want to add a bit of baking soda or citric acid, you totally could and it would be a great bath bomb, but because of the ingredients of the recipe, it makes the frosting a little harder, thus it doesn’t dissolve as fast in the water.
I hope this helps!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
thank you <3
Hi Ann-Marie,
Great recipe just what I’ve been looking for, my question is this…how long in a dry climate should these take to completely dry and be ready for packaging? Mine are 24 hours old and still soft. The outside seems dry but when I touch them they are definitely soft on the inside. Am I just jumping the gun and not giving them enough time?
Give it 2-3 days and they should be solid as a rock (our frosting was).
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I’ve read through the very many comments on this but can’t find anywhere about a shelf life. I am in a humid environment and am concerned about how long I could keep these because of the egg whites. I would wrap them of course. Anyone have any ideas?
Okay I have a few questions. I am going to atempt to make these for a baby shower. I have all the ingredients. I am not sure how to use them though. I have almond butter, cocoa butter and shea butter. All the butters are solid and that is my first question do I melt them or use a shredder? also can I put these in my frosting which is the foaming bath butter and foaming bath whip that I purchased from bramble berry. Also can I put the powder sls in there to make more of in? I have two jars of the butter and one of the whip but am not sure if this enough for 50 cupcakes.
Thank you!!
Hi Athena,
Thanks for your note.
You have all the ingredients for the bath bomb fizzies but you mention butters which aren’t in the recipe you posted on your question. Which item are you going to make with your butters? Generally, you melt your butters but there are some recipes that you don’t melt them for (some butter whips for example).
The frosting recipe above does not take butters very well. However, the Foaming Bath Whip does! Melt it first and then whip it in with a food processor or a blender.
Hope this helps! Ask more questions so I can make sure to answer your questions more fully. I know this didn’t answer them fully =)
hello
i would like to make just enough frosting for one bath bomb cup do you have a recipe
I’d take the above recipe and divide it by 8 and that should get you close =)
Can I use powdered bubble bath until I receive my SLS? I made a batch last week they came out great, the frosting deflated but they still looked nice and my daughter loved them.
We’ve never tried this technique before but it sounds promising. I would start with a small tester batch just to see if it works. Keep us posted =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Can I just say these are fabulous!! Ive just got a couple of questions which I hope haven’t already been answered. Here goes. Im in the UK and wondered whether it would be possible to ‘translate’ the recipe into grams as (after spending some time searching on the net) Im still confused as to how I convert from cups to grams. Also, how long would the frosting last before going bad? I would be making these to sell and wouldn’t want them to spoil. Thanks in advance and thanks for sharing, ALL of your makes are inspirational.
Cheryl
Okay, so easy one first – frosting should last for a year if it’s fully dried before it’s packaged.
Gram conversion is more difficult since that’s a weight measurement and we used volume. What do your measuring cups have in the UK? We use ounces and cups. Volume to volume is good. Volume to weight or vice versa, not so accurate =)
Courtney,
Thanks for the advice. It makes sense that the SLSA isn’t a fine as the SLS, as the molecules are larger, which prevents it from penetrating skin. This means it will not irritate sensitive skin, which is why I’m using it in place of the SLS. I’ll try adding more water on my second try, as I only used 1/2 cup the first time. I was hesitant to add more water because I saw a few comments where the frosting didn’t harden because of too much liquid. My frosting hardened somewhat, but not to a rock hard finish like yours, but I’m thinking it was actually because the frosting was too thick to allow it to dry through to the center. It was a little lumpy too.. I think more water and more whipping should do the trick. Here’s to hoping that the second time is a charm! Oh, also… one more question, My frosting is pretty yellow in color. I’ve read that a drop of blue food coloring will neutralize the yellow color and make it bright white. Do you have any experience with this? I’m asking because I make bath cookies instead of cupcakes (just a variation to be original) and one of my scents is macaroon, which requires White Frosting that I will apply with a grass tip to look like coconut.
I tried this recipe last night. The only substitution I made was SLSA for SLS, everything else was exactly the same. My Frosting was so thick that I couldn’t get it to come through the icing tip. I was using a plastic bakery bag, and it just started bursting at the seams because of how hard I was squeezing it. I ended up putting the icing (honestly looked and felt more like cookie dough) in my cookie press and applying it that way, which would have worked OK, but it doesn’t release enough icing in one squirt to cover. I ended up just kind of piling it on. Not nearly as cute as I had hoped. Any ideas of what I’m doing wrong? I noticed in your You Tube video, you used a plastic bakery bag w/o any trouble at all… Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
I’ve never worked with the SLSA so I’m guessing that the consistency must be a little bit heavier than the super duper fine SLS. If you’re going to stick with the SLSA you may need to add a little more warm water or oil to the recipe to think it out.
I’m sure your cupcakes turned out cute with a handmade look =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Hi Amber, I tried the mixture again with less water and it was better, a lot stiffer compared to the first attempt. I left the frosting to dry for about two days until it got really hard but when I tossed the cupcake bath bomb into a bucket of water, the frosting wouldn’t dissolve at all! It should, right?
And for some reason, the cupcake part composed of citric acid and baking soda, wouldn’t fizz. It also took a long time to dissolve. Could the humidity have made it go flat as when I was done making the test batches, the leftover mixture I had in the bowl fizzed wonderfully when I went to wash it in the sink.
I’ve read some websites online which say that humidity totally wrecks the bath bombs so I’m not sure what I should do about this because it’s humid here all year round. :S
Great! I’m so glad that you got the frosting to work! YAY!
The frosting dissolves … eventually. It’s a much slower rate than the bath fizzy but it will dissolve. You can help it along by breaking it into chunks in the bathtub and running it under the running bath water. A full frosting top, left completely untouched, took about 45 minutes to dissolve in my tub but when softened with water and broken up, it was a much faster process.
Your cupcake should fizz. It could be the humidity in your area for sure. If that’s the case, wrapping quickly should solve that?
Hi Anne-Marie, I tried your cupcake bath bomb recipe from here and for some reason, I can’t get the mixture to stiffen! I’ve added more powdered sugar and that has helped somewhat but it’s still not stiff enough for the frosting to stand – they deflate after a bit. I’m wondering if it’s because I added too much water? The ingredients listed on this page calls for 1 cup of water but on your other tutorial here
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/bath-fizzies/how-to-make-cupcake-bath-bombs-on-soap-queen-tv-2/ the measurements for the other ingredients are the same but the amount of water used is only 1/2 cup.
Which is the correct one?
Hi Masami,
In the video Anne-Marie says to start with 1/2 cup of water and add more as needed, up to another 1/2 cup. Which gives you 1 cup of water total.
We have heard from some people that the original recipe was a little too wet for them – so we thought it would be better to emphasize adding water as needed rather than following an exact recipe.
Hope this helps! Have fun making cupcakes!
Hey there!!!!
This is Loulou from Athens, Greece…
you make so many beautiful things there and you make me jealous for I cannot find many ingredients where I live and ordering from US is waaaaayyyy too expensive!!
Anyway I tried your delicious cupcakes yesterday but I have some problems with my frosting…
Even though it seemed perfect when I put it on the “cakes”, after a couple of mins kind a melted and lost its shape….
I didnt use sls since i dont have any so I went exactly with the rest of the recipe. What could have possibly gone wrong??? Should I have used less water??? How long does it take for the frosting to get hard??? And what is the self life since it has meringue powder inside???
Thank you for all these great things you are sharing! You are amazing
Welcome Loulou!
If you didn’t have any SLS, you were probably light on the dry ingredients for the recipe.
I would use this recipe instead:
http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2008/11/bath-bomb-cupcakes-redux.html
It doesn’t need SLS and it will last indefinitely since the frosting hardens up and evaporates its moisture very quickly.
Hello! I have collected most of my ingrediens and am excited to make the cupcake bath fizzies! Quick question, can I subsitute the Meringue powder for Royal Icing Mix? It seems to be more readilly available in my area.
Thanks!
Jamie
We recommend straight Meringue Powder and have not tried Royal Icing. My understanding is that it is different. But if you do try it and find success with it, please let me know =)
HELP!!! I made your frosting like you said but i was out of Jojoba oil and i used fractionated coconut oil now my frosting wont get hard. I also used tantric acid. . . Google told me that is the same Cream of tartar. is that true or should i use grocery store brought COT. HELP (FIRST BATCH)
Hi Kandy. We’ve never experimented with Fractionated Coconut Oil or Tantric Acid in bath bomb frosting so I’m not sure what that’s going to do in your recipe!
If you’re going to use those ingredients I would maybe experiment using less water? Maybe let it sit longer to dry?
I would try using our exact recipe. We know that one works =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
How much would these be priced at to sell? By my math i get $1.57 each supply cost, and $2.20 with time. Any suggestions? I’m just not sure what one would buy a super cute single use bath fizzy for.
It varies – I’ve seen them as low as $5 and as high as $12 so it depends on your packaging, the market you’re going into, what your demographics in your area are etc…
I really want to master these. Having just thrown out my third batch. Here are my questions:
Why so much oil in the frosting? Is this just to moisturize the bath? Also, why do the tops keep falling off? I mounded the cupcakes in the center and the tops always pop off. Is it best to keep the frosting amount to a minimal amount rather than having a really large decorative top? I tried to dissolve the one of the tops that fell off and it still took forever to dissolve.
I really like to mound the tops of my bath bombs so you add less icing to the cupcake. We haven’t found a good way to make the frosting stick to the bath bombs. They always seem to eventually fall off, which just might be the nature of the project. I would suggest letting the bath bomb get super duper hard before piping on the frosting…the frosting has more of a chance of staying on that way.
The oil in the recipe thins it out a little bit making it easier to pipe but it’s also a great addition to the bath. Feel free to edit and play with the recipe though =)
And just remember that it takes practice. You can do it!
Courtney from Bramble Berry
One more idea. Try “gluing” the frosting on with a little bit of melt and pour.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
It looks like many of the fondant brands out there do not use gelatin and are totally vegan. But that's always a good reminder to look at the ingredients of everything you use before making any claims.
That's a great tip about using powdered fondant – I'm definitely going to try that out!
assuming you can find fondant without regular gelatin? regular gelatin makes it about as unvegan as it can get. if you could find some using gelatin made from a plant source, then that would be a different story..but that's like finding hen's teeth
hello, i just wanted to say i was able to use powered fondant inplace of the meringue powder
and it worked out find, if you looking for a vegan option
The frosting is pretty slick and tends to fall off things that don't have a somewhat grainy surface. Soap usually is that slicker surface so just do a few to experiment before you try a bunch. In my experience, it doesn't stay on great.
Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Also, can I put this frosting on top of cupcake shape soap bars?
You can go non-SLS with this recipe:
royal icing http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2008/11/bath-bomb-cupcakes-redux.html
Or you can buy SLS at http://www.BrambleBerry.com
The two are very different formulas and act differently in the tub for sure.
I love this cupcake bomb recipe! However, I was wondering, what can I use to substitute the SLS, and/or where can I go to I buy this agent?
I know I’m a little late on this reply, but SLSA is a natural product derived from coconut and palm oils. It is a surfactant, and when run under hot water, it creates a rich lather which will kill bacteria and clean surface oils (just like SLS) without the harsh effects. It has large molecules that prevent it from penetrating the skin, which means it will not irritate skin like SLS. I got mine at thechemistystore.com
OH, but you’ll want to add some extra water and whip your frosting really well as the larger molecules make the frosting in this recipe SUPER thick…
PS – Did you see the video on making bath fizzy cupcakes? I did it here so you can see the entire process in action, including the frosting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBvC1RnWqrE
Hi Helen,
I'm so sorry to hear you are having a frustrating time.
I think the main issue is that with so much sugar the proportion of meringue-to-sugar is off.
The meringue really helps the frosting to be light a fluffy but at the same time makes it really solid. I imagine the humidity could also have an effect on your results as well.
Remember, you can always frost with a knife for that home-y handmade cupcake look!
ohhhh frustration! I made this icing tonight and it was so wet that I had to add about 5 times the amount of icing sugar to try to get a pipe-able consistency, then I tried adding more meringue powder too. It was so thick I had trouble forcing it through the #1 wilton piping tip, but it still kind of settled and drooped down over the sides of the cupcakes as it dried. I'm so disappointed!!
I think there is WAY too much liquid in this recipe.
Anne-Marie, if you ever have a class at Otion that teaches making these cupcake bombs, sign me up! I don't understand how you can get the icing so stiff and able to stay in shape on the tops!
Why yes, yes we do have such a recipe. I've blogged about it a few times and even done a video on it at SoapQueen.TV =) Great minds think alike.
This should get you started with your fun soapy proejct:
http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/search?q=frosting
I was wondering if you had a soap frosting recipe that doesnt contain merangue or powedered sugar? I tried a melt & pour base with some water & beat it . . it came out OK but was more like firmer shaving cream & dried with the texture of a puffed cheese doodle. any thoughts on what went wrong or again if you have a less real frosting recipe? any help would be much apprecaited! thanks!
Hi Anon,
Welcome to the blog all the way from Ireland! Yay! =)
I don't know that you can get Vanilla Color Stabilizer anywhere in Europe at all but you could just use a regular fragrance oil and not worry about it discoloring. Food coloring will not work for bath fizzies as it is water based. You need to use a powder or a non-water based colorants. Many frosting colorants are non-water based and are made with glycerin so check with your baking supply store.
Good luck – and thanks for being a reader!
Hello ann marie, I love your work – I am so happy as just ordered egg white powered thanks to info on your blog. I cant wait to get stared I live in Ireland so delivery cost from bramble berry would be crazy. could you advise where I could vanilla stabiliser, and what other colouring I could use – past is food colouring ok, I know coco power can work? I have spent the past 2 days learning all I can from your u tube video. god bless the internet, thanks
Hi Kayley,
Yes, it should work but you might try the egg beater mixer over the immersion blender. I That's what I used when I making it for the first time.
ohhh..i forgot a question i had…will whipped type soap icings whip up with an immersion blender? i have handheld beaters, but you have to make quite a large batch of icing to use them or there's not enough product to be whipped around adequately. or maybe someone else knows the answer? anyone tried it?
anne-marie, you emailed me about the soap frosting, but i couldn't find the email, so i'm throwing my 2 cents in here…you mentioned that with an icing gun the frosting was getting hard to pipe almost by the time you got it in the gun, not to mention by the time you got it on the cupcakes…so i was thinking about some things that work really well when i do chocolate *another little hobby* ….chocolate, ganache, etc gets really hard really quick also, since it gets cool so fast, so i use a heating pad to wrap the bag in when it starts to stiffen up a bit..softens it right back up…if i have more than one bag going at a time, say with filling, coating chocolate and colored white chocolate, i might have to use one heating pad on top of another to get the space i need to fit that many bags underneath. so, i'm wondering if this wouldn't work with the frosting? once you have it in the bag or piping gun and it starts to get cool and harden, just put it under the heating pad for a minute or so and it softens it for another go.
It could be a mixing issue with the brown spots – unevenly mixed fragrance can do this but also all of the fragrances you used are discoloring fragrances.
You can use Vanilla Color Stabilizer to fix this.
A more smooth icing? You can use less powdered sugar to get a more thin icing which smooths out because it can't/doesn't hold its shape. I hope I answered your question on that one?
You mean I have not mixed this enough either? or just the type? I have used chocolate, clementine cupcake and also cream cheese as well as lemon cake? I was also wondering do you have a recepie for smoth icing? I was thinking of using 1/2 of the bath bomb molds and making like a truffle bathbomb.
Rachel- I just thought of one more thing…it could also be the fragrance oil that you're using starting to discolor.
Rachel- The spots are a result of the colorant not being totally mixed in. If you want the frosting a little stiffer, try less water with the meringue powder. So start with 1/2 cup and you can always add more water if you want it thinner. Let me know how it goes =)
My Cupcake bottoms seem to have brown spots on them why could this be? Color not mixed enough. Also the icing is runny it seems to fall on the cupcakes I have added up to another cup of icicng sugar but did not want to add to much any suggestions?
Smell-through plastic smells because it allows molecules of scent to pass through the plastic. This also means that molecules of moisture to pass through as well. Your fizzy is getting moisture in and on it, making it softer.
Switch to traditional shrink wrap and you should be back to rock hard bath fizzies. =) Let me know if there's anything else I can help with.
Hi Anne-Marie!
LOVE your blog 🙂 Use your products 🙂
Anywhoo……I make a similar frosting for my cupcakes…and I've recently started shrink wrapping the cupcakes vs putting in the cupcake boxes.
I've noticed that the bottom (fizzy) part will get really soft about a week or two in the shrink wrap. It's 'smell thru' shrink wrap and I allow the cupcakes to dry for days before wrapping..but my mind BOGGLES as to why this is happening?
What are you thoughts?
Thanks,
Kim
Or, if you don't want to watch the video, here is the Soap Queen tutorial on it:
http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2009/10/soapylove-tutorial-fluffy-frosted-soapy_24.html
(though I will admit that I think the video is more helpful than just plain photographs) =)
Dakota,
I know I saw your note here earlier and now it's gone but just in case you still had a question, a icing that you can make out of soap?
Definitely!
Here are instructions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0CB4osn6Zk
The Royal icing recipe works great, but my mixer did burn out finally. I bought a better one that should hold up better for mixing this thick icing. Thanks for all your help!=]
that is an awful lot of meringue powder anne-marie – not to mention expensive! are you sure that isn't a typo?
Here's the original recipe with royal icing: http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2008/11/bath-bomb-cupcakes-redux.html
The reason I switched it up with SLS and oil was because the royal icing sort of just floated around the tub instead of dissolving but it is a always-works, every-time recipe for sure!
No I'm sorry, 1 and a half oz. glycerin instead of 8 table spoons jajoba. Sorry about that!
Maybe I'll try just plain royal icing, sounds easier! =/
Everything the same, only 4 oz.liquid glycerin instead of Jajoba oil
Dear Anonymous,
Ick, a blender that wants to burn out is never fun.
I'm confused though – you say you followed the recipe to a T.
But, then you say you didn't use the amount of jojoba oil and that you used liquid glycerin?
Ingredients from recipe suggested by me:
1 1/2 cups meringue powder
1 cup warm water
1 3/4 cup powdered sodium laurel sulfate (SLS)
8 tablespoons Jojoba oil
2 cups powdered sugar (plus more if needed)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 ounce fragrance oil
a few drops of labcolor canary yellow
Did you try it with exactly the recipe as stated in the above ingredients listing — or try and modify it?
I have made this recipe for the frosting twice, I have had nothing but TROUBLE. The frosting is SUPER DUPER RUNNY. I followed your recipe to a T but only used half of the Jajoba oil (I used glycerin) and its so runny. Such a waste of ingredients =[[[ not sure what I'm doing wrong, My brand new mixer smells like it wants to burn out, and I dont see how I could have over mixed because it never gets to a stiff peek cosistancy only goopie runny!
Hi Candace,
Thanks for popping in.
I've not heard that about oil and meringue – I use meringue and butter all the time to make frosting. I would assume the butter is essentially an oil? Ponderous … but, I digress.
I am so sorry that you're having trouble with the recipe. I don't know why that would be (?). I tested it probably meh, 14-15ish times with really good results. I did use jojoba oil every time and jojoba oil is a liquid wax, so perhaps that's why I had such good results.
It's the same recipe in the Frosting Kit that Bramble Berry sells and I chatted with the awesome team in Customer Service this morning and no one remembers any feedback like liquid and runny.
(looking puzzled and concerned)
We love the recipe so much I think we're doing a full SoapQueen.TV episode on it this upcoming year (no joke!)
The only thing I can think is that there was too much water (?) or not enough meringue.
I'm really sorry you had a bad experience. =(
If anyone else has one and is being quiet for fear of hurting my feelings, please let me know before I make the SoapQueen.TV video and present a recipe that might cause people consternation and distress.
Oil and meringue do NOT like each other. I had read this multiple times, yet tried this version anyway.
I have EXTREMELY runny icing, despite adding nearly another 4 cups of powdered sugar and wasted a TON of ingredients. Oh, and it burned out my hand mixer…. lol…
I'd stick with the original version AM posted and use a little M&P to get it to adhere to the cupcake.
Hi Carolyn,
Yes, you can use pretty much any oil you prefer in place of the Jojoba. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what happened with the deflating frosting. I haven't personally experienced that before. My only thought is that maybe you over whipped the frosting? I know you can do that with egg whites – so maybe you can do that with our cupcake frosting recipe, too.
You should be able to just pop-off the bad frosting and try re-frosting your cupcake bombs. Good Luck! Anne-Marie
My consistency appeared to be right on when I piped them and they were looking so fabulous but an hour later they all "deflated" … I'm so sad. Any suggestions?
what other oils would be appropriate for this recipe? I have on hand a ton of Grapeseed oil, Shea oil, apricot kernel and sweet almond… but no Jojoba oil! And I want to try this recipe now! Thanks!
My next suggestion is to buy all new ingredients. I wonder if one of the powders has mold spores in it? That's the only thing I can think of though overnight is pretty fast for dark spots.
When you make them the next time, let them dry under a fan to keep any thing that might be flying around the air off of them.
Keep me posted; this is definitely a mystery.
Okay.. used the distilled water last night and still got spots this morning. UGH!!!!!! Maybe popping them in a warm oven for a bit to dry?? I have NO IDEA.. All of my instruments were clean… I just don't get it. (I hope I don't have mold spores just floating through my house!) I'll work on it some more and keep you posted.
Thanks so much Ann-Marie!
Anne-Marie…. thanks for the reply… I hadn't thought about distilled water.. just used it out of the tap. (Which really makes me happy that I drink bottled water… ICK!) Going to try it with distilled water and see what happens. I'll be sure to keep you posted! Thanks again!!!
Strange – that recipe that you're using is the one that is used in all the cake decorations that sit forever (and a day!) in the windows of cake decorating shops and the like. It really does sound like mold. Eek. Are you using distilled water?
Hi Ann-Marie! I've been using the recipe for bath bombs and have been loving it! My problem is with the frosting (the other recipe)… I can get it to pipe.. I can get it to attach to the bomb… but when it dries, it's getting these little dark spots on it. I'm not using SLS or fragrance in my frosting.. just the meringue powder, cream of tartar, water, powdered sugar, baking soda and a little bentonite clay (thinking that the latter may help dry the frosting out more and avoid the brown spots). HELP!! I don't know what to do! I've just made 5 batches of fall fragranced bath bombs, and now ALL of the tops are getting spots! I'm going to have to pop all of the tops off and do it all again… any ideas on how to keep from getting spots???
Divide the entire recipe by 3 and that should get you close to your ingredients for the 8 cupcakes since the post recipe makes enough frosting for 18-24 cupakes.
SLS comes as a powder typically. SLSa is another, more mild, form of a bubbling agent. It has a larger particle size than SLS and is considered a more gentle additive to boost bubbles.
I NEED HELP!
The recipe I make, makes 8 cupcakes and I need to know how much SLS I need to put in.
CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME.????????
SLS is Powdered right? What is SLSa then?
What's the difference between the two?
You could just do this frosting recipe without SLS:
http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2008/11/bath-bomb-cupcakes-redux.html
It doesn't melt away as fast in the tub though so there is a tradeoff.
What can I use instead of SLS in this recipe?
Hi Selena –
It makes 18-24 regular sized cupcakes. I assume it would make 50+ mini cupcakes and you would just make a lot of them, or yes, you could halve the recipe.
Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils can be used interchangeably in this recipe =)
Can you tell me how many cupcakes this recipe will make? Are these for the regular size cupcakes? What about the mini size? Would it just need to be halved for those? Also, what is the difference between using essential oils versus the fragrance oils?
Has anyone figured out how much it actually costs to make one of these? Assuming you buy everything from Bramble Berry. (at least that where I got my stuff:))
Anne-Marie: Just so happens that I did use vanilla for the icing. You think that could be it? I thought using vanilla would "brown" the whole batch, not just brown specks. I also noticed that the "specks" are just on the top, not underneath where the icing attaches to the cake. I was positive it was the grape seeds until I didn't use that oil this batch. I sure am hoping it's not something terrible like mold, but I don't think there is anything in them that could mold. Thanks so much for you thoughts. Pam
Hi Pam – What fragrance are you using? It could be that the fragrance is turning the icing colors if it has vanilla in it?
Thanks for the tip on keeping the icing on the cake, now my next problem. Within the first day of the icings drying, I am getting brown specks all over the top of it. At first I thought it was the seeds from the grape seed oil I use, but it's doing the same with sweet almond oil. My ingredients are: meringue powder, baking soda (instead of confectioners sugar), oil,warm water, cream of tartar, fragrance, liquid color. They look perfect after they are iced, then the icing turns. Any ideas? Thanks. Pam
Good question – if the frosting does not stay on naturally (and about 85% of my frosting dollops did), you can take a little bit of melt and pour and 'glue' the frosting back on. I've done this quite a lot and it totally works. Ideally, you want to build a little mound of cupcake bath fizzy so it's like a little cone you're frosting around – almost like a hook – and that also helps the frosting stay on.
Anne-Marie,
Great recipe! I was fnally able to make my own yesterday! I just have one question. How do you keep the frosting on the cupcake? I've been having problems with the frosting coming off during packaging. Is there something I am missing or doing wrong? Okay, that's two questions…:)
Michelle
Anne-Marie, I have been Searching for a great bubble bar recipe similar to Lush's you referenced in your most recent post. Do you have one that might fit the bill? Appreciate it and all of your responses!
Hi Anon,
Thanks for chiming in. It sounds like you might like just a plain bath bomb without any extras.
I tested 20ish plus recipes when I upgraded from the Frosting Recipe 1 (the original one) to this one. I finally ended up with something that started out like this Lush concept:
http://www.lushusa.com/shop/products/bath-shower/bubble-bars
but had the meringue in it to keep the shape and allow for frosting (rather than just a heavy log that you cut).
I found that when I tossed it into the bath tub that it floated and took around 20 minutes to fully dissolve without any agitation. But, when I turned on hot water and let the motion of a regular running bath help break up and fluff up the SLS, I had lots of bubbles and no product left floating on the tub to get on my backside.
The powdered sugar totally dissolves so you shouldn't have that on your hiney at all. But if you use regular sugar, I can see that having trouble.
Definitely take a crack at the recipe and design on that is even better. I'd love to have one that fizzed and bubbled at the same rate as the bath fizzy to really make for a huge WOW factor. If you find one, let me know and I'll have you do a guest blog post with it =)
worst. recipe. ever. Nasty, goopy stuff with a horrible feel to it. I don't like the fact that now my backside is covered in sugar and egg whites either. Thumbs down on this one!
Hi Vicky.
Email us at info(at)brambleberry(dot)com and we would be happy to help you with the recipe.
OR you can plug the equation right into your Google search bar and they will figure out the conversions for you. Isn’t Google great?
I’ve finally sourced all the ingredients needed to make this, so i’m going to give it a go. But has does anyone know what this recipe translates to in grams? as we don’t use cup sizing in the U.K so i don’t have a clue.
Hi Anne,
A few questions that would be great if you could answer them…
Meringue powder and cream of tartar, can i just buy them in a supermarket? Im from the UK and dont really want to buy anything from BrambleBerry.
You mention labcolor, what other sort of colourings can i use to put in the cupcakes? Can it be any colouring from a soaps supplies company here in the UK or a specific one?
Also if i want to decorate them at what stage do i add things like glitter, silver balls, sweets,etc etc.
Thank you very much,
Charlotte
rozanne- SLS can be drying, especially for sensitive skin. Other than that it is perfectly safe – in fact it’s even used in toothpaste!
Amie – I’m sorry you’re having a hard time with the kit. We made the recipe many times before debuting the kit, and tried to make it as easy as possible by pre-measuring every ingredient so you don’t have to. If the frosting is too hard to pipe try adding a little more warm water. It’s really easy to add too much though – so just sprinkle and mix. Also, depending on the humidity where you live it can take a little while for the frosting to completely harden, but just be patient and it will eventually get totally solid even in the rainy Northwest. 🙂
The kit recipe is different than the one posted above only because the kit makes 6 cupcakes instead of the 18 to 24 you can make with the recipe above.
It took me a few tries as well before getting the frosting just perfect, so don’t give up!
Anne-Marie
The receipe is very idfferent than the one that comes with the kit. The kit receipe does not get hard enough to pipe. I have modified it a bunch to get it where not only does it pipe, but it dries in less than 12 hours.
However, I am going to try this new and improved reciepe on this blog and let you know how it goes.
Where you aware that the froasting receipe that comes with the kit does not work.does not
I am curious why people don’t want to use the sls. Any comments by those opposed?
Hi darmap28,
Thanks for your note. I’m happy to see that you like the cupcakes.
Regarding your concerns over sugar, the sugar-yeast infection concern is one that has been bandied about a lot over the years on various soap forums and the like. I’ve even mentioned it myself (whoops). But, upon further research, which included talking to a gynecologist/OBGYN, I found a different answer answer for the sugar-yeast question.
Excess amounts of sugar, when eaten, spike blood sugar. Excess blood sugar has been linked to yeast infections, especially in diabetics or those with glucose intolerances. Ingesting a product is different than bathing in it. Being a diabetic and thus having metabolically ready (for the yeast) excess GLUCOSE in vaginal secretions does increase the risk, but that is a continuous environment – not an occasional brief exposure.
The vagina is designed to be very good at self cleaning. After all, thing of all the things that end up going in and out of it in a month! Finally, it has been demonstrated that there is virtually no entrance of bath water into the vagina during *normal* bathing activates.
I hope this eases your mind somewhat. I can tell you that in the 15 years I’ve been whipping up sugar scrubs (and bathing in them) and playing with the bath cupcakes (lately), I have been happily infection free.
So to sum, the sugar-yeast connection comes with ingestion primarily, and bathing is a brief experience that does not introduce much water into the vaginal cavity.
Of course, definitely check with your doctor if you are concerned at all about making, using or selling products with sugar in them.
And, if you come up with a frosting option that’s better than this one, please share it here. I would love to have a softer one that bubbles more! =) I don’t know if powdered milk would work but you could probably replace all of the powdered sugar with powdered SLS for a similar finished product.
Anne-Marie
Ok I hope I don’t upset anybody but I think you might need to substitute the powdered sugar for something else. I’ve had to do a bit of studying on sex health and anything sugar is very bad for woman it WILL Give YOU A VERY BAD YST INFECTION. I want to make these but I need a sub for the powdered sugar Any Ideas? What would powdered milk do?
Here is a list of Meringue suppliers in the UK – I hope this helps:
http://www.kompass.co.uk/directory/products/item/0/uk/Egg_whites,_powdered/2026011.htm
Try finding “Egg White Substitute” instead of the powdered meringue. Powdered meringue is dried egg whites and really important for making icing. Or, of course, you could order it from us and I’d love your business but finding it locally is definitely the best option. There is no substitute in this recipe for that.
I want to make these but i’m in the u.k and we can’t get powdered meringue here. Is there anything else you can use in it’s place?
No worries! What’s a soapmaker without frustration? It’s part of what and who we are! If we were never frustrated, we would never create new products.
I used the bath bomb with the liquid SLS tonight on my kidlets, it was less than stellar. It ended up crumbly and not quite as fizzy as normal. So, my experiment failed. Next time I’ll use the powder SLSa and hopefully have copious amounts of froth.
Thanks for the posted response!
Crazy Soap Lady, Oh my goodness. You poor thing. I have updated the instructions to say “powered” and feel terribly about your troubles.
On the other hand, liquid SLS in bath bombs? Coolio! I’ll have to try that.
I added the SLS as a liquid in the frosting,not realizing that you meant a POWDER, and what a mess! It was a complete disaster. I’ve ordered SLSa in powder-form and hope I have results like you guys did. The next batch I made was without the SLS and the frosting turned out great. So, it’s possible to make the frosting without the SLS, if that’s what you want.
BTW, I added some liquid SLS to the bath bomb “cake” part and it made the mix easy to form in the mold and the final product very hard.
Love love love this! I can't wait to try it with my craft group kids next week (we are doing the bath bomb cupcakes on Thursday, and now we can do a fizzing and a bubbling version!)
As a note, SLSa (sodium lauryl sulfoacetate) is a great foamer & bubbler, and it would be a fantastic replacement for SLS in this or other recipes calling for it.
you are the bomb, Miss cuppycake!
Sorry – I totally didn’t answer that right for you. My bad.
Yes, sub it out – powder for powder. I don’t think you’ll notice much difference in bubble factor (maybe 5% less bubbles if that? And potentially slightly less irritation).
okay, I am being pesky, but I was actually asking if I could switch OUT the sl sulfoacetate for the sulfate, or would it NOT be the same? Does the sls work much better?
Ange1ia, The dish packs…I think it would be the same concept as a bath bomb. Citric acid is a front runner for a phosphate replacement so I think it will work for a dish detergent. I’m just not sure what ingredients are really needed for a dish detergent. One recipes included 1 part borax and 1 part baking soda (and that’s it). I’ll look around some more and do more research on phosphates – that could be a cool project!
This makes me think… Do you know how to make “dish packs” for the dishwasher? Wouldn’t the process be similar?
Angie
Joanna, Your SLS is liquid? If you can figure out the % of active SLS versus carrier, yes, you could use the liquid and just decrease the water.
Twinbuzzle, The original recipe I posted with powdered sugar/meringue might be better for you. Yes, you can make this without SLS but it doesn’t dissolve easily without the SLS. You can make it pipe just fine without the SLS though.
Woohoo!!Thats an awesome recipe!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks so much!!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and recipe. Can’t wait to make a batch!
Helene
Hi Soap Queen,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my little food blog the other day about Katie’s Cupcakes here in Bellingham!
This is a great site you have, and I was so excited to see these cupcake bath bombs! I have always wanted to do this!
Thanks again!
Mallory O
a sofa in the kitchen
Excellent! Ive always wondered how this was done.
But like the poster above me, Im wondering if this can be done without the SLS.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I can’t wait to try it!! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Hi Anne Marie-
will this frosting work without the SLS? I am trying to avoid that ingredient in my formulations, is there a suitable replacement for this?
thanks for sharing your ideas!
Elaine
Hello im the same as you i dont want to use SLS did you ever get a reply do u have to use it ?
thankyou kind regards
my sls is liquid, but my sl sulfoacetate is powder…can I sub it out temporarily…? do you think I’d get the same results or are they just too different??