How To Make a Fondant Air Balloon Cake Topper

This hot air balloon topper is a classic cake theme — and if you’ve never built the balloon structure before, it’s one of those designs that can take a lot of trial and error to get looking balanced and “right”.

In this tutorial, everything is already worked out for you. You’ll build the cake topper step by step, with printable templates that guide the sizing, proportions, and shaping — so you can skip the guesswork and get to a clean, professional result much faster.

And once you have the templates, you can reuse them again and again: change the colours, adjust the decorative details, swap the elephant for a different character, add extra animals, or customise the basket and flags to suit any theme. It’s a valuable tutorial to have in your sugar modelling kit.

You will learn how to:

• Build a hot air balloon cake topper with a stable structure, balanced proportions and a clean, neat finish
• Make a smooth, symmetrical balloon and connect it to the basket neatly, without bulky, visually heavy supports
• Create the basket with tidy edges and crisp detail, and build it so it holds its shape
• Add the drapes, bunting and small decorations neatly for a more refined, professional result
• Create a cute elephant that fits the basket properly and keeps its shape
• Attach the full topper securely so it stays stable for delivery and display