Oooh, I love this idea.

House on the Hill sells molds for springerle and speculaas cookies, most of them copied from centuries-old historic molds. Bakerella had the bright idea of using them to mold fondant into fantastically-detailed toppers for cookies and cupcakes.

Her examples are a soft pink, but you can tint fondant (either purchased or homemade) any color you like, and some of these mold designs are just begging to be turned into memento mori-style cameos or other spooky things. Their collection of angels, for example, include many designs that would look perfect as gravestones.

Sticking a piece of molded fondant to the top of a cookie or cupcake is much less labor-intensive than trying detailed decorating with frosting, and the three-dimensional results are amazing. A tray full of these would be a fantastic addition to a party, and the smaller designs would look great cut out individually and placed on the sides of a cake as well. (If you want to use the molds for their traditional purpose, the site has plenty of recipes.)

I expect you could also use the molds to shape polymer clay for decorative accents, although they’d probably not be fit to use for food again afterwards. The clay designs could be gently molded to the contours of, say, a vase, allowed to fully dry, and then glued in place. Very small designs might make interesting pendants or earrings as well.

Pretty!