Instructions

1. Blend a fist-sized ball of fondant with food coloring to make the ballerina slippers whatever color you would like. To prevent using too much food coloring, dip the tip of a toothpick into the food coloring and then wipe it on the fondant. Alternatively, mix a thumb-sized ball of fondant with a several drops of food coloring and mix small pieces of this highly saturated fondant with the plain fondant to add color.

2. Knead the fondant until it has a smooth color. Add more food coloring and repeat the kneading process if the color is too light. Repeat this process until the fondant is a color you are pleased with. If you don't have food coloring, skip the dyeing process and use pre-colored fondant.

3. Dust a flat, clean working surface with powdered sugar to make the fondant easier to work with and divide the colored fondant in half. If you don't have powdered sugar, use cornstarch or potato starch instead.

4. Roll one-half of the fondant mixture into an egg shape and gently flatten two sides so that the egg has a top and a bottom. The fondant's outline should resemble the basic contour of a ballerina slipper. It should be about 3/4-inch thick and 3 inches long.

5. Press your thumb into the center of the fondant to make an indent, leaving about one-third of the fondant untouched to create the front of the slipper. Leave a lip of untouched fondant at the back and along the sides. Imagine that you are creating space in the slipper-shaped oval for a tiny foot to slip into, and then shape the indent accordingly. Use the back of a teaspoon to make the indent if you'd rather not use your thumb.

6. Use your index finger to hollow out space beneath the front of the slipper to make room for the imaginary foot to slide its toes into. The toe box doesn't need to be as long as it would be on a real slipper, just long enough to make the fondant look more like a ballerina slipper and less like an egg with an indent. To avoid using your fingers, you can use the handle of a teaspoon to hollow the toe box.

7. Flatten the lip of the slipper by pinching the fondant between your thumb and index finger gently and working all the way around. This should remove any bulging from the sides of the slipper.

8. Press the tip of the slipper lightly against the working surface to square the toe. The fondant should now completely resemble a ballerina slipper. Make any final adjustments to its shape as needed. Flattening the tip is not required, as not all ballerina slippers are pointed shoes.

9. Cut a piece of thin ribbon that's approximately 8 inches long. Fold the ribbon in half and press the fold into the back of the ballerina slipper, directly in the middle of the inner lip. If you don't have ribbon, roll a thin sheet of fondant or gum paste and cut it to a thin, 8-inch-long strip.

10. Pinch off a small piece of fondant from the untouched half, press it over the ribbon or gum paste strip and smooth it into the surrounding fondant. This small piece of fondant will hold the ribbon in place.

11. Pinch off another small piece of fondant from the untouched half and set it aside to adhere the ribbon to the second slipper.

12. Repeat the fondant-sculpting process to make a matching ballerina slipper.

13. Place the ballerina slippers on the cake or other iced baked good they will be topping. Arrange the ribbon to fall around the shoes however you would like and refrigerate the cake until you are ready to serve it.