Read The Busy Girls Guide to Cake Decorating Online
Authors: Ruth Clemens
The Busy Girls Guide to Cake Decorating (13 page)
20cm (8in) round cake, prepared for covering
25cm (10in) round cake board
Buttercream
Sugarpaste: purple, pink and pale blue
Pizza cutter
Serrated steak knife
12mm (
1
â
2
in) wide purple ribbon
Pearl-headed pins
Basic equipment (see
Equipment
)
1 Level and prepare the cake for covering (see
Levelling and filling a sponge cake
). Once chilled, set the cake centrally onto the cake board, securing with a dab of buttercream.
2 Roll each of the sugarpaste colours into long, thick sausages. Position the rolls side by side and squeeze together gently. Fold the long sausage in half and then in half again. Roll out this ball of striped sugarpaste to a 5mm (
3
â
16
in) thickness and use to cover the cake. The marbled effect is created as you roll out the paste. Trim the excess neatly and polish with an icing smoother (see
Covering a cake with sugarpaste
).
3 Gather the trimmings together and knead until a smooth even colour is achieved. Form a thick sausage and roll out into a long, thin strip 4mm (
1
â
8
in) thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the strip into four 4cm (1
1
â
2
in) wide strips, each 20cm (8in) long.
Don't be tempted to apply the ribbon strips in two pieces instead of four. Long lengths of sugarpaste rip and crack very easily and you'll be back to square one â short pieces are the way to go!
4 Using a serrated steak knife, gently imprint the stitching pattern on each edge of the strips, approximately 5mm (
3
â
16
in) away from the edges.
5 Apply a little water to the cake and secure each strip in place. Trim any excess off the strips in the centre.
6 To create the bow, cut another strip of sugarpaste, this time 24cm (9
1
â
2
in) long and 8cm (3in) wide, and mark with stitching lines as before. Turn the strip over so the right side is facing the work surface. Fold in each end to the middle and pinch the bow in the centre gently.
7 For the centre of the bow, take a 2.5cm (1in) strip, mark with stitching lines and wrap the ends underneath the back of the bow. Position the bow in place in the centre of the cake.
You can buy special modelling tool sets that include a stitch-marking wheel, but a serrated knife works just as well and can be found in every kitchen.
8 Trim the base of the cake and the edge of the board with purple ribbon, securing at the back with pearl-headed pins.
“Marbling sugarpaste works with all sorts of coordinating colours and is a great way of using up excess pieces left over from other projects. It means you can get a great cake with the minimum of fuss!”
Incorporating candleholders into a design
Often when decorating cakes we forget to leave space in the design for candles. Not here â this cake is designed with the birthday candles in mind!
20cm (8in) round cake, prepared for covering
30cm (12in) round cake board
Eight 10cm (4in) celebration candles
Buttercream
Sugarpaste: pink and white
Round cutters: straight-edged 2.5cm (1in), fluted 3.5cm (1
1
â
2
in)
12mm (
1
â
2
in) wide pale pink ribbon
Pearl-headed pins
Basic equipment (see
Equipment
)
1 Level and prepare the cake for covering (see
Levelling and filling a sponge cake
). Once chilled, set the cake centrally onto the cake board, securing with a dab of buttercream.
2 Roll out the pale pink sugarpaste to a 5mm (
3
â
16
in) thickness and use to cover the cake. Trim the excess neatly and polish with an icing smoother (see
Covering a cake with sugarpaste
).
3 Roll out the white sugarpaste to a 3mm (
1
â
8
in) thickness. Using the straight-edged cutter, cut out 20 circles. Using the fluted cutter, cut out eight fluted circles. Cut out the centres of the fluted circles using the straight-edged cutter and set these to one side.
Leaving the cut-out circles in position on your work surface for a couple of minutes will allow them to harden slightly so that when you lift them into position they shouldn't pull out of shape.
4 Attach the straight-edged white circles to the cake with a little water in a polka dot pattern across the top and around the sides of the cake.
5 Roll eight 4cm (1
1
â
2
in) balls of pale pink sugarpaste and flatten slightly. Take one candle at a time and press the base into the flattened ball to create the candleholder.
6 Drop one of the fluted circles down over the candle so that it sits on the pink sugarpaste holder.
7 Position each of the candles and their holders onto the cake board, spaced evenly around the cake. A little dab of water on the base of each holder will secure it in place.
“A water brush will save you time when applying dabs of water, they can be picked up fairly cheaply in most arts and craft stores.”
8 Roll 16 pink and 16 white 1.5cm (
1
â
2
in) diameter balls in the palms of your hands. Position the pink and white balls alternately between each candleholder using a dab of water on the base to secure them.
To make lifting small pieces easier, use a palette knife to pick them up rather than your fingers.
9 Trim the edge of the board with pale pink ribbon, securing at the back with a pearl-headed pin.
(for when you've got a couple of hours to spare)
Piping royal icing roses
The thought of entirely piping the decoration onto a cake may well send you into a panic â fear not, these stylized piped swirl roses are super easy.
20cm (8in) square cake, prepared for covering
30cm (12in) square cake board
Sugarpaste: purple
Royal icing: dark purple and leaf green
Piping (pastry) bags and no. 2, no. 8 and leaf (no. 2B) nozzles (tips)
12mm (
1
â
2
in) wide purple ribbon
Pearl-headed pins
Basic equipment (see
Equipment
)
1 Roll out the purple sugarpaste to a 3mm (
1
â
8
in) thickness and use to cover the cake board (see
Covering a board with sugarpaste
). Lightly spraying the board with a mist from a water spray will help the sugarpaste to stick.
2 Roll out more of the purple sugarpaste to a 5mm (
3
â
16
in) thickness and cover the cake. Trim the excess neatly and polish with an icing smoother (see
Covering a cake with sugarpaste
). Set both the board and the cake to one side to allow the sugarpaste to begin to dry.
3 Split a batch of royal icing into two. Colour one portion dark purple and the other leaf green using edible gel paste colours (see
Colouring
).
4 Position the cake in the centre of the covered board, securing with a dab of royal icing.
5 Using a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a no. 8 nozzle (tip), pipe a purple royal icing shell border around the base of the cake (see
Piping a shell border
).
Practise piping on a sheet of greaseproof (wax) paper before piping onto the cake. This will give you a good feel for the action and pressure needed to create the swirls.
6 Mark positioning pinpricks on the top of the cake â these will guide you when piping each rose or cluster. Using a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a no. 2 nozzle (tip), pipe swirls of purple royal icing onto each marked position to create the roses. For the clusters of flowers, try to pipe them so that they just touch each other. If your piped swirls have a peaked end dab them down with a damp paintbrush.
“If you are using disposable bags, the quickest thing to do is to cut the no. 8 nozzle (tip) from the bag and drop the whole lot into a new bag fitted with the no. 2 nozzle (tip).”
