Read The Busy Girls Guide to Cake Decorating Online
Authors: Ruth Clemens
The Busy Girls Guide to Cake Decorating (14 page)
7 Once the top has been piped, begin piping on each side of the cake. Piping vertically will need a slightly different technique so tape a piece of greaseproof (wax) paper to the side of a box for a quick practice run! Add swirl roses around the cake board.
8 Take the green royal icing and place in a piping (pastry) bag fitted with a leaf nozzle (tip) (no. 2B). Begin piping the leaf right next to the purple swirl. Keep the nozzle (tip) in the same position while applying pressure to the bag, once the base of the leaf is the correct size release the pressure completely and then pull away. This will create the pointed tip of the leaf. Pipe a leaf next to each swirl flower across the cake and board.
If you don't have a leaf nozzle (tip) just cut a small inverted âV' from the end of a disposable piping (pastry) bag. This will give you the same effect.
9 Finish by trimming the board with purple ribbon, securing at the back with a pearl-headed pin.
Creating large-scale ruffleS
Bring a bit of frilly frou-frou to your day! Girly and beautifully decadent, this mini-cake will be adored by everyone.
6.5cm (2
1
â
2
in) round mini-cake, prepared for covering
10cm (4in) round cake card
Sugarpaste: white and pale pink
Cutters: 10cm (4in) and 5cm (2in) round
Empty egg box
Royal icing
Piping (pastry) bag and no. 2 nozzle (tube)
Silver sugar dragees â hearts and balls
Basic equipment (see
Equipment
)
1 Brush the cake card with a little water. Roll out the white sugarpaste to a 3mm (
1
â
8
in) thickness. Cut out a 10cm (4in) circle and place onto the cake card to cover it. Neaten around the edges with your fingertips and polish the surface with an icing smoother (see
Covering a board with sugarpaste
).
2 Roll out some more white sugarpaste, this time to a 5mm (
3
â
16
in) thickness. Cover the mini-cake, trimming the excess neatly and polishing with an icing smoother (see
Covering a mini-cake
).
3 Place the covered mini-cake in the centre of the covered cake card, securing with a dab of royal icing. Set aside to let the sugarpaste dry.
4 Roll out the pale pink sugarpaste to a 3mm (
1
â
8
in) thickness and cut out eight 5cm (2in) circles. With the first circle create a ruffle, folding the circle roughly in half and then in half again, letting the edges gather together in ruffles.
5 Pinch the base slightly to form a point. Place in the recess of an empty egg box to help the ruffle hold its shape. Repeat with the remaining circles. Allow to dry out for an hour so that they are easier to handle without breaking.
6 Meanwhile, using the royal icing, pipe a snail trail (see
Piping a snail trail
) around the base of the cake, securing it to the board. At the base of the cake make four pinpricks equally spaced apart, each one-quarter of the way around the circumference of the cake.
If the join between the cake and the board is a bit untidy, use a bigger nozzle (tip) (such as a no.43) to pipe the snail trail, as this will help disguise it.
7 Pipe a dot of royal icing at each mark and secure a silver heart dragee in place. With further dots of royal icing, secure three silver ball dragees above each heart.
8 Mark three pinpricks equally spaced apart between each silver heart dragee. Again, with dots of royal icing apply three silver ball dragees vertically at each pinprick.
9 Once your ruffles have firmed up, pipe a layer of royal icing on top of the mini-cake. Begin sticking six pink ruffles in place around the edge and then finally add two in the centre.
Embossing sugar buttons
The beautiful patterns on the button embellishments on these cupcakes are created by embossing the paste. The peachy petals create the perfect foil.
Six cupcakes baked in orange gingham paper cases
Buttercream
Sugarpaste: orange, white and red
Round cutters: 2.5cm (1in) and 4cm (1
1
⁄
2
in)
Edible gold lustre dust
Variety of objects for embossing e.g. texture mat, lace or buttons
Pencil
Basic equipment (see
Equipment
)
1 Begin by making the buttons for the centres of the flowers. Roll out the red sugarpaste to a 3mm (
1
⁄
8
in) thickness and emboss the surface using a piece of lace, the face of a pretty button or a texture mat (see
Embossing
). Make sure the imprint is deep enough. Cut out six 2.5cm (1in) circles.
2 Indent the centre of each circle with the flat end of a pencil. Using the end of a paintbrush, punch two holes through the sugarpaste to create the centre of each button. Set the buttons to one side to firm up.
3 Once the buttons have set, dust each one with a little gold lustre dust using a soft brush.
4 Roll the white and orange sugarpastes 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 3mm (
1
⁄
8
in) thickness. The marbling effect is created as you roll out the paste.
5 Using the 4cm (1
1
⁄
2
in) cutter, cut out 24 circles. Take each one and pinch together across the circle, approximately one-third of the way in from the edge, to create a petal. Repeat with the remaining circles until you have created all 24 petals.
