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    Cake Decorating
    Cake Decorating
    Cake Decorating
    Ebook407 pages2 hours

    Cake Decorating

    By Rachel Brown

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Designed to cover all the skills presented in a trade school course, this photo-illustrated self-teaching guide can help the reader land an entry-level cake-decorating job or start an independent business. And those who already work in the field will find it an excellent way to enhance their expertise. It goes through everything, from the basic equipment—such as turntables, icing bags and tips, spatulas and combs, stencils and picture presses—to working with marzipan, sugarpaste, and royal icing, to advanced techniques such as piping, crimping, and creating sugar flowers. With detailed instructions for cake storage and transportation, conversion tables, and a comprehensive recipe section, this an invaluable kitchen reference for any baker.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIMM Lifestyle Books
    Release dateJul 25, 2017
    ISBN9781607654766
    Cake Decorating
    Author

    Rachel Brown

    Rachel Brown is the owner of two specialist cake decorating shops in Berkshire and also lectures at a local college. Throughout her many years in the business, she has often been asked to write down her tips and experiences; this book is the result.

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      Book preview

      Cake Decorating - Rachel Brown

      illustration

      introduction

      Cake decorating is an art which can be practised at different levels. This book is designed to help you improve on basic skills by taking you through several designs which use sugarpaste (rolled fondant or ready-to-roll icing), royal icing and sugar flowers. The ideas and techniques are all easy to learn and you can adapt them to suit cakes for any occasion. You don’t need to be a brilliant designer; you just need a love of cake decorating to produce something really special.

      I have used my years of teaching experience to write this book. I have based it on the many different courses I have taught and have tried to keep everything simple instead of getting into complicated measurements.

      The sugarpaste cakes have been designed with the term cut-out work in mind and all the techniques are based around this. The royal icing is all geared towards piping skills; I have included basic and more advanced techniques so that you can stretch yourself as you feel ready. You will find many of the cutters have been used several times so that each one becomes a multifunctional cutter, which makes them a great investment. The cakes in both mediums gradually progress to a new level of difficulty, with extra ideas and techniques in between.

      The basics of cake design never change; what changes are people’s ideas of what they expect from a cake and what it is meant to represent. Don’t allow yourself to be pushed into doing what you feel is beyond you, but remember it never harms to stretch yourself.

      Whether you are working from home or doing a college course, I hope you will find this a helpful reference book to consult.

      illustrationillustrationillustration

      tools required for working with sugarpaste (see chapter 2)

      illustration

      1   Long non-stick rolling pin

      2   Sugar shaker

      3   Marzipan spacers if you wish to use them

      4   Paste colours

      5   Cake smoother (flat and side smoother)

      6   Small sharp knife

      7   Large flat dusting brush

      8   Crimpers

      9   Scribers (scalpels)

      10 Sugar glue

      11 Circle cutters

      12 Posy picks

      13 Tilting turntable

      •   Two pastry brushes – one for jam; one for water

      •   Palette knife (metal spatula)

      tools required for working with royal icing (see chapter 3)

      illustration

      1   Crank-handled round-ended palette knife (metal spatula)

      2   Metal icing rule

      3   Metal side scraper

      4   Turntable – a tilting one is really useful and is worth paying extra for

      5   Piping (decorating) bags

      •   Selection of piping tubes (nozzles)

      •   Large flat dusting brush

      •   Small sharp knife

      •   Damp cloths - always useful to have to hand

      tools required for making flowers with flower paste (see chapter 4)

      illustration

      To make flowers with flower paste you do need special equipment but you will find you use the tools over and over again – making them great value for money.

      1   Non-stick rolling board – these are available in a number of sizes and colours

      2   Non-stick rolling pin – these are worth the money because they are so useful

      3   Balling/bone tool – used for giving your flowers movement

      4   Veining tool – the ideal tool for putting veins on sugar flowers

      5   Small sharp scissors

      6   Arum lily cutter – these come in a wide selection of sizes; several sizes are used throughout the book, but the tiny ones can be seen on page 84

      7   Sugar glue – this can be bought ready-made or made at home

      8   Coloured semolina – just mix food dust in with the semolina to colour it; it is so useful for so many flowers. Store in a small pot so you can use it when required; it keeps for a long time

      9   Plunger blossom cutters – available in a few makes, but the PME range comes in a huge number of sizes

      10 Small and medium calyx cutters

      11 Palette knife (metal spatula) – a crank-handled (angled) one is preferable. It helps you lift your fine paste work

      12 Sugar craft wires – they come in a variety of sizes. The higher the number, the thinner the wire. Available in greens and white.

      13 Dry flower oasis can be purchased from any hobby store or florist. Cover it in cling film (plastic wrap) to prevent bits breaking off and getting on your cake work

      14 Florist tape – in a number of different colours

      15 Veiner – to give each leaf a realistic, natural look

      •   Balling mat – you place your cut-out flower shape on this to ball it

      •   Non-stick small stick – this is useful for the small delicate work

      •   Daisy cutters – there are so many on the market to choose from, all giving different effects. I use the Orchard product range, but the FMM Daisy collection set is excellent as well – it just gives finer petals

      •   Plastic cocktail sticks (toothpicks) – try to get plastic as you don’t want the splinters the wooden ones may leave behind

      •   Small paintbrush for applying sugar glue

      •   Large flat dusting brush, to dust your flowers with

      •   five-petal blossom cutter – available in a vast array of sizes so you can vary the size of your work

      •   Food dusts and food paste colours – build up a collection of colours as you take on more work

      •   Small amount of white vegetable fat (vegetable shortening) – keep it in a small tub with your equipment

      •   Stamens – artificial flower stamens made from stiffened cotton come in a vast array of colours and are available from sugar craft shops

      It really is worth buying good-quality metal equipment as it will give a much better result. These tools should last a lifetime if they are looked after properly. Keep them wrapped up between uses to keep them from getting scratched.

      cake boards

      Use a cake board that is at least 7.5cm (3in) larger than your cake to give it the best effect when finished. It is visually pleasing to ice the board and carry the design from the cake on to the board.

      If you follow the collar design (see page 73), then you will need to make sure that your board is a minimum of 10cm (4in) larger than your cake. It would be terrible if you completed your cake with your collar looking beautiful, only for it to get broken as it overhangs the board.

      making a piping bag

      method

      1 To make a piping (decorating) bag, cut some greaseproof (waxed) paper into an equilateral triangle.

      illustration

      2 Pick up corner C and fold it over to the dotted line, so that a sharp cone shape forms at B.

      illustration

      3 Wrap corner A around the cone.

      illustration

      4 Make sure A and C are at the back of the cone and that the point of the cone is sharp.

      illustration

      5 Fold points A and C inside the top edge of the bag to hold it securely. Snip off the end of B and insert a piping tube (nozzle).

      illustration

      advice

      •   Always use a good-quality greaseproof (waxed) or parchment paper to create a good strong bag. If you use a selection of different-sized equilateral triangles and make up a quantity of piping (decorating) bags, you will always have a bag suitable for every job.

      •   You can buy piping bags instead of making your own. There are both reusable nylon piping bags and disposable paper piping bags available on the market. Choose whatever you find comfortable. The advantage of the reusable piping bag is that you can change the tube (nozzle) without having to empty the bag. You simply unscrew the adaptor and swap your tube. They are good for when you are piping a large area or a border. The paper bags are better for the delicate work, but go with what you feel comfortable with to achieve the best results.

      inserting piping tubes

      •   When it comes to inserting a piping tube (nozzle), make sure that you cut only the very end off the bag (as shown in diagram 5 opposite), so that when your tube goes into the bag at least three-quarters of it is inside the bag and only one-quarter is showing. The more you have showing, the more likely it is that your bag will split when you start piping by putting pressure on the bag.

      illustration

      •   Avoid the cheap plastic or poor-quality metal tubes as they bend and change shape so easily and do not give such a good finish. When you want to do fine delicate work, you really need a good-quality nozzle. The metal PME tubes are seamless and excellent quality, so you will find your tube will remain in perfect condition.

      •   When it comes to cleaning your tube, don’t poke things into it to remove the icing unless it is a proper tube-cleaning brush. I leave mine in a container of water to soak the remaining icing out.

      filling piping bags

      •   To fill the bag, hold it with the seam against your thumb and first finger so you are supporting the seam at all times – this will prevent the paper bag coming undone as you fill it. Once you have your royal icing on the end of a palette knife (metal spatula), insert this into the bag and squeeze the bag together at the top.

      illustration

      •   You will then find you can pull the knife out between your closed bag and fingers. The icing will be in the bag where you want it and not coming out all over the top.

      illustration

      •   Once you have placed a little icing into your piping (decorating) bag, fold the top of the bag over to seal in the icing before you start piping with it. Never more than half fill your bag with icing. Overfill it and you will find that when you start piping your icing comes out of several places at the same time and you end up decorating yourself and not the cake!

      illustrationillustrationillustration

      techniques

      how to marzipan a fruit cake

      In order to apply sugarpaste (rolled fondant or ready-to-roll icing) decoration to a cake, you will need to marzipan it first. See the chart on page 140 for the quantities you will need. It is crucial that you use enough marzipan to create a decent layer; if you put on only a very thin layer you will not end up with a good finish to the sugarpaste coating. You can use either natural white marzipan or yellow, which has colour added to it.

      The kneading is a very important part of the process. You will benefit from using a good-quality marzipan as the cheapest can sometimes take much more time and effort to knead, and will still not give you a good smooth result – it will crack around the edges and corners of the cake.

      I always clean my new cake boards with isopropyl alcohol (IPA), available from all good cake decorating shops. Alternatively, you can use any white alcohol, such as gin or vodka. Just splash a little on and with a piece of kitchen paper (paper towel) wipe all over the board. This removes any shop dust and

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