Cake Decorating – How To Master Sugarcraft

In cake decorating circles, sugarcraft is probably the most misunderstood term. What exactly is sugarcraft? To clear things up a bit, sugarcraft is a type of cake decorating that is three- dimensional. Sugarcraft is decorating that stands out from all other forms of cake decorating.

Sugarcraft is to cake decorating what clay is to sculpting. It is the art of modeling 3-D figures on a cake. The type of icing used in sugarcraft, rolled fondant, is a dough, that can be used to cover the cake and making cake decorations. Sugarcraft is rolled into sheets and draped over cakes, or cut to make ribbons, bows, and flowers. Fondant is made in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container until needed.

When a rolled fondant is prepared for cake decorating, liquid food coloring should not be used, it can make the fondant runny and unusable. It is better to use coloring paste.

It takes a bit of time to learn sugarcraft decorating, and the process can be frustrating. There is no set formula for sugarcraft, you will need to use your artistic eye, and practice until you feel you have it right.

If you are serious about mastering sugarcraft, it is to your advantage to purchase a DVD or video that will show you the art step-by-step. An even better option would be to take a class in sugarcraft, as the teacher can give you tips and feedback as you learn.

When you look for sugarcraft supplies, Surbiton Sugarcraft is an online store with everything you will need. Based in the UK, this company has so many items this article does not afford the space to list them all.

A sampling of their sugarcraft art and tools:

- Stainless Steel Cutters to Make: Blossoms, flowers, Leaves, Calyx, Micro and Midi cutters.

- A large array of tools that are food grade plastic and stainless steel such as: Ribbon cut from flower paste, ribbon insertion, garrett frill cutters, and plaque cutters.

- Icecraft Sugarpaste: A superior professional sugarpaste that is ready to use. This sugarpaste allows for a smooth finish every time it is used and covers cakes without cracking and forming craze lines. This paste is less gritty and oily than other sugarpastes and easy to handle. It is bright white and unflavored.

- Edible Lustre Air Brush Colours: A Lustre air brush spray for food in a can. Works wonderfully for coloring sugarpaste, modeling paste, marzipan, buttercream etc. Available in 6 colors.

- Sugarcraft rosebuds and roses: The rosebuds come in lemon, peach, violet, pink, red, ivory, white, cerise, claret. They are sold in various quantities and are incredibly beautiful.

- Piped roses – These wonderful roses are a bit smaller and a bit different. They are great for cupcake decoration. Available in dark pink, pink, or white.

- There are many more sugarcraft decorations including orchids, cake pans, cake dummies, cake boxes, leaves, and flower sprays all made with sugarcraft.

For pricing and more information visit the website and see the wonderful sugarcraft designs and tools to assure your cake decorating will be spectacular.

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Try These Cake Decorating Themes

Everyone seems to enjoy cakes that are baked at home, it is a wonderful surprise on special occasions. When you are the one bringing the cake, you probably will want the cake decoration to stand out, and look a bit more professional than those you make for your family at home. I have put together a few ideas you may want to try.

Cake Decorating Themes

- Fun and activity: These cakes are full of color and whimsical design. The use of different shapes, Balloons, circles, stars, clouds, and other interesting designs will help to make your cake decorating the talk of the party. With the use of animal crackers, you could make a zoo or farm cake. Your imagination can take you anywhere.

- Say it With Flowers: The use of floral patterns in soft shades, are perfect for cake decorating. The addition of a few green leaves make this type of cake decoration an excellent choice for any special occasion. Flowers are great on wedding cakes, birthday cakes, mothers day cakes, and for other happy celebrations.

- A Little Romance: Romantic cake decorating is perfect for sweethearts day, valentines day, a birthday for a husband or wife, or a wedding anniversary. You can make any color frosting, including the favorite of the person or people you are baking the cake for. You can add hearts, cupids, or anything that will remind the guests what the celebration is about. Use your imagination and make it a little jazzy without going overboard. Just a bit of glitter or candies that sparkle should do the trick.

- “What’s Up Doc”: Younger children (and some that are over 90) love cartoon characters as much as they love cake. This is why it is a great idea to combine both when decorating a cake for the birthday of someone who loves these whimsical critters. You can either draw them in icing and color them in, or use molds and fondant to make the characters. After they are made, they can be colored before they are placed on the cake. So invite Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Taz, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Garfield, Donald Duck, or any of the many cartoon characters that have stolen our hearts and funny bones, and are doing the same to our children, to the party.

There are some supplies that are essential when you are thinking about cake decorating, these are:

- A professional icing smoother or thin metal spatula. This tool will help you to cover your decorated cake with an even layer of icing, and to make the frosting very smooth so that it can be decorated. This will make the cake look as if a pro did it.

- The use of decoration Molds is a very easy way to make figures and objects to use in cake decorating. You will probably want to start with the basic shapes like circles, squares, or triangles, until you are sure of how to perfect the process. You can move from that to flowers, numbers, and characters. Some molds also have text so you can add a message.

- Icing bags are an absolute essential if you want to do any type of cake decorating. Once you get the hang of it, you will be able to use it as you would an ink pen, except it is held with both hands. One hand is used to apply steady pressure on the upper part of the bag, while the other guides the tip to make the decorations.

- The use of frosting flowers that are already made for you is a less time consuming way to add beauty to your cake decorating.

- Edible glitter and colorful sprinkles are a great way to spruce up your cake decorating design. These small additions could be just the thing to give your cake that finishing touch.

- Edible color sprays are quite easy to use, especially when you are using a template. It can be the difference between a cake decoration that is blah, to one that has everyone complimenting you on your artistic ability.

- You can also print out edible photographs of the graduate, that fish that almost got away, or a wedding photo of the bride and groom, the way they looked when they were married to place on their 50th anniversary cake. The paper these edible images are printed on is also edible, so you can place the whole thing on the cake.

A cake stand will make your creation stand out, especially a glass stand.

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Cake Decorating – How About Birthday Cakes For Adults

Cake decorating for adults are a bit different than those you would do for a kids party. It doesn’t mean they need to be boring or ugly. Below are some great ideas for adult cakes that are fun to make and fun to eat.

Crunchie Rice Cake

In 2 square cake pans, make 2 batches of rice cereal treats according to the recipe found on the back of the box of cereal. When they have cooled, do not cut the treats, take them from the pans like they are.

Cover the top of the first layer with icing, and then a layer of chocolate chips, and a second layer of icing, and then a layer of multicolored sprinkles, and a third layer of icing. Place the second layer of the crunchie cake on top and frost the whole thing as you would a normal cake. Place a layer of colored chocolate candy on the top. You can even put the name of the recipient in candy. This is a whimsical cake that can be used for adults or children.

Over the Hill Graveyard Cake

Bake two cake mixes in a roasting pan. Make a gray icing with 2 drops of green and red food coloring and mixing it with white icing. Turn the cake out on a cake board ice the entire cake with this icing. Line a sidewalk with thin black licorice, and dot candy corn along the outside edges. Rectangular cookies can be iced with a darker gray icing. These can be used as gravestones.

You can find gummy skeletons at Halloween, or make your own out of toothpicks and use jelly beans for heads. Ghosts can be made from cotton balls, but you need to make sure no cotton gets in the icing you may want to make some out of construction paper and stick them on a popsicle stick. That might be a good idea for the skeletons too.

Ball and Chain Birthday cake

This is a great idea if commissioned by a husband or wife. Bake two round cakes and let them cool completely. Remove the cakes from the pans. Cover the top of one cake with the recipient’s favorite fruit pie filling. Place the second layer on top and ice the entire cake.

Buy a bag of small cake donuts and frost them the same as you did the cake. On the cake board place one of the doughnuts up against the bottom of the cake. Follow this with several other doughnuts to make a chain. You can add different decorations on the cake, or leave it plain, it’s up to you.

No matter what theme you choose, the cake decorating will be appreciated by the person having the birthday. Make sure you add candles and bring a cake server when you attend the party. Every time you make a cake and decorate it, you are honing your cake decorating skills and the more practice you get, the better you will be at cake decorating.

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When Decorating Your Cakes Try This

Did you know that the first cakes baked in America where small loaves of sweet bread? Look how far we have come. Home bakers should not be intimidated by the elaborate cakes being made today. You do not need to be a pastry chef to make beautiful cakes, you just need the know-how and practice. Of course the right tools will go a long way in your cake decorating endeavors. Here are a few ideas you might like to try.

Every cake worth merit starts with a smooth icing. The cake needs to cool completely before they are iced and decorated. To keep crumbs from ending up in your icing and ruining the look of your cake, start with a thin base coat of frosting that is not quite as stiff as the regular layer will be. Once this coat is on, set the cake in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. This will set the icing and any crumbs will be caught in this first layer. Now you can spread a regular layer of icing without worrying about crumbs.

Use an icing spatula to apply and smooth the second coat of icing. Once the icing is on the cake, start smoothing on the sides by running the spatula around the perimeter of the cake. One trick for smoothing the frosting is to dip the metal icing spatula in cold water, this will aid in smoothing the frosting. To smooth the top, dip the spatula in cold water and holding it horizontally over the top of the cake. Start at the point farthest from you, holding the spatula in both hands, skim the top of the icing by bringing the spatula straight toward you.

Simple Designs

Some cake decorators say learning to smooth the icing is the hardest part of cake decorating. Practice will make you a pro in not time. Once you have it down, show it off, even a cake without many decorations that is clean and smooth will make an perfectly elegant offering.

Instead of icing, cake tops can be dusted with powdered sugar. You can choose to use a stencil for a more decorated appearance, or just the powdered sugar for a clean look.

Edible decorations are a beautiful yet simple cake decorating technique. The use of sprinkles, candy, nuts, and coconut pressed into the icing before it sets, will make your cake stand out.

To apply a textured look for your cake decorating, use a small cardboard comb, available in baking supply stores.

Piping is achieved by using a pastry bag fitted with a metal tip that is held on by a coupler. This is your most important tool for cake decorating. You can make lines, words, shells, flowers, and many other designs on the top or sides of the cake. Fill the bag with no more than 1 cup of icing at a time, twist the top of the bag and keep steady pressure when piping the design. Use your other hand to guide the tip. It is wise to find out everything you can about piping before you begin.

Fondant a smooth white paste, is used in complicated cake decorating. Fondant is kneaded and rolled to cover cakes with a sleek smooth layer of icing. It is also used to make designs that are 3-D. It is less tasty than buttercream, but the cake will look sleek and elegant.

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