Week 12

Presentation Board and Cake

Week 11

Areas covered:-

1) Stacking
2) Drapes

I used a 8 inch round fruit cake for the base and a 5inch round fruit cake for the top tier. The bottom tier had been marzipanned and iced beforehand and the top tier just marzipanned.

We iced the top tier in the lesson to ensure the icing was soft.  We used a spare cake board the same size as our top tier with a scribe to outline the area on the top of the bottom cake. We then used 5 dowels measured and cut to the cakes depth.  Royal icing was then used to fix the top tier to the bottom.

A smoother was then used on the top tier to make the icing cover the gap. I then used holly leaves and reindeer to decorate.

We then made a drape using coloured modelling paste and a textured rolling pin. This was then attached to the cake. Our burst made in week 3 was then added to the top.

Week 10

Areas covered:-

1) People modelling

We continued the modelling theme from last week and we made a ballerina.  The head was made using a mould then painted using dust colours.  The skirt was done using a cookie cutter which was then frilled. The small cutters were then used to add detail to the design.  I used sugarpaste to make the hair but a sugargun could also be used.

Next week is the penultimate week of the course.  We are making a stacked cake incorporating drapes and a burst.

Week 9

Areas covered:-

1) Modelling
2) Painting
3) Starburst

The course is starting to get busy especially now we are designing our cakes for the final presentation.

Today we started off with painting using the models we made last week with the mexican paste.  We used 3 painting techniques: using colour and rejuvenator spirit, using colours, lustre dust and rejuvenator spirit and trying out some new metallic paints.  We painted some ducks and butterflies. I loved the metallic paints.

We then went on to modelling, making a teddy bears picnic. We had brought the iced board with us to add the scene. We used the square cutters to create the patchwork quilt and a size guide to make the teddy.

We also used glitter and metallic paint to decorate out bursts in preparation for the tiered cake.

Week 8

Areas covered:-

1) Broderie anglaise
2) Cut outs

We used a hexagonal cake attached different designs using the broderie anglaise cutters as shown below.

We then started making cut outs using modelling paste. We made a teddy bear cutter and used modelling tools for the details.

We also used mexican paste to prepare small cutouts for painting next week.

Week 7

Areas covered:-

1) Bows

Today we continued to work on the fruit cake we have been using for the past 2 weeks by creating bows.

We first created a plain bow by cutting the sugarpaste into strips and creating tails and loops.

We then created the centre piece for a largest bow by using the half ball mould to attach sugar pearls.

The quilting tool was used to give extra detail to bow number 2.

Bow three was a plain colour embossed with the small ivy cutter (my favourite)

Bow 4 involved using two colours to create a different design. Again I used the ivy cutter but this could also be done with spots and stripes.

The final bow was a parcel bow with the sugarpearl centre we had prepared earlier.

There is no lesson next week as it is half term. In the next lesson we will be doing border anglaise.

Week 6

Areas covered:-

1) Inlaid plaque
2) Marbling
3) Swags

We continue to use the fruit cake we started last week.

First we covered the cake in white sugar paste covering the texture on the top. After smoothing the sides we used a large pastry cutter to cut out the top revealing the texture.

 We then decorated the base using different techniques. We created marbled sugarpaste by mixing different colours of modeling paste and produced a variety of designs using cutters and tools.

Shell boarder

Sugar marbles

Circles

 We then created swags.  We first used the kit book templates and scribe to mark out where they would go, large or small.

The swags were made using dowels and the ribbed rolling pin then attached to the cake using edible glue.

Plain swag and stars

Ribbed swag and shell boarder

Next week we will finish the cake off by making the bows.

Week 5

Areas covered:-

1. Marzipan a square cake
2. Textured board and cake
3. Starburst

For homework we prepared a square fruit cake to use for the next 3 lessons.

We first learnt how to make the cake level using a spirit level and adding marzipan to balance.  We also used the marzipan to fill in any holes.

We covered the cake with a layer of marzipan and used smoothers to make the edges square. We then left it to dry.

We then iced a board using a dark coloured sugarpaste we had chosen.  A textured rolling pin (deep basketweave) was then used.  This was put to one side to dry.

We rolled out the same colour sugarpaste to cover just the top of the cake, again this was textured using the rolling pin.

The cake and board were then put aside to continue next week.

We created a starburst for one of the later cakes.  This involved cutting small flowerpaste shapes and threading them onto wires.  We left them white for now. They will be painted later in the course.

Week 4

Areas covered:-

1. Garrett frills

We spent the lesson making different types of garrett frills.  We had prepared a round cake at home to use.

We used the cake markers to divide the cake into 6 then the templates to scribe onto the icing where the frills should go.

The frill cutter had attachments to give 3 different sizes.  We started by using white modelling paste to cut out the shape and then frilled the edges using the bulbous cone tool. This was tricky at first.

 

We then used edible glue to attach it to the cake and cocktail sticks to allow it to dry in position.

Using our paste colours were coloured 3 different pieces of modelling paste in 3 shades then cut out the frill in the 3 different sizes. We attached these to the cake one above the other to give a great effect.

We also used the deepest frill and the small blossom cutters to give more detail.

Rainbow dust was used on the white frill we had created earlier to give a great effect.  We also used our small blossom colours to create shapes to cover the join to the cake.

Next week we will be starting on the fruit cake.

Week 3

Areas covered:-

 

1. Novelty cakes

2. Basketweave rolling pin

 

This week involved making novelty cakes.  We had to bake a cake or cakes at home which we would then carve (gulp) into our chosen shape. Then we would use the basketweave rolling pin to design the top. We also had to make some fabric effect roses which we had practised last week.

I chose a pillow cake design. I started by cutting the top of the cake to make it level then carving the sides using a template. Finally I used the knife to carve of small amounts of the edges to soften them.



I split, filled the cake with buttercream and crumb coated the outside the make the icing stick.

I then rolled out the icing for the bottom using a template and practised with the basketweave. Once the bottom was stuck and dry I repeated to add the top. Using a template meant the edges matched well.

I then smoothed out the corners and used the twisted rope technique to cover the joins.

Once dry I placed it on a prepared board and put flowers on the cake and the sides. I used leaves to cover the joins in the corners.

Next week we will be looking at the frill cutters.