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WELCOME!

This site is dedicated to sharing what we have learned with you! Enjoy our tutorials, and if you have a question please feel free to ask! I know one of our sugar enthusiasts will either know or try to find the answer.
We all have something to share...and we all have something to learn!


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Nothing says Irish like Beautiful Lace

Nothing says Irish like Beautiful Lace
Click on photo for Earlene Moore's tutorial for beautiful fondant lace and have fun with your next cake!


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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Cupcake Wraps by Mara Tirado


Start with some pretty paper, wrapping paper, scrap booking paper, anything that catches your eye.

 
Cut your templates



 Using a craft paper punch, you can trim the edges with a pretty design.

 
Rolling them into a slightly conical shape will give you a nice way to dress up a cupcake.








 

Template for wraps.







Photos, patterns and tutorial by Mara Tirado (Risque Business Bakery and Heaven Lee Cakes) 2009 all rights reserved
This tutorial was used with the expressed permission of  Mara Tirado,
and may not be reproduced without written permission from the author.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Vintage Stacked Luggage Cake Tutorial


 VINTAGE LUGGAGE CAKES

Ingredients :
Three 9"x 13" cakes
Non crusting chocolate icing
4 Lbs. dark chocolate fondant
Divided- reserving 1 lb
1 ½  Lbs. ivory fondant
½  cup gumpaste

Silver Luster Dust
Gold Luster Dust
Lemon Extract or grain alcohol;
Melted milk chocolate;
1 lb white fondant, divided and colored for clothing
2 large marshmallows

 Tools needed:

 fondant roller and mat
1- 8 ¾” X 6 ½” box , covered with wax paper & dusted with cocoa 
PME wheel cutter ( or Pizza cutter)
Ball tool
Wilton Alphabet/Number cutters
 3/8 “ round cutter & #6 piping tip
Gum Glue
Paintbrushes
Pattern tracing tool
Contact paper
1/4" Foam Core
X-acto knife
16" sqaure cake drum
Spatulas
4- ¼:” dowels -4” length
2- ¼” dowels- 5” length
1-1/2" dowel- 6-7" in length, 
sharpened at both ends

The top luggage lid is separate, propped up using wooden dowels. It must be
Completely dried and hardened. So it is imperative that the lid, as well as
hardward it be made ahead of time.
I recommend at least 4 days drying time for the lid, more time may be
necessary if the humidity is high. 

TOP LID


1. Knead together 3 lbs chocolate fondant with 1 ½ lbs Ivory fondant until color is fully blended. Cut off a small portion, and wrap the rest tightly and set aside.

2. Roll out a 9x11 rectangle approximately 3/16” thick;
Lay over prepared box covered with wax paper.
Measure ½” down from the top edge of the box; and using a pizza cutter,
cut the edge of the lid . Smooth top of lid with a fondant smoother. Set aside to dry.

3. When firm, carefully lift from box and invert to dry bottom of lid.
When completely dry, take the pattern tracing tool and run a “topstitching” line around the bottom edge of the lid.

4. Cut four Patches from dark chocolate fondant and attach to each edge of the lid using Gum glue. Trace a stitching line around the edge of each patch.

5.* Cut 2 separate ½” strips of dark chocolate fondant about 8” long, rounding the front
end. Trace the “topstitching” line around each strip and punch three belt holes at
the front end of the strip using the small end of the#6 piping tip.

6. Glue each strip to the top of the lid, allowing the hang over the front. Fasten silver lock on center front with Gum glue.

*Handy tip-let the straps on this lid be your last step on the entire cake. Then your strips will still be flexible when placed atop the cake, avoiding breakage.


HARDWARE:



1. Roll out a small amount of firm gumpaste about 1/16th “thick. Cut out 2 lock plates using patterns.
Using the letter “I” Wilton cutter, punch out a slot in the smaller plate.
Roll a small amount of gumpaste ¼” thick, and cut two 3/8”circle. Press each round, flattening slightly and using your cutter, make an impression to form an outer ring. Then press a vertical line just to the center, forming a keyhole.
Glue the keyhole to the right side of the plate using gum glue.

2. Cut 4 buckles using the “D” stretching the inner cutout and rolling the straight edge only, leaving the curved side flat.

3. Cut 4 d-rings using the “0”number cutter, stretching the opening slightly and rolling all the edges.  Crimp and straighten one edge to make one side flat.
Cut 4 buckle tongues, using the “I”, flattening and curving one side, and rolling the other.



4. Take a ball of gum paste (malt ball size) and shape into a lock by elongating one side and smoothing with a ball tool to shape. Press a line across the top to define the lock. Set aside to dry completely.


5. Mix the luster dust with alcohol and paint the lock and plates silver, and the buckles and d-rings gold.


6. For Handles, cut 2 separate 5/8” strips of dark chocolate fondant about 4 inches long. Fold over and Trace stitching line along the edge and insert end through finished d-rings and glue on underside.




The night before assembling cake--- From the blended chocolate fondant,roll out and cut two 4 X 13” rectangles, four 4X 9” rectangles, one 9X13” rectangle, two thin ¾”X 9” strips, two thin ¾” X 13” strips, and two 4X 6 ½” rectangles.

It is best to make these a bit larger than needed, then cut exactly to fit the iced cake as you apply them.

Allow to firm up overnight. This makes the sides easier to apply to the cake.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE


1. Cut a 9x13 cake board from ¼” foam core.  Cut 9x 6 ½” ”cake board from ¼” foam core. Cut the boards to fit your cake exactly.
Cover with contact paper.
Using a ½” sized dowel, make a hole in the center of the 9x6 ½”  board.

2. Stack and Fill two 9x13x2” cake layers.  Cut the third 9x13” layer in half to form a 6 ½” x 9” two layer cake. Stack and fill.

3.  Ice the bottom cake with non-crusting buttercream icing.

4. Measure your cake carefully and re-cut the edges of the precut fondant rectangles to fit your cake.  Measure twice, cut once. 
Trace a stitching line around the bottom and sides rectangles.  Place along back, then the sides of the cake matching the corners. Attach front last.
5. Run a line of melted chocolate along the corners and  smooth with a spatula.
Re-measure and cut the thin strips and glue them along the upper edge of the cake with melted chocolate.

6. Attach the thin strips along the top edge of bottom tier using melted chocolate, creating the sides of the lid.

7. Cut a 6- ½”x 9” pattern from waxed paper.

8. Before applying the fondant lid, measure the top of cake. Re-measure and re-cut the large 9X13”fondant rectangle to fit top exactly.
Lay waxed paper pattern on top and faintly mark the position of the cake.  Punch out a ½” hole in the middle for the center dowel, and 4 ¼” holes to allow for inserting cake supports.

>
9. Lay on top of cake and spackle edges and corners with the melted chocolate.

10. Decorate the bottom tier  before placing the second tier on top—
Cut 8 corner patches, tracing the stitching line on each outer edge.
Cut 2 leather straps for the base cake about 15” by 5/8”, and 2 straps 2 ½ ” X 5/8”.  Punch holes with the #6 tip and trace the stitching on the 15” strap.

Cut a small opening in the smaller strap for the tongue of the buckle and wrap it around the buckle.  Pull the end of the upper strap through the buckle and glue to the cake, cutting any overage at the base of the cake. Place the tongue on the buckle, attaching with gum glue.


11. Hammer the ½” dowel through the center hole, and insert the  4 inch-¼” dowels in the surrounding holes.
12. Align the bottom hole of the cardboard divider with the center dowel and stack the smaller cake on top, using wax paper to protect the bottom cake. Ice the cake with buttercream.


13. Lay a layer of while fondant over the top of the cake before  applying the side panels.

14. Prepare and place panels on the sides, following the same procedure, as in steps 4 and 5.

15. After the corners are spackled, remove wax paper & cut and prepare 2 separate 2” straps just as before with buckle and tongue. Attach  to front of the cake, using gum glue.  Cut two more 4” straps, attaching to back of the cake.

16.Fasten the locks and plates to both cakes with gum glue.


17. Cut 4 handle holders (triangles). Insert the small end through the d-rings on the
 handles and glue to underside.

18.  Fasten Handles to both cakes with gum glue. Prop up and allow
to dry.

19. Insert two 6 inch ¼” dowels one inch inside front corner.  Cover each with a
large marshmallow. 

CLOTHING

  1. Roll out several different colored fondants into 6 inch squares.  Texture and fold; Lay on top of cake.
  2. Roll out white fondant and cut with shirt pattern, then trace stitching line on shirt cuff.  Cut 2 small circles for buttons. With toothpick, make 2 holes in center, then dust with pearl dust.  Glue to cuff.  Place immediately on left side of cake, falling over side.
  3. Roll out and cut chocolate fondant, texture or stencil. Glue the three pieces together with gum glue and attach a white fondant ribbon to cover the seam.  Make a thin 3 inch roll from white fondant for the straps. Attach one edge with gum glue and tuck the free edge under.  Arrange over left side of cake.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Place lid on top of cake, resting on back edge and front dowels.  Brush cocoa powder
randomly over surface of cake to give a scuffed and weathered appearance.;




Jacque Benson . all rights reserved . 2007

This material may not be republished or reproduced in any manner without the expressed permission of the author.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Making Your Own Molds

This is a very inexpensive product to use if you wish to make your own molds.

I live out in the boonies and I don't have access to cake shops out here and sometimes ordering on line can be very costly! So if you are willing to take the time to make your own, it is very well worth it!! You can buy it at Michaels.

You can go the Amazing Mold Putty's website to learn even more!! There are videos and pictures on how to do it!!

I recently entered a cake competition and these are the molds that I made for the wedding cake entry.

Working with the putty is very easy!! You just need to plan ahead and make sure you know what you want to do. Find the object that you want to use. Then you mix the two types of putty together. You have to do this quickly!! You have only a 3 minutes to mix and mold!!! Then you let it sit for 25 minutes to set up. Then your mold is ready to use!! Also make sure that if you are going to be using your molds for sugar or food, do not use it with anything else. These molds can be used with fondant, gumpaste, chocolate, isomalt or poured sugar and to make ice!! So many possibilities.
Here is the mold that I made for the buttons on the back of this wedding cake. I should have pushed the real button into the mold a little more, but it still worked.
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It was very easy making the lace embroidery for the bodice of my cake. The hard part was finding something that I liked and cutting it out!!
I used this heart shape for the brooch on the sash. I found all of my pieces at Michaels. This piece was to be used for a real necklace but I thought it was the best fit for my design. So I made the mold, but needed to cut the loop off after it was removed from the mold. I also put one on my topper.
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I used this shape to go between all of the petal indentations. I first made the heart shape and let dry. Then I used super pearl luster dust mixed with lemon extract to paint the shimmer on.
Here is a picture of the whole cake. Thanks for looking!!!

Tutorial Courtesy of Rhonda Christensen
2009
All Rights Reserved

This material may not be republished or reproduced in any manner without the expressed permission of the author.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

How to Make Chocolate High Heel Shoes by Jennifer Dontz

How do I make that???


This tutorial is on how to make a lifesize (about a size 6) chocolate shoe. These are SO much fun to make and your imagination can run wild. I made a really fun pair for the TLC competition, but I can't show them to you until after the show airs. I covered them in a patterned fondant....they were really cool :-)

Step 1 - This is the mold that you need. High Heel 3-d Mold



Step 2 - You will need to trim the mold and cut out the section that you would place your foot into if it were a real shoe. I normally write on the mold for customers so there is no doubt which parts need to be removed. I trim about a good inch to inch and 1/2 all the way around the mold. This allows you to clamp it tighter.



Step 3 - Melt your chocolate and pour into the mold. I kind of swirl it around to get to the edge of the mold, then pour it out leaving a thin shell in the mold. I put the mold in the frig JUST until it gets hard. Prop the mold upright...don't leave it in there to long or the really thin shell will crack. Just until it's setup. Then you do the pouring process 2 more times, for a total of three layers. You don't need to be quite as careful with the refrigeration time on the other two layers. Once it starts getting thicker, it really shouldn't crack. The heel part will be fully filled in by the time you do three layers of chocolate.



Step 4 - Remove the mold from the fully setup shoe. You will have some rough edges.



Step 5 - Trim down the seams with an exacto knife. I like using the cotton chocolate gloves (on the site). you don't get any finger prints on the chocolate when using these.



Step 6 - Add whatever your imagination comes up with. I love to use the Jem bow makers and pearl molds. The # 4 pearls are nice and delicate, perfect for outlining the edges of the shoe.



Finished shoe :-) This was dry dusted with silver hi-liter dust. I used the Jem bow maker and some of the 2mm dragees. I also mounted it to a chocolate base. The "base mold" I sell in the mold section works great. I unfortunately cannot get the base mold that I used in the picture. But the oval one works great as well.



This is another gorgeous design, I think this one looks like a bridal shoe.
Again, I used the Jem bow cutters. If you don't have them, they are SO much fun to use. I will try to do a tutorial on those for the next post. I also used the # 4 pearl mold.
If you would like to know how to make awesome chocolate pearls, the instructions for my pearl clay + many other cool techniques, including step by step making of pearls, are on my Fun With Fondant Frills DVD.
I also used a section of the floral lace press on the shoes below. It really makes for a very stable shoe to add the base mold. You can fill it with truffles and place on the tables OR wrap with pretty cellophane for a beautiful gift or give away at a bridal show.



Hope you enjoyed the little mini class :-) Happy shoe pouring!! Jennifer :-)



Tutorial and Photos by Jennifer Dontz 2009 all rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced for commercial use without permission from the author.
You can  find other cake decorating supplies and instructional DVDs by Jennifer Dontz online at SugarDelites

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Old Fashioned Orange Cake


My father's favorite cake is the orange cake his mother used to make. An old fashioned orange cake. And there are many family stories swirling around this legendary cake. So in an attempt to recreate this cake for my Dad for Father's day, I searched for a similar cake recipe . I finally found one in a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook that sounded much like the description of Grandma's Orange Cake. Now I know that no one can ever match the memory of a mother's masterpiece, but this was a close second. It was a flavorful and moist yellow cake, filled with an rich orange curd and frosted with a Fluffly white boiled icing that crusted like divinity, yet was soft to cut.

Old Fashioned Orange Cake

  • 1-5/8 cups sifted cake flour

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 cup soft shortening

  • 1/3 cup water

  • 1/3 cup orange juice

  • 2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8" round pans.
Sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add shortening.
Mix the water and orange juice. Pour in half the liquid and beat for 2 minutes.
Add remaining liquid and eggs and beat for 2 more minutes. Pour into prepared
pans. Bake for 28-35 minutes until the cake springs back in the middle.
Cool. Torte the layers and fill with Rich Orange Filling.
Ice with Comfort Frosting
Rich Orange Filling
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 Tablespoons orange zest
  • 1-1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Mix together the first 6 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and boil one minute, stirring constantly. Whisk in egg yolks and cook one minute more. Stir in butter. Chill before using.
Comfort Frosting

  • 1-1/2 cups sugar

  • 6 Tablespoons water

  • 1-1/2 Tablespoon white corn syrup

  • 2 large egg whites ( 1/4 cup )

  • 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
Mix sugar, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan. Boil slowly, without stirring until syrup spins a
6-8" thread (242degrees). Keep saucepan covered for the first 3 minutes to keep crystals from forming on sides of pan.
While syrup is cooking, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff enough to hold to a point.
With mixer beating, pour hot syrup very slowly in a thin stream into stiffly beaten egg whites. Add orange extract. Continue to beat until frosting holds its shape. Spread on top and sides of cake.

Search This Blog

The Tutorials This Week Were Generously Shared by

RHONDA CHRISTENSEN, EARLENE MOORE, BOBBIE NOTO, EDNA DE LA CRUZ & TONI BRANCATISANO

And to ALL of our Readers...

Above all, have fun and keep baking!

Think CHOCOLATE!

A Very Sweet Tutorial by Bobbie Noto

A Very Sweet Tutorial by Bobbie Noto
I was instantly in love when Bobbie Noto shared this cookie with SugarTeachers! She is an amazing talent. For instructions on how to create this adorable cookie, click on the photo and don't forget to subscribe to Bobbie's website!

Pillow Cake Tutorial by Toni Brancatisano

Pillow Cake Tutorial by Toni Brancatisano
How beautiful! A great tutorial shared byToni Brancatisano. Click on photo to see the tutorial!

Pistachio-Cardamom Cake

Pistachio-Cardamom Cake
Click on link for Edna De La Cruz's dee-lish cake recipe.

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