We finished this giant Hello Kitty cupcake last night. It was custom made for a customer as a congratulations cake. The ABC ‘sprinkles’ represent the lucky recipient’s A-Level grades. It is a chocolate cake with vanilla pod buttercream filling and frosting. We covered the ‘case’ with custom coloured fondant and decorated the cake with handmade edible blossoms, letters and a Hello Kitty centrepiece.
Month: August 2012
Tigger birthday cake!
Yesterday we finished and delivered this Tigger cake for a youthful 77 year old’s birthday! It is a chocolate cake with a cookies and cream frosting. We decorated it with custom coloured icing, handmade carrots, crumbled cookies as dirt, a sugarpaste picket fence, edible leaves and tiny blossoms and daisies using Tala plunger cutters.
‘Tutorial Tuesday': How to pipe buttercream roses!
What you will need:
A cupcake
A piping bag full of buttercream
A large closed star piping tip (Ateco 855)
Sugarpaste leaves or butterflies to decorate
Edible glitter (optional)
Step one: Begin to pipe from the middle of the cupcake making a ruffled centre of buttercream.
Step two: Work your way around the middle you have created.
Step three: Continue piping around the cupcake until your rose is the desired size.
Step four: Now cease piping to end your rose. This will create unfinished look, however, the leaves or butterflies will cover this up.
Step five: On the unfinished section of your rose place a sugarpaste leaf or butterfly. Now your buttercream rose is complete!
We used the rose piping technique to create a small batch of raspberry cupcakes for an cupcake selection box order of thirty (boxes only go up to 24 hence the odd cookies and cream cupcake nestled within the raspberry rose cakes).
The flavours in this order include: (from left to right) After Eight peppermint and chocolate, Pink Velvet with gourmet vanilla buttercream, Peanut Butter Fudge, Lemon, Cookies 'n' Cream and Raspberry Rose.
Review: Tala sugarpaste modelling tools
Here at Juniper Cakery we have amassed a large collection of sugarpaste tools. Some things we were lacking were the above Tala products. We have to admit we did not know that Tala made plunger cutters and modelling tools. We'd always used their pastry cutters to create smooth 'doilies', plaques, and sugar paste detailings. We've also used their 1950s icing set to add detail to cakes. Tala appeals to us because of their traditional yet simplistic 1950s/60s design, however, the the quality of their products is never compromised.
We have scored the above Tala tools on design, quality and function…
In order to test these modelling tools we decided to create a Tala inspired cake. We looked at their packaging, cake tins and at 1960s cake designs (due to the 1950s/60s style of Tala's products). From their range we picked out a very simple colour palate of a sky blue, pale yellow and white. From the sixties influence we chose to create sugarpaste pearls, an edible broderie anglaise border and a bouquet of daisies and blossoms.
The designs of the modelling tools are simple, classic and un-fussy. Their tools are plastic and are in a slight off-white colour which makes them fairly easy to find in our tool box crammed full of various tools (most of which are either a bright white or a very pale grey colour). The floral plungers, especially the daisy shapes, have just enough detail on them for you to also add you own accents (we cut yellow circles from icing tips and textured them with one of the Tala modelling tools to make the centre of the daisy).
In terms of quality we couldn't fault the tools. Our previous plunger cutters usually needed a bit of a prod or a wiggle in order to shake the flower or leaf out. These simply needed one small push on the plunger and it was ready to adorn with a bead or disc centre. All of the modelling tools are of a good thick and tough plastic so they feel extremely durable.
Some modelling tools came in old fashioned doctor's 'lollipop' style shapes, or more professionally called 'tongue depressors' which came in really handy for tidying up rouh sugarpaste corners. Also, the ball tools are larger than one's we've previously used which we feel will be better when it comes to shaping rose petals and ruffle edgings.
Overall we awarded Tala a well deserved…
‘Tutorial Tuesday': How to make a sugarpaste cupcake!
What you will need:
Minature cupcake case
Sugarpaste in five different colours
A two inch scalloped cookie cutter
Small sprinkles
Edible glue
Taper cone tool
Toothpick
Step one: Mould a cupcake shaped base to fit into the minature cupcake case. Now place the sugarpaste inside the minature cupcake case pressing the sides in to create texture.
Step two: Mould a dome shape to create the top of your cupcake. Using the edible glue attach the top of the cupcake to the base.
Step three: Using the scalloped cookie cutter cut out your ‘icing’ from some contrasting sugarpaste. Paint the dome with edible glue then carefully place your ‘icing’ atop and mould.
Step four: Now it is time to make your cherry! Form a ball from a red or dark pink paste then press the taper tool into the top. This creates a small star shaped hole for the stem of your cherry.
Step five: Using a toothpick indent your cupcake where you would like to place your sprinkles and then push them in. You can use a tiny amount of edible glue to really hold the sprinkles in place. Paint a small blob of edible glue on top and attach your cherry.
Step six: Take a small piece of green sugarpaste and roll into a stem. Put some edible glue in atop your cherry and carefully attach the stem. Now you have a sugarpaste cupcake to adorn your baked goods with!
‘Tutorial Tuesday': How to make a sugarpaste mouse!
What you will need:
PME Shell tool
PME Blade tool
PME Ball tool
Various sugarpaste colours
Thin paintbrush
Toothpicks
Water and icing sugar (to make edible glue)
Step one: Knead your main sugarpaste colour and form into two somewhat pear shaped pieces. The large will be your mouse’s body and the smaller will be the head.
Step two: Insert a toothpick into the mouse’s body, paint some edible glue onto the neck and around the top of the toothpick. Place the smaller piece onto the body.
Step three: To make your mouse’s tummy roll out some contrasting sugarpaste in an oblong shape and glue to your mouse.
Step four: Now for you mouse’s ears! Make a small oblong shape with your main sugarpaste colour and stick a smaller oblong in a contrasting colour on top. Next cut in half.
Step five: Paint glue onto the sides of the head and attach the ears.
Step six: For the nose use the smaller end of the ball tool to make an indentation where the nose should be. Make a tiny ball of contrasting sugarpaste, paint on some edible glue and stick the little nose in place.
Step seven: Using some contrasting sugarpaste shape some tiny little hands and feet (they can be balls, oblonges or triangular shaped). To make cute little toes and fingers on your mouse use the shell tool!
Step eight: For the tail it best that the majority of it stick to the body as it is delicate and may snap off. Using the smaller ball tool make a large-ish indentation in the mouse’s bum. Roll out about 2 inches of contrasting sugarpaste into a tail shape and attach to the bum.
Step nine: Finally, using the small ball tool make some eyes. Yay! Now you have your own adorable little sugar paste mouse!
Coming soon! A tutorial on how to create the lovely little sugarpaste cupcake on which our mice are about to nibble!