chocolate – cakes

Jawa Cake Tutorial

Published on December 9, 2013March 1, 2015 by Bernice CamlinLeave a comment

This cake does not require any sugar paste which is excellent news for children who dislike sugar paste or the decorator who dislikes using sugar paste. The Chocolate ganache finish is a little rustic but suits our cheeky little Jawa well. There are no real instructions for sculpting this cake as I mostly used my fingers and a small pallette knife. The chocolate ganache behaves a bit like clay and when it gets a bit soft you just pop it in the fridge to firm up again. Ingredients for Chocolate Mud Cake I used 3 round cake pans 5″, 5.5″ and a 6″. The eyes are two yellow sweets (lollies) with a sugar coating.

435g butter
350g dark chocolate
2 tblsp instant coffee powder
2.5 cups warm water
330g caster sugar
360g SR flour
60g cocoa powder
4 eggs
2tsp vanilla

method:

Grease and line base and sides of the bowls with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.
Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate, coffee, and water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl of large mixer.
Add caster sugar to mixture and beat well until dissolved. Add sifted flour and cocoa, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla.
Pour mixture into prepared bowls.
Bake at 150C for 1 hours. Test with skewer. Cool cakes in their pans.

Ingredients for the Ganache to fill and cover Jawa’s head and body (for more information on making and using ganache click here)

1 x 600ml pure cream
1,900g dark chocolate

method:

Place pieces of chocolate in food processor and process till chocolate looks like coffee granules.
Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to boiling point. Pour the cream over the chocolate and mix with a hand whisk until the ganache is smooth. (Do not use an electric whisk, as you will create too many air bubbles in the ganache.)
Allow to cool completely and then leave to set overnight.
Ready for the oven

Proccess the chocolate to the size of coffee granules

To assemble the cake

(Sorry that I have no pictures for this part, I must have been so caught up in my work that I forgot to use my camera!) I cut all 3 cakes through the middle and filled them with ganache. I started with the smallest cake and shaped it roughly into a head shape, covered it in ganache roughly and put it in the fridge to harden a bit. Then I stacked the two largest cakes one on top of the other with the largest at the bottom. I inserted a wooden dowel down through the middle of the cake with a portion left sticking up through with a point on the end so that I could slide the head on. I used ganache to help stick the head to the body. I used the pieces of cut off cake ( I mixed the cake with some ganache to make it easy to mould) to help mould the Jawa shape e.g. his knee and foot but not his arms at this stage. Place in the fridge to firm up again. Cover all exposed areas of cake with a thin layer of ganache (crumb coat) Place in fridge to firm up.

I used this image as inspiration for my cake.

To build up the arms I used a few cocktail sticks and layered the ganache slowly adding to the size and shape while still popping the cake in the fridge to firm up each stage before continuing. I had a few saggy moments but that only made me more careful and determined to make it work. I made the gun in the same way and added it at the very end with the help of 2 toothpicks. I enjoyed mouling the shape with my hands and although it looks like s..t to begin with it soon starts to take shape and creating the hood and sleeves is just magic!

Making the top and bottom parts of the gun

I added some raw caster sugar at the base to look like sand.

Some more of my Star Wars Cake Tutorials

Click on the images below to go straight to the corresponding tutorial.

: Lego Millennium Falcon Cake

: Death Star Cake

Jawa Star Wars Chocolate Cake

Angry Birds Cake

Published on April 1, 2013October 6, 2014 by Bernice Camlin5 Comments

Balin and his Angry Birds birthday cake (picture taken by my good friend Jillian Merlot, Balin’s gran) I **had** to do a little post processing in Photoshop of course!

Make the 8″ square Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

500g unsalted butter

400g dark chocolate

10g (2 tablespoon) instant coffee

2-2/3 cups warm water

380g (2 cup) caster sugar

520g (3 cups) self raising flour

60g (1/2 cup) cocoa

4 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Grease and line base and sides of cake pan with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.

2. Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate, coffee, and water in a saucepan.

Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl of mixer.

3. Add caster sugar to mixture and beat well until dissolved. Add sifted flour and cocoa, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla.

4. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

5. Bake at 150C for 1 hour 45 mins. Test with skewer. Cool cake in pan.

Make the Dark Chocolate Ganache

1.2 kg (2lb 10oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped

500ml (17.5 fl oz) pure cream

Method: Heat the cream until it just starts to bubble, pour over chocolate (which you have blitzed in the food processor to coffee granules size) and let it sit for about a minute to melt. Use a hand whisk to blend it all together then set aside to cool.

Your ganache at this point will be thin. You will have to let it set overnight until it thickens to a slightly thicker peanut butter consistency. Since I don’t have the patience to wait, I just let it cool to room temperature and then pop it in the fridge (don’t cover because you might get condensation). It would usually set in the fridge in about an hour or two. If it sets too hard, just microwave it in 10 second intervals (keep mixing it whenever you take it out).

For more information on how to make ganache and cover your cake with it, please click here.

I used the three images above as my inspiration. I tried to match the sizes, shapes and colours as I put together the birds, pigs and timbers. I also went online and played the game just to better understand the whole ‘Angry Birds’ thing.

I made all the pieces separately as they were being transported to the birthday party and with the cake being tall and slim (reflecting the 2D nature of the Angry Birds game) I was afraid that the cake would be top heavy and topple over in the car. I used cocktail sticks and wooden skewers to keep everything straight and the spikes came in handy for anchoring the timbers to the cake later on.

I made an 8″square dark chocolate mud cake and cut it in half and filled it with dark chocolate ganache. I then cut the cake up to resemble the online game silhouette finally covered the top and sides with the remaining ganache.

Now that you have mastered the Angry Bird cake you have to have a go at the Star Wars Angry Bird Cake that I made in September 2014!

Ballerina Shoes Cake

Published on March 29, 2013March 29, 2013 by Bernice Camlin6 Comments

This 9″ Ballerina Shoes birthday cake is made from dark chocolate mud-cake and filled with dark chocolate ganache.

Materials

0.5 metres of 1 metre wide net

Glue gun

14″ cake board

2 x 9″ set up boards

Super Pearl Dust (Sweet Inspirations)

Hot Pink Twinkle dust (Global Sugar Art)

Clay gun

1.2 kg white sugar-paste

300g pink sugar-paste

Quilting mold

silver edible balls

Tylose powder

Make the 9″ round Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

500g unsalted butter

400g dark chocolate

10g (2 tablespoon) instant coffee

2-2/3 cups warm water

380g (2 cup) caster sugar

520g (3 cups) self raising flour

60g (1/2 cup) cocoa

4 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Grease and line base and sides of cake pan with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.

2. Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate, coffee, and water in a saucepan.

Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl of mixer.

3. Add caster sugar to mixture and beat well until dissolved. Add sifted flour and cocoa, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla.

4. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

5. Bake at 150C for 1 hour 45 mins. Test with skewer. Cool cake in pan.

Make the Dark Chocolate Ganache

1.2 kg (2lb 10oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped

500ml (17.5 fl oz) pure cream

For more information on how to make ganache and cover your cake with it, please click here.

Assembling the cake

Cut the cake in half and fill with ganache.

Attach cake to set up board with edible glue or some Royal Icing.

Cover the top and the sides of the cake with ganache and smooth the surfaces.

Cover in white sugar-paste.

Press a quilting mold to the sides of the cake to make quilting effect or measure and indent with the side of a ruler.

Brush the top and sides of the cake with Super Pearl dust.

Use the other end of a paint brush to make holes for the silver balls and use some edible glue to attach them.

Add any lettering at this stage.

To make edible glue

Add 2 tablespoons of warm water to a quarter teaspoon of Tylose Powder and allow the Tylose powder to melt. Don’t worry if at this stage the glue appears not to be blending. Put a lid on the container and leave it in the refrigerator overnight and in the morning you will have a perfectly clear and ready to use glue.

The glue should be a dripping consistency. If it is too thick, just add a little more water and stir with a toothpick .

The edible glue should be stored in the refrigerator when not in use.

To apply the glue, use a good quality paintbrush and brush on to the area where you are going to be working. Leave until it begins to dry a little so that the area is just tacky to touch.

To make the tutu

Cut the net into 2 strips each 15 cms wide.

Join the strips with pins to make a 2 metre length then machine stitch along one long edge with the largest stitch on your machine.

Pull one of the threads to gather the fabric into the tightest circle possible and sew in place.

Place tutu onto a 14″ cake board and glue down with a glue gun.

Use a 9″ set up board to sit on top and glue this on with a glue gun. Place a 5 kilo bag of flour (or something heavy) on top till set.

Trim your tutu so that it sticks out about 1 cm from the edge of your cake board.

Place your cake (which should be on a matching 9″ set up board) on top using your glue gun or PVA glue to stick it down.

To make the Ballet Shoes

Print out the shoe template onto thin card so that the sole measures 14 cm in length and cut them out.

Use the templates to cut out 2 soles and two toes in pink sugar-paste and remember as we work through the rest of the instructions that you are aiming to make a left and right shoe.

Use edible glue to attach the uppers to the soles. I turned a little of the edge of the upper under the sole but I think it might have looked better just to join them edge to edge.

Fill the shoes with cotton wool to keep their shape (the cotton wool stuck a little to some glued edges so I would recommend scrunched cling film instead).

Leave shoes overnight to harden.

Next day remove packing and add the stitched band around the top of the shoe by cutting and glueing a narrow strip of pink sugar-paste around the top edge of each shoe and use a cocktail stick to make the little holes.

Use the clay gun to make the little bows and glue them in place with edible glue.

Dust the shoes inside and out with pink twinkle dust and attach to cake with edible glue. I also used a cocktail stick to anchor the toe of the angled shoe to the cake as the cake was travelling by car to the birthday girl.

Cut out 4 long strips of pink sugar-paste to make the ribbon ties and dust them on both sides before glueing them to the shoes.

Brush more pink dust over the shoes where needed.

Use a ribbon in the same shade as the tutu, around the base of the cake and make a bow for the front.

How to make a Rainbow Layer Cake using white chocolate mud recipe

Published on January 5, 2013December 14, 2013 by Bernice Camlin22 Comments

This cake is similar to my Rainbow Cake below and you can find full instructions for it here.

Three things make this cake special

1. The Rainbow Layers. They can be a big surprise if the recipient and/or guests have no idea what is inside.

2. The cake is based on a White Chocolate Mud Cake. Lots of people are scarred to use colours with Chocolate mud cakes if they do not have the special chocolate colours. I did a lot of research before I used my ordinary food colours and the reason they work is because we are not colouring 100% pure chocolate. The other ingredients magically make it alright to use Wilton or AmeriColor (these are the only two makes that I have tried so far).

3. You can make this cake even if you do not have 6 x 10″ round cake pans. I have 2 x 10 inch pans and I bake the layers in 3 batches. You could make do with just one pan, it will just take a little longer.

Colours of the rainbow Red, Orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

White Chocolate Mud Cake

(Planet Cake recipe)

Need a minimum of one 10″ pan ( 6 x 10″ pans would make the job really easy though!)

I used 2 x 10″ pans as that is all I have.

390g butter
390g white chocolate
350ml water
195g SR flour
390g plain flour
520g caster sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla essence

White Chocolate Mud Cake Method

Preheat the oven to 150C.
Grease and line bases of both cake pans with one thickness of baking paper.
Combine chopped butter and water in a saucepan.
Stir over low heat until butter is melted. Turn off heat, then add the chocolate and stir until it has melted and is well combined.
Sift flours into a bowl. Add sugar, a pinch of salt and make a well in the centre.
Pour chocolate mixture, egg and vanilla into the well then stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Divide the batter equally amongst the 6 bowls. Weigh your mixing bowl before you begin adding ingredients and then subtract the weight of the bowl from the final measurement after the batter is completed. Divide that number by six and add that weight of batter to each bowl, and then whisk a fair amount of the appropriate food color into each bowl. Keep in mind that the color of the unbaked batter will be the color of the baked batter. Pour into the pans and bake for 15 minutes each or until a skewer comes out clean when poked into the middle of the cake.
Once cake pans have been washed, repeat the process twice more till all 6 layers have been baked.

Lemony Swiss Meringue Buttercream

As you can see from the recipe, this cake requires a huge amount of buttercream to fill the layers and cover the outside. I would recommend that you make the buttercream in two separate batches ( 1. To fill and crumb coat. 2. To frost) because you would need a HUGE bowl to make this much buttercream at one time!

Please click here for a step-by-step guide to making Swiss Meringue Buttercream and troubleshooting tips!

To fill and crumb coat:

9 egg whites
1 ¾ cup (350 g) sugar
4 sticks (452 g) butter, room temp
2 tsp lemon extract

To frost:

5 egg whites
1 cup (200 g) sugar
2 sticks (226 g) butter, room temp
1 tsp lemon extract

Cook the egg whites and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved (test by rubbing some between your fingers. If it’s completely smooth, it’s done). Pour into another bowl (a stand mixer is preferable) and whip on high speed until room temp. Then, on a medium-slow speed, add the butter, waiting until each piece is completely incorporated before adding the next. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer back to high speed and whip until it has come together, about five minutes. Add the extract, beat briefly and then use.

If the buttercream seems soupy after all of the butter is added and does not come together after whipping, refrigerate for 5 to 7 minutes and continue whipping until it becomes fluffy and workable.

Assembly

Stack the layers in your preferred order and fill and frost as you would any other cake.

Once frosted, the cake can be left on the counter without any problems, but feel free to refrigerate it. Just be sure that the cake is at room temperature when serving or the frosting will be hard.

80s Theme Cake

Published on August 8, 2012May 3, 2013 by Bernice Camlin2 Comments

This 80s Theme Cake was made for Jessica’s 30th Birthday Bash in Brisbane. It is made from white chocolate and dark chocolate marbled mudcake, filled with dark chocolate ganache and covered with sugarpaste. The Rubik’s Cube is a really delicious truffle.
The birthday girl wanted hot pink, turquoise and yellow as her colours but you could use whatever colours you wish. To celebrate her 1980s themed birthday the cake incorporates the MTV logo, Pacman arcade game, Rubik Cube, Boogie box, fluorescent colours and animal print fondant, not to mention the giant number ’30’.

Baking Diary

DAY 1

Colour sugar-paste. Hint – You can buy ready coloured black sugarpaste which saves a big mess. Also I used Wilton’s Rose edible gel colour for the hot pink.

Make ganache click here for detailed ganaching info

Bake cakes

Wrap cakes in foil and place in fridge overnight.

Cut finger nails. There is nothing worse than making a mark with your long nails on your completed cake.

DAY 2

Take cake out of fridge first thing in the morning and allow to come to room temp.

Torte and ganache cake then leave it to set. click here for detailed ganaching info

Once set cover with sugar-paste.

DAY 3

Decorate and complete the job.

DAY 4

‘Stuff up’ day. You never know what might happen when making a cake so always pencil in a ‘stuff up’ day (I had a day with my feet up when making this cake as I had a toenail removed, ouch!)

DAY 5 The day of the party

Marbled Mudcake

The three tiers are made up of a 7″ round, a 5″ round and a 4.5″ square. The rubik cube (1.25″ / 3 cm) is made from the cut offs from the Boogie box mixed with left over ganache formed into a large truffle cube and covered on all sides with a thin layer of ganache.Make the light and dark mudcake batter in separate bowls then pour the dark in first filling your pans to half the usual height then fill each with the white choc mud batter and gently stir round a little to mix and bake for 1.5 hrs at 150C

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake (Pam’s recipe)

187g butter

150g dk choc

1 tbsp coffee, powder or granules

1 cup water

1 cup SR flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake Method

Preheat the oven to 150C.
Grease and line base and sides of cake pans with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.
Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate, coffee, and water in a saucepan.
Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl of mixer.
Add caster sugar to mixture and beat well until dissolved. Add sifted flour and cocoa, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla.
Pour mixture into prepared pans stopping at half the height you normally fill to.

No need to be delicate with this one – just make sure that the chocolate mixture has cooled sufficiently so as to not create a thickening reaction when the flour is added.

White Chocolate Mud Cake (Planet Cake recipe)
185g butter
185g white chocolate
170ml water
95g SR flour
185g plain flour
250g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence

White Chocolate Mud Cake Method

Preheat the oven to 150C.
Grease and line base and sides of cake pans with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.
Combine chopped butter and water in a saucepan.
Stir over low heat until butter is melted. Turn off heat, then add the chocolate and stir until it has melted and is well combined.
Sift flours into a bowl. Add sugar, a pinch of salt and make a well in the centre.
Pour chocolate mixture, egg and vanilla into the well then stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Add the white batter to the already half full pans and fill to their normal height.

Marbling
To create the marbling effect simply gently stir round a little to mix (Do not overdo) and bake for 1.5 hrs at 150C. Check the small cakes before their time is up.

Dark Chocolate Ganache click here for detailed ganaching info

1600g dark chocolate, finely chopped

800ml pure cream

Grind the chocolate to fine granules in a processor.
Put the chocolate in a large bowl
Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to boiling point. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and mix with a hand whisk until the ganache is smooth. (Do not use an electric whisk, as you will create too many air bubbles in the ganache.)
Allow to cool completely and then leave to set overnight.

Decoration
Templates can be found on my Free Stuff page click here
I used a whole lot of edible glue on this cake. I even stuck the tiers together with glue as it wasn’t a big heavy cake and the glue would survive the 200km round trip delivery.

Edible Glue

Also called Gum Glue

The glue should be a dripping consistency. If it is too thick, just add a little more water and stir with a toothpick .

The edible glue should be stored in the refrigerator when not in use.

To apply the glue, use a good quality paintbrush and brush on to the area where you are going to be working. Leave until it begins to dry a little so that the area is just tacky to touch.

The animal print is made up of thin strips of black sugarpaste.

Some sugarpaste shapes for the Boogie box, Rubik’s Cube and Pacman

Pattern pieces for the more complicated shapes can be found on my Free Stuff page. Flat pieces such as the ’30’ and the ‘MTV’ logo should be made early and left flat. Curved pieces such as Pacman should be stuck to the cake soonish so that they can mould themselves to the shape of the cake. Add Tylose powder to any parts that need to be very stiff such as the MTV logo. I added just a quarter of a tsp of Tylose to a lump of pink which I used for the ’30’ and the ‘MTV’. Knead the powder into the sugarpste till well combined.

To make the handle for the Boogie box use some plastic tubing with cocktail sticks pushed in at the ends. Stick the sugarpaste on with edible glue.

You will need 45 coloured squares in total (none on the bottom) and stick them on with edible glue. Each square is 1cm x 1cm. Secure to the cake using two short wooden skewers and edible glue.

I used this image in the background of my cake picture. I made the image a couple of years ago with camper vans and surf board, typical of the Gold Coast and reminiscent of the ’80s. I changed the colours to suit the colour scheme of the cake.

Easter Cookie Tutorial

Published on August 8, 2012May 1, 2013 by Bernice CamlinLeave a comment

These cookies are iced using the ‘Outlining and Flooding’ technique which is simple to learn. The outline works as a dam or wall to hold the runny icing which you use to fill in the main parts of the cookie.

I made these cookies in 3 delightful flavours: chocolate, vanilla and gingerbread.

Chocolate Cookie Recipe

makes about 24 medium-sized cookies

275g plain flour

100g self raising flour

75g cocoa powder

125g granulated sugar

125g salted butter, diced

125g golden syrup

1 large egg, beaten

Sift flours and cocoa, add sugar and mix well.

Add butter and using finger tips rub till mix resembles breadcrumbs.

Make a well and add syrup and egg.

Stop as soon as a ball has formed.

Cover and chill till ready to use or roll and use immediately.

170C for 14-18 mins

Vanilla Cookie Recipe

makes about 24 medium-sized cookies

200g unsalted soft butter

200g caster sugar

seeds from one vanilla pod or 2 tsp of best vanilla essence

1 egg, lightly beaten

400g plain flour

In the mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla till well mixed and just creamy in texture. Do not overwork or cookies will spread during baking.

Beat in the egg till well combined.

Add the flour and mix on low speed until a dough forms.

Cover with cling and place in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Place dough on floured surface and knead briefly.

Roll out to 5mm thick.

Cut out your shapes, then, using a palette knife, lay them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.

Chill again for about 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 180C/170C fan and bake for about 10 mins, depending on size, until golden brown at the edges.

Transfer cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool before decorating.

Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

makes about 24 medium-sized cookies

90g butter

150g soft brown sugar

90g golden/corn syrup

425g Plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2tsp ground ginger

1tsp mixed spice

1 medium egg (beaten)

Gently heat butter, sugar and syrup until dissolved.

Cool slightly for five mins.

Pre-heat oven 180C and lightly grease baking trays.

Sift flour, baking powder and spices tog into mixing bowl and make a well in centre.

Add melted mixture and egg into the centre. Bind tog with knife then use hands to form soft dough.

Sprinkle work surface with flour and roll out the gingerbread to 3mm (1/8″)

Bake in centre of oven for 13 mins.

Transfer cooked gingerbread to a cooling rack.

I have been using a homemade Cookie Leveller to roll out my cookie dough. I have all the instructions if you would like to make one.

Cookie Leveller click here

Royal Icing Recipe click here

A thicker consistancy icing is used to outline the cookie shape and then a thinner one (like custard) to fill in.

Outlining

Outline your cookies first and leave at least 15 minutes before you flood the inside of the ‘dam’ (outline). If the outline is a dark colour, it is best to wait 24 hours so that the colours don’t bleed into each other.

Outlining the egg

To outline the cookie hold the bag at 45 degrees and position the tip on your cookie. Put enough pressure on the bag so that the icing comes out and you can start moving in the direction that you want your icing to go. Start lifting the pipping bag till it is a few centimetres above your cookie and the icing just falls in a continuous line onto the cookie below. Come back closer to the cookie at corners and when finishing also reduce or stop pressure on the bag to go more slowly or to stop.

Flooding

Use a number 3,4 or 5 sized piping tip depending on the size of your cookie. Fill in one area at a time quickly zig zagging back and forth. Don’t worry if you haven’t filled in every spot: speed is more important at this point. To fill in these little missed bits just use your piping tip, toothpick or small paintbrush (used only for food), to push the icing into your missed bits.

Using a squeezy bottle to fill in with icing

Using a toothpick to fill in the missing bits

Decorating

Bunnies with White Tummies
Outline and flood your bunny with your chosen colour and immediately add a circle of white icing for the tummy. The icing will quickly sink down till a smooth or slightly domed tummy area remains.
Once completely dry add cheeks and front paws.
Add nose and eyes once cheeks are dry or almost dry.

Bunnies with Spots

Outline and flood your bunny with your chosen colour and immediately add little blobs of white icing to make the dots.

Once completely dry add the bow using a No.00 piping nozzle.

Pretty Little Easter Eggs

Outline and flood your eggs with your chosen colour and immediately add little blobs of white icing to make the dots.

Once completely dry add the bow using a No.00 piping nozzle.

Yellow Chicks

Outline and flood your chicks with yellow and when completely dry add little feather details, a pink beak and an eye.

Bunny Faces
Outline and flood each face with your chosen colour leaving the centre of the ears icing free.
Once dry add the cheeks in the same colour.
Once completely dry use a contrasting colour to make the nose, whiskers and middle ear. While still wet sprinkle the ears with coloured sugar sand or similar. If you are worried about the sprinkles sticking to the nose and whiskers you can add the nose and whiskers after the sprinkles have been added.
Finnish by making the eyes.

Storing

Let the cookies dry for 24 hours before you package them.

Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place out of the sun (sunlight can fade the colours). The cookies can keep for up to 2 months but I prefer to use them up within a month.

Beach Cake Tutorial

Published on August 7, 2012June 6, 2013 by Bernice Camlin3 Comments

This fabulous Beach Wedding Cake is covered in ivory sugarpaste and decorated with matching handmade and painted sugar-paste shells.

The bottom tier is a 10″ dark chocolate mud cake filled with dark chocolate ganache and the top tier is an 8″ white chocolate mud cake filled with white chocolate ganache.

Ingredients for 10” Dark Chocolate Mud Cake round

270g butter

270g dk choc

31g coffee

200ml water

155g SR

155g plain

60g cocoa

.6 tsp bicarb

590g caster

5 eggs

9 tsp oil

125ml buttermilk

Ganache

1475g dark chocolate

740ml pure cream

Fondant

1.475kg sugar-paste

Baking time

1 hr 50 mins

Method for Dark Chocolate Mud Cake click here

Ingredients for 8” White Chocolate Mud Cake round

240g butter

240g white choc

215ml water

120g SR

240g plain

315g caster

2.4 eggs

1.25 tsp vanilla

Ganache

1025g white chocolate

350ml pure cream

Fondant

1150g sugar-paste

Baking time

1 hr 20 mins

Method for White Chocolate Mud Cake click here

How to make ganache and cover your cake with it click here

Sugarpaste
I coloured all my sugarpaste at once using Wilton’s gel paste in Ivory.
1.475Kg for the bottom tier plus 1.150kg for top tier plus 500g for the shells

How to colour sugarpaste and use it to cover your cake click here

How to assemble a 2 tiered cake click here

I used Poly-Dowels from GlobalSugarArt.com to support my cake this time and found them easy to use. They are easy to cut with scissors and more hygienic than the wooden ones, I think.

Sea Shells
Using 500g of the ivory sugarpaste, I decided to make a 50/50 mix of sugarpaste/gumpaste (read ‘Successful Molding’ below for other suggestions for mediums to use with molds). I used the recipe below for gumpaste but only used half the quantities to achieve a 50/50 mix.

I used 3 First Impressions Molds which I ordered from America from GlobalSugarArt.com

S102 4 Shell Set
S188 Shell Set 6 (21398)
Clam Shell Press 2 pc.

I made 10 of each shell making a total of 130 shells.

Gumpaste Ingredients:

500 grams of sugarpaste (I use Bakels Pettinice, but any will do)

2 teaspoons of Cellogen (if you use CMC, Tylose or Gum Trag then only use 1 to 1.5 teaspoons)

1/3 teaspoon raw egg white

2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

Instructions:

Use a little Crisco (here in Australia I use Copha which is a solid white vegetable oil) on your work surface and knead up your sugarpaste so its nice and soft.

Sprinkle the Cellogen, or alternative, over the work surface and knead it into the fondant.

Make a well in the mix and pour in the egg white, knead until mixed through, it may feel a little sticky, add more Crisco to the surface if you need to or some icing sugar to stop it sticking to your hands.

Sprinkle the Cream of Tartar on the work surface and knead into the mix until all incorporated.

(Thanks to Fran for this gumpaste recipe which I have adapted a little.)

Successful Molding by Alan Tetreault
GlobalSugarArt.com

Successful molding using silicone molds is all dependent on the medium you choose. Many decorators call me in frustration that they cannot get a good impression with a silicone mold using sugarpaste. Generally, for larger or detailed molds, I recommend using at least a 50/50 mix of gumpaste and sugarpaste. If the mold has a lot of details or undercuts (details that are cut out of the mold that you cannot see from the opening) I use 100% gumpaste. On a large mold that is very detailed, I recommend adding Tylose to gumpaste to make a very firm and strong gumpaste. The more detailed the mold, the firmer the gumpaste should be to achieve the best results. Here are my suggestions:

It helps to use a small dot of shortening (Crisco) on our fingertips while pushing the sugarpaste or gumpaste into the mold.

1. For small molds that you want to be able to cut through or eat, use only sugarpaste. For each pound of sugarpaste, knead in about one cup of confectionery sugar or enough so that the fondant no longer sticks to your hands or the surface you are kneading on. This will make molding easier and you can handle the finished product without it stretching out of shape. This also works well on side designs, drapes and borders that you are molding with a silicone mold. Adding a flavoring to the fondant (like orange, lemon, almond, peppermint, etc.) can be a nice finishing touch. Especially since it is usually the children that try to eat the decorations! Freezing the molded fondant for 5-15 minutes before removing helps keep the detail.

2. For larger figurines, flowers and borders like pearls and ropes, I recommend a mixture of 50% gumpaste and 50% fondant kneaded together. This makes a mold that can still be cut through with a knife when you serve the cake but you may not want to eat the pieces. Freezing the molded fondant for 5 -15 minutes before removing from the mold helps with removal and keeps the detail.

3. For large molds or molds that have undercuts, I use all gumpaste. Freeze 10 minutes before removing from mold.4. For very large or detailed molds, I add 1-2 teaspoons of Tylose to one pound of gumpaste and knead it well. Allow it to rest overnight in the refrigerator in a sealed bag. The next day, break off a piece and knead it well before using it to make a mold. It will be very firm. Freeze 10-15 minutes before removing from the mold.

These shells were molded using 50/50 gumpaste/sugarpaste with no added confectioners sugar.

I placed the filled mold in the freezer for 15 minutes then removed the shells from the mold and lightly dusted with non toxic Luster Dust in Spanish Moss (bronze metallic look) by Sunflower Sugar Art from GlobalSugarArt.com. I used a paintbrush to apply the dust.

This YouTube clip will give you a good idea how to use silicon molds even though it shows a baby mold and not a shell mold.

Leave the shells to dry for at least 24 hours before gluing them onto the cake with edible glue

Edible Glue

Also called Gum Glue

morning you will have a perfectly clear and ready to use glue.

The glue should be a dripping consistency. If it is too thick, just add a little more water and stir with a toothpick .

The edible glue should be stored in the refrigerator when not in use.

To apply the glue, use a good quality paintbrush and brush on to the area where you are going to be working. Leave until it begins to dry a little so that the area is just tacky to touch.

I left 16 assorted shells to place around the cake and sprinkled some raw caster sugar to look like sand.

I hope you like my cake and try making one yourself. Please share your efforts with me as I would love to see what you come up with.

Pink Tatty Teddy Christening Cake Tutorial

Published on August 7, 2012June 6, 2013 by Bernice CamlinLeave a comment

7” White Chocolate Caramel Mud Cake Round
Ingredients

180g butter

180g white choc

162ml water

90 SR

180g plain

120g caster
120g soft brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla
250g nestle Top’n’Fill Caramel

Ganache

780g white chocolate

270ml pure cream

Fondant

780g sugar-paste

Method for the 7″ round white chocolate Caramel mud cake

(adapted from Planet Cake Cookbook)

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease tin and line the base and sides with a collar of baking paper that extends 2 cm above the top of the tin. Add baking strips (made from damp cloths wrapped in tin foil) around the outside of the cake tin. Put the butter and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter has melted. Turn off the heat, then add the chocolate and stir until it has melted and is well combined.

Sift the flours together in a bowl. Add the sugars, a pinch of salt and make a well in the centre.

Pour the chocolate mixture, egg and vanilla into the well then stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Add Top’n’Fill and stir till combined

Pour into the cake tin inserting a flower nail in the bottom of the tin. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when poked into the middle of the cake. Cover with foil halfway through if the cake is browning too quickly.

Once removed from the oven, use a pastry brush (or similar) to brush the top of the cake with boiled water to keep it moist and save it from cracking and forming crusty bits on top. Then cover with a clean tea cloth to reduce evaporation. Repeat the brushing with boiled water step two or three times at half hour intervals as the cake cools. Remove the baking strips once they can be handled or use oven gloves to remove them.

Let cake cool completely on a wire rack before taking the cake out of the tin.

Wrap the cake well in cling film (do not squash cake) and put in fridge till morning.

Method for white chocolate ganache

Process chocolate till it resembles breadcrumbs and place in a large bowl
Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and mix with a hand whisk until the ganache is smooth. (Do not use an electric whisk, as you will create too many air bubbles in the ganache.)
Allow to cool completely and then leave to set overnight.

To torte and cover your cake with ganache click here

To make the teddy. Colour white ready made sugar paste with pink gel colour and add half a teaspoon of Tylose powder and kneed till incorporated. Model all the little bits and pieces in the picture above and leave to harden for an hour or two.

Use dark pink petal dust to brush onto the Teddy’s cheeks with a dry paint brush. Use wooden cocktail sticks to attach arms, legs and head to body along with edible glue made from water and Tylose powder. Use the same method to attach the finished Teddy to the cake.

Hand painted Wedding Cake Tutorial

Published on August 7, 2012June 6, 2013 by Bernice CamlinLeave a comment

Materials needed

7″ and 9″ round card for the base of each tier.

Doweling for support

Bottle Green satin ribbon – 6mm wide by 2m

Bottle Green satin ribbon – 2 inches wide by 2m

Black satin ribbon 1 inch wide by 2m

Diamontes buckle

13″ diameter cake board 4mm or 6mm thick

7” Dark Chocolate Mud Cake round

135g butter

135g dk choc

15g coffee

100ml water

75g SR

75g plain

30g cocoa

.3 tsp bicarb

295g caster

2.5 eggs

4.5 tsp oil

60ml buttermilk

Ganache

735g dark chocolate

365ml pure cream

Fondant

740g sugar-paste

9” Dark Chocolate Mud Cake round

220g butter

220g dk choc

25g coffee

160ml water

125g SR

125g plain

50g cocoa

.5 tsp bicarb

480g caster

4 eggs

7 tsp oil

100ml buttermilk

Ganache

1200g dark chocolate

600ml pure cream

Fondant

1.2kg sugar-paste

Click here to learn how to make dark chocolate mud cake and dark chocolate ganache.
Click here to learn how to torte and cover your cake with ganache.
Click here to learn how to cover your cake with sugar paste.

The pattern on the top tier of the cake was inspired by Crewel Embroidery and I looked at many examples on the net for inspiration.

Sample of Crewel Embroidered fabric

I wanted to use simplified elements of the original designs to create a new and unique black and white design.

First of all I made a template for the top of the cake and the sides from some greaseproof paper…

….and then drew on my design with an HB pencil.

I turned the paper around and traced the design on the back, again using an HB pencil (do not use a softer pencil as it will smudge onto your pure white icing and really make a mess). Pencils are made from graphite not lead and are non toxic.

I transfered my design onto the cake using a sharp HB pencil, securing the template with sticky tape around the sides and holding the top down lightly with my fingertips.

I scanned my greaseproof paper templates for you to enlarge in your photocopier to fit the exact size of your cake. Once you have the outline transferred to the cake you can paint the motifs larger going over the lines a little covering up all the pencil marks as I have allowed for this by drawing the outlines smaller than i require for the finished work.

The bottom of each stem is covered by the green ribbon and the top of each stem I ended in an RI dot or two. Choose one of the central stems and line it up with the stem on the top of the cake.

I used Cake Art black edible colour on top but it was a little shiny so used Wilton on the sides and was happier with the finish. I used two round Taklon brushes a No 5/0 to outline and a No 4 to fill in.

If your colour is too thick, use a little Vodka to thin it down. I didn’t need to use any on this occasion.

Sorry that the video is so boring and has TV noise in the background but it is my first YouTube clip and I hope to improve. It also shows how slow I am at painting on cake. it took me 4 hours to complete! My brush was rubbish with hairs sticking out at right angles which I cut off making the brush almost impossible to use as there were only about 12 hairs left LOL! I have since replaced it.

Another tip! Use a brush with very long hairs as this helps with lines. Lay most of the brush on the cake and pull it along as this reduces hand wobble.

To make my design zing I wanted to add piped Royal Icing dots but decided to wait until the cake was fully assembled.

To assemble the cake I firstly placed the bottom tier on its base using some Royal Icing as glue. I then covered the bare edges of the board using a roll of sugar-paste which I unrolled like you would a carpet around the cake. Join at the back by first overlapping the sugar-paste and cutting with a knife through both layers, removing the excess and joining with a little Royal Icing.

Ali (my partner) marks the length of dowel to be cut while I take the picture.

I needed 4 dowels to support the top tier for this cake and one double height piece for the central dowel (this stops the top tier from sliding about while being transported).

Ali pushes in the first dowel

Ali carefully taps in the central dowel.

The central dowel cuts right through the middle of my design but it is easy to cover this up with a small black sugar-paste cut out, topped with a smaller white round piece of sugar-paste and crowned with a large dot of black royal icing.

Can you see the added dots!

I stuck the black ribbon onto the middle of the green ribbon using 12mm wide double sided tape but left the ends of the bow unstuck so that they could be hanging loosely from the bow as they would look too rigid otherwise.

I didn’t cut the ribbon in any way to form the bow. I just made it look good while holding it in my hand then slipped it through the diamonte buckle trying not to lose any of the nice shape I had.

Pink Tiffany Wedding Cake Tutorial

Published on August 7, 2012June 6, 2013 by Bernice Camlin2 Comments

This cake was made up of two square tiers. The bottom tier was an 11″ dark chocolate mud cake with dark chocolate ganache and the top tier was a 9″ white chocolate mud cake with white chocolate ganache.

Ingredients for the 9″ square white chocolate mud cake

400g butter

400g white chocolate

350ml water

400 plain flour

200g SR flour

520g caster suger

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

White chocolate ganache

1700g white chocolate

600ml pure cream

Fondant

1700g sugar-paste

Method for the 9″ square white chocolate mud cake

(adapted from Planet Cake Cookbook)

Sift the flours together in a bowl. Add the sugar, a pinch of salt and make a well in the centre.

Pour the chocolate mixture, egg and vanilla into the well then stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Pour into the cake tin, Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when poked into the middle of the cake. Cover with foil halfway through if the cake is browning too quickly.

Let cake cool completely on a wire rack before taking the cake out of the tin.

Wrap the cake well in cling film (do not squash cake) and put in fridge till morning.

Method for white chocolate ganache

Process chocolate till it resembles breadcrumbs and place in a large bowl
Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and mix with a hand whisk until the ganache is smooth. (Do not use an electric whisk, as you will create too many air bubbles in the ganache.)
Allow to cool completely and then leave to set overnight.

Ingredients for the 11” square dark chocolate mud cake

440g butter

440g dk choc

50g coffee

320ml water

250g SR flour

250g plain

100g cocoa

1 tsp bicarb

960g caster

8 eggs

14 tsp oil

200ml buttermilk

Ganache

2400g dark chocolate

1200ml pure cream

Fondant

2.6kg sugar-paste

Method for the 11” square dark chocolate mud cake

Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease the tin and line the base and sides with a collar that extends 2 cm above the top of the tin. Add baking strips (made from damp cloths wrapped in tin foil) around the outside of the cake tin.

Put the butter, chocolate, coffee and water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until melted, then remove from the heat.

Sift the flours, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre. Add the combined egg, oil and buttermilk and the chocolate mixture, stirring with a large spoon until completely combined.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 2 hours (for 11.5″cake) or until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean, though it may be a little sticky.

Remove the baking strips once they can be handled or use oven gloves to remove them.

Let cake cool completely on a wire rack before taking the cake out of the tin.

Wrap the cake well in cling film (do not squash cake) and put in fridge till morning.

Method for dark chocolate ganache

Process chocolate till it resembles breadcrumbs and place in a large bowl
Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and mix with a hand whisk until the ganache is smooth. (Do not use an electric whisk, as you will create too many air bubbles in the ganache.)
Allow to cool completely and then leave to set overnight.

Making the lids

Let the cakes sit for a couple of hours to allow the icing to dry before you make the lids.
Brush the top of the cakes with a little water (or syrup) and run the brush around the top inch of the side of the cakes.
Knead 400g of the pink icing for the top box lid and 600g of pink for the the bottom box lid.
Once the dough is pliable, roll out each piece till they are at least 8 in larger thad the width of each box. Roll the icing over your rolling pin, lift it up and roll it over the cake. Smooth the top and sides with a flexi-scraper. Use a ruler to mark the edge of the lid on all 4 sides.
Trim the lid with a sharp knife.

Making the ribbon

Knead 500g of the white sugar-paste to a pliable dough and roll out to 16 x 40 cm rectangle. Cut into 4 long 4 cm wide strips. Trim one end of each ribbon into a point to help fit the ribbons together on top of the cake. Stick to the cake with water and trim excess ends with a knife.