Cakes For Romantic Occasions (16 page)

There is something sumptuous and decadent about chocolate cupcakes, and these swirling, butterfly-topped treats are sure to delight your guests.

one
Roll out some white flowerpaste about 1mm (¹⁄₁₆in) thick. Cut out the butterflies using a small butterfly cutter and form
in a card former (see step three, page 75).

two
Bake some chocolate cupcakes following the instructions on page 31.

three
Fill a piping bag with a savoy star-shaped nozzle and some chocolate buttercream (see pages 18–19). Pipe the top
of each cupcake, starting on the outside and working round in
a circle until you reach the centre.

four
Gently push a butterfly into the top of each cake.

Create a Theme

Look out for pretty cupcake cases, like these lacy butterfly ones. They can make even the simplest cakes look amazing, and tying them in with your theme results in a professional designer look.

This cake is a simple expression of elegance and style. Delicate sugar swags
are draped around the cake like necklaces and the gold painted sugar pearls add a touch of glamour and opulence. The top tier is finished with a passionate posy of sugar roses.

one
You will need to make the roses a few days in advance. Follow steps one to five on pages 53–54 but using lilac food colouring instead of pink (
a
). This design requires about 11 roses, so the quantity
of sugarpaste and flowerpaste needed has been increased accordingly.

two
Dowel and stack the cakes (see pages 24–25) using nine dowels in the bottom tier, seven in the next tier and four in the final tier. Fix the gold ribbon around the base of each tier with a little royal icing and the ivory satin ribbon around the large cake board with some glue (see page 27).

SERVES
About 100

MATERIALS

• One 10cm (4in), one 15cm (6in) and one 20cm (8in) round ivory iced cake, each set onto a round cake board the same size as the cake • One 28cm (11in) round ivory iced cake, set onto a 36cm (14in) round ivory iced cake board (see pages 20–23) • 1cm (³∕₈in) gold ribbon • 1.5cm (½in) ivory satin ribbon • White sugarpaste, 75g (2½oz) • White flowerpaste, 75g (2½oz) • White royal icing (see page 26) • Gold edible paint

• Food colouring: lilac • Snowflake lustre dust • Spaghetti

• Glue stick

EQUIPMENT

• No.2 icing nozzle

• Piping bag

• Rose petal cutters, one large, one small • Bone tool

• Flower foam pad

• Stay-fresh plastic mat • Ruler

• Small paintbrush

• Dusting brush

• Rolling pin

• 20 plastic dowels

three
Fill a piping bag with a no.2 nozzle and some white royal icing. Pipe small sugar pearls around the top of the first tier approximately 5cm (2in) apart using a ruler to get the height the same each time. Dab down any icing peaks with a little water.

four
Once you have piped all the dots, slightly tilt your turntable away from you then pipe the swags dot to dot. Finishing off the design with three small sugar pearls at the bottom of each swag and a little loop on the top of the sugar pearl (
b
).

five
On the bottom and middle tiers of the cake, create more swags by piping dot to dot again but making multiple swags
at different heights.

six
Finish off the designs on the bottom and middle tiers by piping two dots above the sugar pearls and adding a further sugar pearl in between the swags around the top of the cake.

seven
Using gold edible paint on a small paintbrush, paint only the sugar pearls that the sugar swags are attached to (
c
).

eight
Stick a small ball of ivory sugarpaste (leftover from covering the cakes) on the top tier and arrange the sugar roses around it, securing with a little royal icing. Place seven roses around the ball of icing and place the further four on the top
to fill in any gaps, nestling the roses into the ball of icing (
d
). Finally, dust the sugar roses with some snowflake lustre dust.

The piped swag motif works with a wide range of colours so whatever your colour scheme, this design will be a hit. These mini cakes are a great way to make the main cake go further – the lovely lilac icing with just a touch of gold gives a nice regal feel.

one
Bake some mini cakes, ice them in lilac sugarpaste
and edge each cake with ivory satin ribbon, following the instructions on page 33.

two
Pipe the swag and pearl design onto each cake and paint the pearls with gold edible paint (see steps three to seven, page 82).

three
Place a white sugar flower (made in the same way as in the Chocolate and Blue cake, page 95) on top of each cake to complete the design.

Rosebud Ripples

Cute cupcakes make a simpler alternative to the mini cakes. Bake up a batch of chocolate cupcakes (see page 31), then pipe the tops with a savoy star-shaped nozzle and chocolate buttercream (see pages 18–19). Shake on some chocolate sprinkles and then push one of the roses from the main cake into the top of each cupcake.