Cakes For Romantic Occasions (6 page)

The top icing is added in the same way as the under icing, except that water is used instead of glaze. Allow yourself plenty of time to ensure you get a perfect finish.

one
Place the under iced cake onto a board and brush with a little water. Moisten the whole cake without making it too wet.

two
Dust a work surface with icing sugar, and knead the sugarpaste on it until smooth.

three
Roll out the icing 5mm (1⁄8in) thick, large enough to cover the whole cake.

four
Using the rolling pin, lay the icing over the cake as before.

five
Smooth the top and the sides with your hands and an icing smoother (
a
).

six
Trim the excess icing around the cake with a sharp knife (
b
).

seven
If you see any air bubbles caught between the two layers of icing, carefully insert a clean pin to smooth the air out.

eight
Use a little sugarpaste glue (water and sugarpaste mixed well) or royal icing to stick the cake onto an iced cake board (see page 20).

tip
If you are an experienced cakemaker, you may prefer to use one coat of icing on a single tiered cake. The icing should be about 7mm (¼in) thick.

Use these simple guides to calculate the quantity of sugarpaste and marzipan you will need when under icing and top icing your cake.

For under icing cakes

For top icing cakes

There are various ways you can assemble the tiers on a cake, all of which include the use of dowels. These are made of plastic or wood and are specially designed to prevent each tier from sinking into the one underneath. Here is the method I prefer for my tiered designs.

In this technique, which is also known as American Style stacking, plastic cake-making dowels are pushed into the cake directly below where the next tier will go, enabling you to stack your tiers securely.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
(For a three-tiered cake)

One 15cm (6in), one 20cm (8in) and one 25cm (10in) under and top iced cake tier, each mounted on a thin cake board the same size as the cake

Iced thick cake board (see page 20)

Royal icing (see page 26)

12 plastic dowels

Small hacksaw or serrated knife

Pencil

Palette knife

Scriber needle or pin

one
Spread a small amount of royal icing onto the iced base board and place the largest tier centrally onto the board.

two
Take a thin cake board, the same size as the next tier, and place it centrally on top of the bottom tier. Using a scriber needle or a pin, score the cake around the board (
a
). This helps you to position the dowels and tiers.

three
Insert a dowel into the centre of this tier and make a mark on the dowel with a pencil or a knife to show the height of the cake (
b
).

four
Remove the dowel and, using the hacksaw or knife, cut the dowel about 1mm (1⁄16in) above the marked line.

five
Cut a further six dowels exactly the same size using the cut dowel as a measure (
c
). It’s very important that all the dowels are the same size.

six
Push the first dowel into the centre of the cake, then insert the six other dowels in a circle around it, staying inside the scored line (
d
).