Cakes For Romantic Occasions (7 page)

seven
Spread a small amount of royal icing on the centre of the cake. Using both hands, carefully place the next tier on top, using the scored line as a guide for positioning the cake board (
e
).

eight
If you are making a three-tiered cake, repeat these steps with the top tier using five dowels this time.

Icing and ribbons can be used effectively to add that special finishing touch to your cake. Here I explain a few of my favourite techniques.

I use royal icing to create all of the delicate sugar pipe work and as a sugar glue to stick cake tiers together. Once made, the icing will last in an airtight container for up to seven days. You will only require a small amount of royal icing for each project.

Use one medium egg white (or the equivalent of reconsituted albumen powder) to 300g (10½oz) icing sugar. Beat together in a mixing bowl until smooth and the icing forms peaks. If the consistency is a little dry, add a few drops of lemon juice.

one
Fold some greaseproof paper about 33cm (13in) square in half to make a triangle and place on a table with the point facing you (
a
).

two
Take the right-hand corner and fold around your hand to make a cone (
b
).

three
Fold the left-hand corner all the way around the cone to meet the other side (
c
).

four
Secure your piping bag by folding over the corner to the inside (
d
).

five
Cut off the tip about 1cm (½in) from the end, and drop in your piping nozzle. You are now ready to pipe (
e
).

tip
Avoid overfilling a piping bag in case it leaks from the top. Fill the bag no more than two-thirds full. Don’t forget to add the nozzle first!

This pattern is usually piped along the line where the cake meets the cake board and is used on several of the cakes in this book – see Butterfly Bliss (page 74), Chocolate and Blue (page 94) and Frou-Frou Frills (page 108).

one
Hold the piping bag at a 60-degree angle to your cake with the nozzle just touching the icing.

two
Make a pearl of icing, and ease off the pressure as you move the piping bag to the right to make a tail. Pipe the next pearl over the tail of the previous pearl to make a continuous line (
a
).

three
Continue all round the cake in this way, joining the last pearl neatly to the first one.

Instead of a snail trail you might choose to use a satin ribbon. This can often be a nice way of incorporating colour on a simply iced cake.

one
Cut your ribbon just slightly longer than the circumference of the cake. Wrap it round the base.

two
With a little royal icing, stick one end of the ribbon to the cake, apply more icing to the upper side and stick the other end of the ribbon down on top (
b
).

one
Put the board onto a turntable and run all round the edge with a non-toxic glue stick.

two
Without cutting the ribbon from the roll, stick the end to the board.

three
Wind the ribbon all the way round the edge, sticking it down as you go (
c
).

four
When you get back to the end, cut the ribbon, leaving a little extra to stick down on top.

Fresh flowers look beautiful on a cake. They can be used to decorate a stacked or single-tiered cake. You could try matching them with the flowers that are being used in the bridal bouquet at a wedding or in the table setting at a party perhaps. Always remove fresh flowers before cutting and serving the cake, as they are not edible.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Posy picks

Florists’ tape

Florists’ wire

Scissors

one
Gather a small posy of flowers, trim the ends and then bind the stalks with florists’ tape (
a
).

two
Place the display in a posy pick (
b
) and insert into the cake. If your display is a little larger, you can use a little florists’ wire to hold the display together.

Garden Fresh

Make sure that your flowers are as fresh as possible. Collect the flowers from your florist on the day or the day before you need them.