The Contemporary Buttercream Bible (39 page)

E

4 Optionally, you may add some piped details to

give variations in texture.

Rice paper versus icing sheet

Rice paper is basically like a sheet of paper,

only edible, but an icing sheet (below) is

slightly thicker, heavier and very flexible. It will

not remain stiff without backing support, so it is

best to apply icing sheet flat onto the cake. On

rice paper, colours are not as bright and rich

as when printed on an icing sheet, though you

can boost the colours by painting brighter

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edible colours or using edible colour pens on a

rice paper image. If you do, make sure you do

not use too much liquid as it will dissolve and

wrinkle the paper. For the icing sheet, have

your image printed, cut around it and leave it

uncovered. It will eventually harden and

becomes easier to stick onto the cake. Be very

careful though as it tends to become very

brittle.

Tip

To prevent colours from bleeding you can

spray the rice paper or icing sheet pattern with

an edible glaze.

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To create this cake…

• 20 × 10cm (8 × 4in) round cake (bottom tier), 15

× 10cm (6 × 4in) round cake (top tier)

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• Dowel rods

• 1.4–1.8kg (3lb 11⁄2oz–4lb) buttercream

• Paste colours: violet (Sugarflair Grape Violet),

yellow-green (Sugarflair Bitter Melon), yellow

(Sugarflair Melon)

• Piping bags

• Scissors

• Palette knife

• Cake scraper

• Pattern printed on rice paper or icing sheet

• Cake stand or covered cake board

Crumb coat, dowel and stack the cakes (see

Buttercream Basics) and place on a stand or

covered board. Colour the buttercream in the

following quantities: 300–400g (101⁄2–14oz) each of

violet, yellow-green and yellow, leaving 500–600g

(1lb 2oz–1lb 5oz) plain. To cover the cake, apply the tinted buttercream in layers and spread using a

palette knife to give a blended background for the

cake (see Blending in Palette Knife Techniques),

before you take off the excess using a cake scraper.

Give the cake a smooth finish (see Smoothing in

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Buttercream Basics). Scan the Templates supplied

to create rice paper or icing sheet patterns, and

apply them to the cakes following the tutorial.

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Sprinkles

Known variously as sprinkles or nonpareils or

hundreds and thousands, sprinkles are basically

coloured beads made of sugar. On ordinary cakes,

you might just cover the whole cake with these tiny

balls but then, as you know, we don’t want an

ordinary cake, we want a couture cake! So what we

have done here is to create a cut-out pattern to

mask an area of the cake. The whole of the cake is

then covered with sprinkles and when the mask is

removed it leaves the pattern. These tiny balls are

not just for topping your cupcakes, they can be used

in a fabulous design.

1 After covering your cake with a smooth finish, put

it in the fridge to chill and prepare your pattern.

You can either print a pattern out then copy on to

the greaseproof (wax) paper and cut or draw it

freehand (A).

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A

2 Remove your cake from the fridge and position

your cut-out pattern on the cake surface as a mask

(B). The pattern should stick straight onto the cake

as it is covered with buttercream, but you can apply

a very thin layer of butter or vegetable fat

(shortening) to the greaseproof paper.

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B

3 Prepare your sprinkles (nonpareils) by pouring a

mix of red and white onto a large shallow tray (C).

With pieces of greaseproof paper between your

hands and the cake to protect it, and if the cake is

small, lift it and place it into the tray of sprinkles with the front side down (D). Gently but firmly

press it down so that the sprinkles adhere to the

buttercream. Repeat the same process on all of the

sides of the cake.

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C

D

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4 Remove the excess sprinkles with a cocktail stick

(toothpick) (E) then carefully remove the paper

mask.

E

Tip

If you use a small cake it is easy just to turn

and roll it in the bed of sprinkles. If your cake is

relatively big do not attempt this, just use a

spoon to scoop the sprinkles and gently press

them all around the cake.

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To create this cake…

• 15 × 13cm (6 × 5in) square cake (bottom tier), 10

× 10cm (4 × 4in) square cake (top tier)

• Dowel rods

• 1.3–1.6kg (3lb–3lb 8oz) buttercream

• Paste colours: sky blue (Sugarflair Baby Blue),

beige (Sugarflair Caramel)

• Greaseproof (wax) paper

• Pen

• Scissors

• Red and white sprinkles (nonpareils)

• Large shallow tray

• Piping bags

• Cocktail stick (toothpick)

• Small petal nozzle (Wilton 104)

• Cake stand or covered cake board

Crumb coat the cakes then cover the top tier with

500–600g

(1lb

2oz–1lb

5oz)

of

sky

blue

buttercream and the bottom tier with 600–700g

(1lb 5oz–1lb 9oz) of plain, giving both a smooth

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finish (see Covering Cakes in Buttercream Basics).

Place the bottom tier cake in the fridge to chill.

Follow the tutorial to create the sprinkles

(nonpareils) pattern on the bottom tier. Dowel and

stack the cakes (see Dowelling in Buttercream

Basics) and place on a stand or covered board.

Colour 200–300g (7–101⁄2oz) buttercream beige,

pipe a rose (see Rose and Rosebud in Piping

Flowers) and position it on the top of the bottom