Tortas

flower faces bouquet cupcake

Fabric techniques have long been a staple of cake decorating, but new technologies put a different spin on these ideas, while opening the door to completely new options borrowed from paper- and metalcraft.

cupcakes Michele Hester photos Mike Chaloupka

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American Cake Decorating

[ essential elements ] 8-inch Styrofoam half-sphere 1-inch nylon paintbrush10-inch pedestal cake plate 2 Packages SugarVeil Confectionery Icing, 1 pound each Food coloring: black, blue, brown, green, orange, pink, and yellow Tweezers Smooth silicone mat (Ateco) Plastic wallpaper spreader tool 3 pound-cake loaves, 10 ounces each 12 ice cream cones, colored style Patterns, page 64 Wooden skewers Border punch (Fiskars) Flower-shaped paper punches Sun punch (Fiskars)Decorative-edged scissors Orange, peppermint, lemon, and vanilla flavoring Art brushes Metalcraft tools for shaping Ten Seconds Studio [ pourable SugarVeil buttercream icing ] Makes 4 cups icing. 2 cups (250 grams) SugarVeil Confectionery Icing mix 2/3 cup (154 grams) boiling water 1/2 pound (228 grams) salted butter,* room temperature 1/2 cup (122 grams) heavy whipping cream Stir boiling water intoSugarVeil mix until completely moistened, then beat mixture immediately on high speed for three minutes. Add butter and beat for 10 minutes, until smooth. Heat cream in a microwave for 45 seconds, then stir into the icing until smooth. Crumb coat a cake, or place petit fours on a wire rack. Pour icing in a circular motion to cover. * Manufacturer recommends Plugra butter for best results.

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2[ prepare base ] 1. Prepare 1 cup SugarVeil mix as directed on the package, then tint it a bright yellowish-green hue using yellow food coloring blended with a little bit of blue. Dilute the mixture with warm water, thinning it to the consistency of heavy cream. Paint the Styrofoam base with the icing and allow it to dry.

[ icing sheets ] 2. Stir 1 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons boiling water into3 cups SugarVeil icing mix, then beat the mixture immediately on high speed for 2–4 minutes. Divide the icing into 5 parts and add coloring to 4 of them, making shades of green, pink, orange, blue, and leaving 1 white. Pour icing onto a smooth silicone mat and use a wallpaper spreader to draw the icing into a broad, paper-thin coating. Draw a ball tool (or a fingertip) along one side of the icingto release the edge, making it easier to remove the sheet once it has set. Make icing sheets of each color.

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3. For variegated/marbleized sheets, place drops of food [ cake ] coloring directly on the icing surface, then lightly smooth 5. Trim the dark edges from all sides of cake loaves with the spreader. and reserve the trimmed pieces.Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, cut 12 half-sphere-shaped portions of 4. When the surface of the sheets are no longer sticky to cake. Obtain a smoother surface by compressing the the touch, they are “set.” Peel the icing off of the mat. To cake slightly into the scoop before ejecting it. Lay the keep the icing sheets supple, store them between sheets cakes flat on a wire rack. of parchmentpaper, rolled and sealed in an airtight bag or container (or cut to lay flat in a plastic container). 6. Prepare a batch of Pourable SugarVeil Buttercream, divide it into 4 parts, then tint and flavor each. Place the wire rack holding the cake scoops over waxed paper and pour buttercream over the top, coating the scoops. Allow the icing to firm.



American Cake Decorating

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7.Fill the ice cream cones with the reserved cake scraps, drizzling them with the remaining buttercream icing. Place cake scoops atop 7 of the cones using a spatula to support them.

9. To help the petals stand upright, pinch the petals together at the broken lines marked on the patterns. Moisten the petal slightly to secure the dart. Attach to the inside of the cone by moistening the bottom...