Fondant Cake Decorations - 7 Tips For That Perfect Wedding Cake

Whether you make it yourself or buy it from your local supermarket, rolled fondant icing is the icing of choice choice for wedding cakes and for other "special occasion" cakes. Drying to a smooth matt porcelain finish, it is suitable for cakes of all shapes and provides the ideal base for the most intricate or simplest of decoration.

Fondant icing is a soft sugar-based icing that is generally rolled out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch, layed over the cake and smoothed and pressed into place before being trimmed for a perfect fit.

Despite the fact that fondant cake decorations are ideal for a wedding cake, fondant icing is not always easy to work with so here are a few tips to help you get that perfect result.

Tip 1. Fondant icing should be stored in a plastic bag (or covered in a non-permeable plastic wrap such as Sara wrap) and placed in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying out. Fondant icing should also be kept at room temperature and should not be put in the refrigerator. If the icing dries out and harden it can often be revived by popping it into a microwave oven for a few seconds and then kneading it back to life.

Tip 2. Fondant icing dries out very fast and should be applied to the cake quickly (within no more than 5 minutes) after it has been rolled out. Once fondant icing is applied, the cake can be stored without problem for several days at room temperature.

Tip 3. In the case of cakes with a number of tiers, each tier should be iced individually before assembling the cake. It is also advisable, when the final design allows, to store the tiers separately and to assemble them when the cake is needed.

Tip 4. For that truly professional looking finish, and to cover any rough edges, make a decorative border to go around the cake and, particularly, to cover the join between adjoining tiers.

Tip 5. Fondant icing should always be used at room temperature.

Tip 6. For a smooth and flawless result, ensure the working surface, rolling pin and hands are both clean and lint free. jewelry on your fingers or wrists, long hair, long fingernails and fluffy clothing could all cause problems.

Tip 7. A "crumb coat" (a thin layer of icing) should be applied to the cake before the fondant is added. This produces a tacky surface for the fondant icing to stick to.

When contemplating the quantity of fondant icing involved try to allow for having too much icing rather than too little, as leftover icing can be stored and used at a later date.

As a guide, for 3 1/2 inch high cake layers a 12 inch diameter round cake will need about 3 pounds of icing, while a 8 inch diameter square cake will need about 2 1/2 pounds of icing.

For some people fondant cake decorations, in spite of their marvellous appearance, are somewhat bland and this can be solved by adding flavoring, often accompanied with coloring. There are many flavorings available and typically to flavor one pound of icing you can add 1/2 cup of dried, shredded and sweetened coconut, 3 to 5 drops of oil of peppermint or 1/3 cup of hazelnut or peanut butter.


By Donald Saunders

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Christmas Cake Decoration

"I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month." - says, Harlan Miller. Perhaps it is the reason why Christmas cakes are prepared in a fine way that each day during the nice eve? The sight of a decorated, yummy cakes, can make any person happy.

All edible cake decorations are traditionally hand crafted and made from marzipan. The word "marzipan" means that they can be eaten as well as used for decorative purposes. The marzipan paste is the chief ingredient of most Christmas cakes. Since, this special cake decoration is individually hand shaped, moulded and sculpted, generally no two cake decorations are ever going to be exactly alike. Evidence suggests that this cake decorations were introduced in Ancient Egypt. In later years, edible cake decorations were designed to enhance cakes in order to impress the participants of any special event. Cake decorations have changed through the ages but their purpose of preparing still remains the same. In fact, it has gained more importance in the recent years owing the economic development and living styles of people across the globe. The design of the nice cake decorations are made according to the age of the children and are also specifically made for typical boys and girls. A bright, beautiful and yummy cake certainly deserves a place in every household during this great season.

Preparing a yummy cake tops every Christian's list of preparations for Christmas celebration. Well, preparing a perfect cake is not an easy task. The most difficult and integral part in preparing a such cake remains to decorate the cake in an impressive manner. So, it is always advisable to give equal importance to this cake decorations while making preparations for a tasty cake. The decorations should be such that they can easily add a touch of elegance and prettiness to the cake. Secondly the cake decorations should be in accordance with the theme of the cake. The importance of the this special cake decorations has increased to such an extent that nowadays many of the Christmas party planners also give a lot of their time on thinking about some different and impressive ways of decorating such cakes. One should try to choose the cake decorations as per the theme of the Christmas cake. This would help one in making plenty and judicious use of one's creative ideas.

There are various kinds of cakes where in beautiful decorations can be done as both adults and children just love to see and eat them. For example, banana cake decorations, orange cake decorations, apple cake decorations, lemon cake decorations, strawberry cake decorations, carrot cake decorations, pumpkin cake decorations, seashell cake decorations, cheese cake decorations, dragon cake decorations, flower cake decorations and many more. Some of them popular Christmas cakes that are decorated include: chocolate Christmas cake, chocolate and almond cake, whipping cream pound cake, mocha pudding cake, chocolate espresso torte, japanese fruit cake and plum cake to name a few. Some more exciting decoration ideas include: reindeer, santas, snowmen, puddings, Christmas trees, marzipan penguins, blue angels, pink angels, marzipan santas hats, holly leaves burgandy, white chocolate, flowers, etc.


By Ilango Chokalingam

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Cake Decorating - A Fabulous Mixture of Cookery and Art

Cake decorating is a fabulous mixture of cookery and art, with a sprinkling of inspiration, precise care and reckless use of the imagination thrown in for good measure. Cake decorating is my hobby and, as such, is hugely satisfying. The popularity of cake decorating is undeniably intense. I'm going to show you that cake decorating is fun for everyone.

Cake

Cakes are a unique food product because cakes can be cooked, molded, shaped, and decorated to look like just about anything imaginable. While the history of cake dates back to ancient Egyptian times when cakes were more bread-like, the art of cake decorating has a relatively short history that dates back to the mid-17th century when cake pans made their debut in kitchens across Europe. During the 1840s, the advent of temperature-controlled ovens and the production of baking soda and baking powder made baking cakes much easier.

Cake decorating is probably one of the most fun and creative hobbies you can get yourself into. Cake Decorating is not an impossible art to learn, but it does take practice and patience. Decorating a cake usually involves covering a cake with some form of icing and then using decorative sugars, candies, chocolate or icing decorations to embellish the cake. Cake decorating Equipment ? When you are decorating for birthdays and the holidays, you don't need every cake decorating tool out there, but you do need a few basics. Cake decorating is made easy these days as there are cake decorating kits easily available in the market.

Icing

Cake decorating is one of the sugar arts that uses icing and other edible decorative elements to make otherwise plain cakes more visually interesting. But it can also be as simple as sprinkling a fine coat of icing sugar or drizzling a glossy blanket of glaze over the top of a cake. Icing decorations can be made by either piping icing flowers and decorative borders or by molding gum paste, fondant, or marzipan flowers and figures. Icing should stand to 3-4 inch peak on spatula knife, if icing begins to fall slightly after lengthy use, simply rewhip. Icing is the finishing touch on cakes, cookies, and cupcakes.

Conclusion

Cake decorating is not as difficult as it seems. The aim of cake decorating is to enhance the appearance of the cake. Successful cake decorating is all about preparation. The enjoyment of cake decorating is that there are no two cakes alike.


By Kath Ibbetson

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