Cake Decorating Classes

Did you know that even home cooks can learn from the masters via cake decorating classes? It's true!

The art of cake design requires tremendous amounts of skill and patience. Like any art form, the right techniques will produce a better product. People are enticed by fabulously designed cakes. One would think that an expert cake decorator is the only one capable of making a designer piece of pastry, and this is true to some extent.

Cake Decorating Icing - The Three Most Popular Recipes

When it comes to cake decorating, icing is your secret weapon. Not only can you cover up many baking boo...boos, but you just can't decorate a cake without icing. It's the glue that holds everything together and the sweet stuff that makes it all taste so good. Three of the most commonly used types of icing are butter cream, royal icing, and fondant. Here is a quick look at the three different kinds of cake decorating icing and their uses.

Cupcake Frosting

One of the best parts about decorating cupcakes is that it's all about creativity, not following rules! I love to make cupcakes for my family, but get tired of doing the same thing every time, so I try to find recipes for frosting that are both easy and fabulous.

Basic Steps on Making Fondant

Fondant is what makes our cakes look smoother and more appealing. It is also used in candies, chocolate filling and pastry fillings or coverings. While it does look sophisticated when made-up, there are actually very basic steps on how to make fondant that we can easily follow.

Wedding Cake Trends - Move Over Fondant, Here Comes Buttercream!

This year has marked a turning point in wedding cakes -- buttercream icing is in, fondant icing is out! Abandoning their dreams of beautiful cakes devoid of taste, brides are choosing wedding cakes that showcase taste as well as style. Bakers have seen the rise in requests for buttercream frosting with a smooth iced finish.

Divine Dessert Recipes: The Fondant Fancy

Known to some as a French Fancy, but to us British as Fondant Fancy, the iced sponge cake is a divine dessert that many of us have "fond" memories of. What are they, where do they come from, and can I make them at home - are perhaps the questions at the forefront of your mind right now?

What are they and where do they come from?

Fondant Fancies were originally produced in the UK by the beloved Mr Kipling. They are incredibly sweet, consisting of a single cube of sponge cake, topped with butter cream, and coated in fondant icing, with chocolate or another colour of icing drizzled on top.

Can I make one now?

Sure, the process is quite long but the results are absolutely worth it. Gather together the following ingredients:

For the cakes:

- 175g unsalted butter

- 150g plain caster sugar

- 3 eggs

- 175g plain flour

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

For the fondant icing:

- 25g unsalted butter

- 100g dark chocolate

- 90g icing sugar

- 100ml boiling water

- 75g mascarpone cheese

- 75g melted white chocolate to decorate the fancies

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 140C or gas mark 1. Grease up a 9 inch square cake tin.

Using an electric whisk, mix together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, whisking continuously, and only add each one as soon as the last one has been fully mixed in. Fold in the flour and baking powder lastly.

Throw the mixture into the baking tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. When done, set aside to cool and cut into 1 inch cubes.

Whiel you're waiting for that, boil a pan half full of water and leave to simmer. Suspend a heatproof mixing bowl on the pan (not allowing the base to touch the water), and add the dark chocolate, butter and icing sugar. Stir until nicely smooth. Gradually add the boiling water (you may not need the whole 100ml) until the mixture is runny enough to fall down the sides of the cakes.

Back to the inch square cakes, begin by placing a small lump of mascarpone on the top. Spoon over the icing and set aside for at least 30 minutes to allow the icing to cool and harden.

Finally, drizzle the melted white chocolate on top for effect and allow to cool again.

Simply divine! Find more of my divine dessert recipes here or at the great dessert recipes [http://dessertrecipes.org/] archive.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_A_Bruce

Fondant vs Gum Paste

Fondant and gum paste can sometimes be used interchangeably to create some designs, but there are times when one should be used over the other. Fondant, not gum paste, is used to cover cakes. There are a variety of different recipes, but most rolled fondant consists of powdered sugar, unflavored gelatin, water, glycerine, and liquid glucose. Once the cake is covered in fondant, the cake should not be placed in the refrigerator, as it will become sticky.

The fondant will help to keep the cake fresh, but if you fill the cake with a filling that requires refrigeration, fondant is not a suitable way to finish the cake. Fondant looks very pretty and really is versatile, but the taste leaves much to be desired. It is very sweet and chewy. In fact, many people peel the fondant off when eating the cake. Marshmallow fondant has a much better taste. Even though it's made with marshmallows, it tastes more like cotton candy. The chocolate version tastes like tootsie rolls. It's less expensive to make marshmallow fondant at home than to buy pre-made fondant. Both fondant and gum paste can be colored in any shade using paste food colorings. You can use luster dusts to add color to anything you make. There are methods for applying it both wet and dry to achieve different effects.

You can purchase all kinds of cutters and tools that will give you endless creativity. Fondant can be cut with fondant or cookie cutters to create all type of shapes. It can be folded over skewers to create a drape on a cake. It can be colored with food coloring or sprayed with a cake decorating airbrush. It can be pressed into molds to create all kinds of intricate, decorative appliqués for the cake.

Besides covering a cake in fondant, fondant can be used to cover the cake board and make some decorations that don't require too much flexibility, such as bows. Gum paste is softer and more pliable. It is easier to mold into all kinds of shapes. Gum paste is usually used to make figurines, many having tiny little details. While you can try doing this with fondant, it doesn't quite shape as smoothly and it's a bit more difficult to work with. While gum paste is considered edible, it will dry very hard. You can save gum paste figures and flowers as keepsakes and they will last a very long time.

Gum paste is similar in ingredients to fondant but contains gum tagananth, which gives it its characteristic gummy texture. You can make gum paste at home or purchase it in most craft stores. When you make it, you wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container. It will last up to two weeks.

When you begin working with either one, you will roll them out on a clean work surface dusted with cornflower. Dust your rolling pin with cornflower as well. Different projects will require different thicknesses. For creating designs to add apply to a fondant finished cake, you can purchase a small rolling pin that comes with rings. The rings help you roll out the gum paste to different thicknesses so you don't have to guess. There are so many fun things to do with gum paste and fondant. With a little practice, you can create a masterpiece.

Theresa Happe is a baker, cake decorator, and author of http://www.cake-decorating-corner.com, a website featuring cake photos with detailed instructions for all occasions, and cake and icing recipes and http://www.cakeswebake.com, a social network just for cake decorators.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Theresa_Happe

12 Cake Decorating Tips For Fondant

Fondant provides a smooth, satiny surface on which you can attach all sorts of sugary decorations such as ribbons, embroidery, and flowers.  The possibilities are as endless as your creativity, but first you need to become familiar with fondant.  The following 12 cake decorating tips are offered to help you "get your feet wet". 

1. To save time or to help you get started, purchase rolled fondant at a cake decorating supply store or a large arts and crafts store.  Ready-made fondant is white or pre-tinted.  You can also purchase small packages of colored fondant to use for decorations. Yet another option is to purchase a mix.
2. Leftover icing can be kept for up to two months at room temperature, when sealed in an airtight package.
3. Always apply a thin layer of butter cream icing before covering a cake with fondant.
4. When fondant rips or tears, repair with fresh icing or try to smooth the break with a small amount of shortening on your finger tips.
5. As you are working, keep your supply of icing securely wrapped so that it doesn't dry out.
6. You can cover the cake board with rolled fondant to present your cake in a classy way.  Drape the fondant over the cake and board as one flowing piece; or create a fondant base in a contrasting color.
7. Poured fondant is easier to apply to a cake and gives a shiny, smooth surface.  Poured fondant is a convenient way to cover cupcakes.
8. Apply color to the icing dough with a toothpick - this allows you to carefully control the amount of color you knead into the dough.
9. If you stop kneading the dough before the color is fully blended in, you can create a marble color effect!
10. Apply fondant decorations to the cake using a very small amount of water on a dampened brush.
11. Find things you have at home to decorate with.  For example, a button can be used to emboss designs onto a cake.
12. To create ribbons, purchase a fondant ribbon cutter.  A fancy version of this tool is a cutter that can also emboss patterns such as stripes or beads.

How to Polish Your Fondant Skills

The most important cake decorating tip of all for those who want to become accomplished cake decorators is:  Take cake decorating classes. Start with the foundational skills and then move on to advanced courses.  In classes you will learn from experienced instructors and have the benefit of advice as you work through projects.  You will also have the opportunity to network with other enthusiasts and share cake decorating tips and ideas.

Learn more about taking fondant cake decorating classes to take your skills to the next level. Are you enthusiastic about cake decorating? Then discover a series of free cake decorating tips including more fondant cake decorating tips.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lindsay_Pollard