Don’t Forget to Enter the Golden Anniversary IC!

Posted by Andi Satterlund on Apr 25, 2013 in Inspiration Challenge | 0 comments

We already have some amazing cupcakes entered in our Golden Anniversary Inspiration Challenge, but we’d love to see more! You still have time to enter the contest, and the winning entry will be chosen by the editors and featured in Cake Central magazine. We’re looking forward to judging all of the entries, and we’re excited to see what the creative members of Cake Central’s community come up with. The deadline is April 28 so get out your frosting and start decorating!

If you need a refresher on the full details of this challenge, you can find them on the contest announcement.

Gumpaste Ruffled High Heel Cake Topper Tutorial

Posted by tarttokig on Apr 24, 2013 in Gumpaste Figures | 27 comments

Supplies

• Rolling pin
• Large Cylinder
• Exacto knife
• Star tool
• Brush
• Edible glue
• Sugarpaste in 3 colors of your choice
• #1 round tip
• Paper straws
• Tissue
• Shoe Template

Roll out sugarpaste to 3 mm thickness. Use the exacto knife to cut out the sole and place it on the cylinder to shape it. Use tissue if additional support is needed.

Roll out sugarpaste in second color to 1 mm thickness, and cut out the lining. Use the star tool to make a stitching along the edge of the lining. Brush edible glue on the sole and carefully attach the lining. If you want to paint the lining (like I did with this shoe) then do this now. I used silver luster dust mixed with some clear alcohol.

Roll out sugarpaste of the same color as the sole to a 2 mm thickness, and cut out the back of the shoe. Again, use the star tool to stitch along the edges on both sides of the back piece. Brush some edible glue along the bottom edge of the piece and attach it to the sole.

Cut out the shoe top from the same piece of sugarpaste and make a stitching on one of the sides. Flip the piece over and brush edible glue like on the picture, and attach it to the sole. Since the pieces are so small I usually don’t need any support for the shoe top, but if it doesn’t hold its shape you can support it with some tissue.

Leave to dry until the glue has set and the pieces are hard enough to hold their shape when touched, a few hours to overnight.

Roll out sugarpaste to a 1-2 mm thickness, cut out the middle strap and make a stitching along the edges of the piece. Attach it to the sole using edible glue. You want the distance between the strap and the piece called the shoe top to be about the same as the width of the strap. Let dry for a couple of hours before moving on to next steps.

Cut out the top strap from the template. Roll some white sugarpaste into a thin sausage and shape it around the top strap as in the picture. Put to the side.

Roll a tiny ball out of white sugarpaste, approx. 4 mm in diameter. Cut it in half and roll into two new balls.

Flatten them slightly with your finger and use the round tip to make a small hole in the middle. These will be the eyelets for the buckle. Roll out a small piece of sugarpaste as thinly as possible without it breaking. Cut it into a small rectangle (as in the picture). You will adjust the length later so just make sure that the width is small enough so that it can fit inside one of the eyelets.

Roll out sugarpaste (of the same color as the other strap) to 1-2 mm thickness, and cut out the top strap. Make a stitching along the edge and like in the picture.

Glue the small circles and the thin sausage you made earlier to the pointy side of the strap.

Trim the ends of the little sausage off, and add the small rectangle. Trim the small rectangle to desired length, and glue it to the strap. Color the details in some metallic color or leave as is.

Attach the strap using edible glue, supporting it with tissue. Make sure the strap is horizontal! Leave to dry overnight before moving on with adding the ruffles and heel.

Roll out sugarpaste to 1-2 mm thickness and cut out the “supporting strap for ruffles.” Attach the strap using edible glue.

From the same piece of fondant, cut out five ruffles and place them in a plastic bag to prevent them from drying too quickly. Take out one ruffle at a time and stitch along the edges using star tool. Place a straw across the ruffle and fold the ruffle over it. Glue the ends together and put it in the bag again (don’t remove the straw), repeating the procedure with all five pieces. For the last ruffle, stitch another line like in the picture.

Once all five are done, use edible glue to attach them, making sure they are placed an equal distance from each other and in a straight line. Leave to dry until the glue has set, and you can touch the ruffles without them losing their shape.

Cut a straw to the length shown by the picture and knead some sugarpaste until pliable and smooth, taking too much rather than too little.

Brush the straw with edible glue and push it into the sugarpaste as shown by the picture.

Shape heel as desired. Use the template for the sole as a guide to getting the top of the heel to the right size. Never push your fingers into the heel to get the right shape; that only leaves fingerprints. Instead drag your fingers downwards with even pressure until the hell is thin enough and has a smooth surface. Once you like the shape of it, put it right-side-up, and check if it fits with the rest of the shoe. If it doesn’t, reshape it. Continue doing this until you’re happy. Attach it using edible glue.

Roll a small ball of sugarpaste and flatten it slightly to make the sole of the heel. Attach it with edible glue and let the shoe dry overnight or longer until the sugarpaste has dried properly and the glue has set. Then your high heel cake topper is ready to be put on a cake! Just keep in mind that the thin straps makes it quite fragile, so be careful with it, and don’t move it more than necessary!

Lucks Dena Designs Edible Image® Contest Winner

Posted by Andi Satterlund on Apr 24, 2013 in Contests | 5 comments

Congratulations, KarasCoutureCakes!

We’ve tallied up the votes, and the winner is clear: KarasCoutureCakes’ collection of modern square cakes was the Cake Central community’s favorite and the winner of the Lucks Dena Designs Edible Image® Contest! Kara’s creative cakes feature Edible Image® designs in the style of gumpaste techniques, adding cheerful color and eclectic flair to classic ruffles and flowers. As the winning entry, her three cakes will appear in detail in an upcoming issue of Cake Central Magazine.

When all the entries for the Lucks Dena Designs Edible Image® Contest came in, we knew voting for just one winner would be a tough task. All the cakes in the contest are stunning and use Edible Image® designs from the Dena Designs Designer Prints™ collection for Lucks in unique and creative ways. Many of the cakemakers innovatively worked with the Edible Image® designs in styles we’ve never even seen before, and all the cakes are sure to inspire.

We’d like to thank all of the talented cake decorators who entered the exclusive Lucks Dena Designs Edible Image® Contest hosted by Cake Central. All the entries were beautiful and perfectly showcased how versatile the Dena Designs Designer Prints™ collection for Lucks can be.

Fabulous Quinceañera Cakes

Posted by Andi Satterlund on Apr 23, 2013 in Featured Cakes | 0 comments

For many cultures, a girl’s 15th birthday marks her transition to adulthood, and naturally it is an event to be celebrated in style. We put together a Pinterest board full of show-stopping Quinceañera cakes to inspire you!

You can see more gorgeous cakes on our Quinceañera cakes Pinterest board, and be sure you’re following Cake Central on Pinterest so you don’t miss our latest finds!

Blue Ombre Petal Cake Tutorial

Posted by la122475 on Apr 22, 2013 in Buttercream Ombre, Buttercream Basics | 36 comments

Stunning, isn’t it?

I made this beautiful ombre petal cake for my sons 9th (sigh) Birthday.

Usually he gets a themed cake, like the soccer cake or the Sponge Bob cake, but I just was too busy this year to get all fancy for a more in-depth cake, so this is what he got.
He thought it was cool, and that’s all that matters.

I posted a photo of it on Instagram (follow me at Hungryhousewife) and Facebook and everyone loved it. I got emails requesting a tutorial, and y’all know I aim to please.
Pretty sure I’ve got all the tutorial bases covered, a video, on the cake and just icing. I hope you all find it useful!

And if you are short on time and don’t feel like watching the video, here is a photo tutorial.

Supplies

• Crumb coated cake
• Pastry bag
• #12 tip
• Buttercream Icing, your choice of color
• Off-set spatula or small spoon

Start with a messily crumb coated cake.

For the ombre effect, take six graduating colored frosting with #12 tips.

Pipe a vertical line of icing dots. If doing the ombre effect, start with the lightest icing first.

Place the off-set spatula in the middle of the dot, press down and drag.

Continue around the cake.

When you get to the end, just pipe the final vertical line of dots and don’t swipe.

And if you want to see the piping and dragging technique off the cake, I got that for you too!

Sketch to Cake: Anshalica Miles’ Ombre Cake

Posted by Andi Satterlund on Apr 22, 2013 in Sketch to Cake | 1 comment

While choosing photos for the spread in the April issue of Cake Central Magazine, we almost didn’t notice that Anshalica Miles included a sketch of her ombre cake along with her pictures. It blended in so well that we knew we had to share it with you! Here’s what she said about creating her sketch and making her cake.

“The first thing that I noticed [after] receiving the inspiration photo was the contrast of color combinations between the model’s dress and the model’s hair. When looking at the model’s dress I felt that the light pink flowers and baby’s breath incorporated with the texture of the fabric created a spring, country garden mood, but the model’s hair felt bright and edgy with the deeper greens and bright pink. When putting together a sketch I start[ed] with a blank outline of the cake. After drawing the sketch, it [was] then scanned to add color, flowers, wording or texture. I try to get the final sketch as close to what I am envisioning to see how the colors and design would translate on the cake.

“With this cake, I incorporated the Ombre effect through the tiers by hand painting them to start with a light cream changing over to a deepening yellow and ending with a dark green. I wanted to try and recreate the texture of the fabric from the inspiration photo for the bows and ribbon around the tiers. I was able to achieve this design by using a woven pattern embosser and hand painting yellow to mimic the fabric. I continued the color contrast within the gum paste stargazer lilies, leaves and baby’s breath. The flowers for the top of the cake were painted with light pinks and greens, while the side flowers were painted with deeper greens and yellows. Finishing off the cake was the final pop of color from the hot pink stargazer lily.” – Anshalica Miles

Anshalica runs Destiny’s Delights Custom Cakes in Wendell, NC, US. You can see more photos of Anshalica’s Cake in the April issue of Cake Central Magazine.

Friday Followup – April 19, 2013

Posted by Jackie on Apr 19, 2013 in Friday Followup | 0 comments

With so much great cake content coming out everyday, it’s easy to miss something amazing. But never fear! We’re here to help with a list of this week’s must-read posts and tutorials.

Take a look back at some of the hottest content on CakeCentral.com this week

•  Cake Decorator Highlight: Paula Despres
• How to make a tiny teddy bear Tutorial by Aine2
• How to Make a Tiny Gumpaste Baby with a Mold Tutorial
• Gumpaste Figurines and Tutorials from the Gallery
• Old Hollywood Party Cupcakes Winner
• Marbled Royal Icing Butterfly Cookie Tutorial
• Inspiration Challenge: Golden Anniversary Cupcakes
• Most Saved Filigree Cakes & Cookies
• Black and Pink Filigree Cake Tutorial
• Top Pink and Black Edgy Cakes