Yellow Smocked Cake

This cake was so much fun! Wanting to try smocking, I read Cynthia Venn’s book, “Smocking in Sugarpaste” and had to try something similar. The materials used for this cake were royal icing, marshmallow fondant, and Nicholas Lodge’s recipe for gumpaste. I first tried to smock using bamboo skewers, but with little success, so I ended up ordering and using a smocking roller (much easier!). The “Chevron” pattern was set using a pair of tweezers (another new skill for me) and then piped on the side of the cake in royal icing. Next, I had my first try at bridgework (I’ve wanted to try this technique for a long time!) I used a size 2 Wilton tip for the bridge and a size 0 PME tip for the extensions, hail spotting, and drop loops. I think I’ve piped this section at least 4 times over with various breaks during the hail spotting and drop loops! The cake was then trimmed with gumpaste frills (more re-piping of extension work, grr!) and my first try at sugar ribbon inserts. While I am pleased with the inserts, they were hard to place in my gumpaste frills, as the frills were drying so quickly.