cake decorating

Halloween Cakesicles

October 22, 2021 By Ashley Leave a Comment

At the beginning of the week I shared a recipe for my go-to red velvet cupcakes with vanilla ermine frosting. Because I had leftover cupcakes, I recycled them and made these super cute, super easy Halloween cakesicles. These cakesicles are perfect for a Halloween party or just for making them with the kiddos.

Repurposing Cakes and Cupcakes

Cakesicles are perfect for using any left over cake or cupcakes you have on hand. If you have leftovers and you don’t want to make cakesicles right away, scrape off the frosting and pop them in a ziptop freezer bag and leave them in the freezer until ready to use.

Frosting should be stored separately because once the cupcakes start to defrost, the cupcakes can get soggy. Keep in mind that very little frosting or buttercream is used in making cakesicles. You only need enough to bind the cake mixture, not turn it into a paste.

Chocolate Coating

The best chocolate to use both for ease and coloring, is coating chocolate or candy melts. While the taste of a high quality white chocolate would be ideal, it’s also a big pain. Tempering, blooming issues, temperature control, etc is just a couple things that need to be looked out for when using white chocolate. So, find a good quality coating chocolate. I like to use Ghirardelli brand because it’s easy for me to find, but also because I think their white melting wafers taste better than ones you can typically find at craft stores. You can use either candy color (oil based) or you can use powdered food color. I used powdered color by The Sugar Art to color both the black and orange chocolate.

How to make Halloween Cakesicles

Cakesicle moulds can be purchased at many craft stores, or online. I recommend getting 2-3 moulds especially if you plan on making more cakesicles in the future. Melt the chocolate in the microwave just until melted in 30 second increments. Stir in candy color or powder color while the chocolate is still warm.

Using a clean paintbrush (one specifically for food, or a pastry brush) paint a layer of chocolate into the moulds. Pop in the freezer for two minutes to harden. Paint another layer of chocolate and freeze for another two minutes. If using light colors, like white, I usually paint a third layer, and I did with these so the red velvet wouldn’t peek through.

I made 8 cakesicles total , and used 3-4 cupcakes. I added just enough frosting so that the cake mixture *just* held together, no more than a couple tablespoons. Add a little frosting at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. No need to rely on the frosting to keep the cakesicles moist, they will stay moist under the chocolate coating. Place a heaping tablespoon of cake mixture into the mould, or more depending on the size of your moulds. Mine are fairly small. You want to leave 1/8′-1/4″ space for the rest of the chocolate. Insert the cakesicle stick into the cake mixture and top with more chocolate. Use an offset spatula to scrape off any excess chocolate.

Freeze for 3-5 minutes before unmoulding the cakesicles. Peel the mould away from the cakesicle to not break the chocolate or loosen the stick. Drizzle each with chocolate and top with sprinkles. I used the Monster Mashup sprinkle mix from Sprinkle Pop.

If you make these Halloween cakesicles, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your bakes and creations.

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more Halloween tutorials, check out these posts:

Halloween Rice Paper Ghosts Tutorial

Halloween Mummy Cake Tutorial

Easy Decorated Halloween Ghost Cookies Tutorial

Black Cocoa Sugar Cookies + Decorated Pumpkins Tutorial

Easy Watercolor Flowers Cake Tutorial

August 31, 2021 By Ashley Leave a Comment

If you’ve seen any of my cake tutorials, you know that I love using stamps on cakes. You can stamp outlines, or create impressions with stamps and can feature a wide variety of techniques. My easy watercolor flowers cake features techniques like watercolor painting, royal icing detail, impressing fondant and more that is easy, quick to decorate and perfect for all skill levels. If you’re like me and you have shaky hands, or can’t paint freehand to save your life, then this tutorial is for you.

Stamps and Cake Decorating

I used square tiers for this cake and paneled them. It’s much easier to impress fondant before it is on the cake. This allows you to make an even impression and lessons the risk of stamping too hard and ripping the fondant. You can use any stamps you prefer. I always tend to use floral stamps, particularly from Iron Orchid Designs. I use these all the time. They’re durable, food safe, and super high quality. The stamp I use is called Peonies by IOD, but use any stamp that you love.

The Bottom Tier

To make the coral color fondant, I used Americolor orange and electric pink in a 2:1 ratio. I dusted sugar peonies to match. Firmly impress the tier with the stamp, but not too hard that the stamp pushes through the fondant. To define the lines and design, I used a soft gold luster dust mixed with Everclear alcohol to paint in the impressed lines.

Watercolor Painting

The part I love about watercolor painting is that there is not right or wrong way to do it. I used gel food color – the same Americolor orange and electric pink that I used for the fondant as well as Americolor gold (yellow) for the center of the peonies. I mixed the colors with alcohol to make a thin, liquid-y paint. The goal is to add color gradually, so you do want to aim for a more watery, not too pigmented paint. I alternated between the orange and pink, layering color, until I was happy with the results. For the best results, leave some parts of the watercolor flowers light, some darker. Variation looks this best for this design. For the center of the flowers, I used the gold/yellow watercolor, and a bit of the orange watercolor paint.

Royal Icing Outline

To really emphasize the stamped detail, I outlined the stamp lines with royal icing. Don’t try to make the lines perfect. Keep them a bit messy and ragged looking. I think this makes them look a bit more realistic rather than sharp and perfect piping. This technique is perfect for non-pipers or inexperienced pipers. When the royal icing dried, I used the same soft gold luster dust and alcohol that I used for the bottom tier to paint over the lines. Again, if the paint is uneven or messy, totally ok and fits this style of cake.

To finish the cake, I added some coral colored peonies and buds.

If you use this easy watercolor flowers cake tutorial, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your creations.

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more cake tutorials, check out these posts:

Floral Piped Royal Icing Cake Tutorial

Under the Sea Cake Tutorial

Halloween Mummy Cake Tutorial

How to Make Sugar Flower Petal Formers

May 13, 2021 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Petal formers are a necessary tool in order to give your gum paste or wafer flowers the proper petal shape for a specific flower. There are a variety of commercial petal formers out there but sometimes specific ones can be hard to find and they can be expensive. Especially when you need need a lot of petal formers for multiple flowers.

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to make 3 different types of sugar flower petal formers, how you can adapt them and what you can use each former for. These boards are easy to make, fairly inexpensive and the materials are easy to find at your local craft store or Amazon.

Spoon Petal Formers

This is a pretty common former already used in the sugar/wafer paper world. I have boards with both regular plastic spoons and also one with soup spoons. Typical spoons are more oblong and narrow, which work best with petals that are more narrow with a slight cupped shape. I like to use this type of spoon former for drying and shaping anemone petals, rose petals, lisianthus petals, alstroemeria petals and more.

Soup spoons are more rounded and deeper. Great for shaping rounder petals with a more prominent cupped shape. I like using these formers for drying and shaping ranunculus petals, inner gardenia petals, smaller peony petals, English rose petals and more. I find that I use this former more often than the spoon former.

Flower Formers — Spoon Board Petal Fomers

For the spoon boards, you will need: 9×12 piece 1/4″ foam board, cardboard, or fiberboard, a low heat hot glue gun, wire cutters and spoons and/or soup spoons. Cut the handles off of the spoons with the wire cutters. Discard the spoon handles. Place hot glue on the bottom center of the spoon and adhere to the foam core. Be sure to evenly space the spoons. Flip the foam board over and repeat with the soup spoons. You can adjust the formers on the board if you misplace one by gently sliding it in place while the glue is not set.

Foam Ball Petal Formers

I use foam ball formers quite often, mostly for larger cupped petals like magnolia petals, large peonies and English rose petals. You can easily use any size foam balls you would like, but I find that any petals that need to be dried and shaped under 2″, can usually be done on spoons or bumpy foam. It’s not as easy to find formers for much larger size cupped shapes – 2 1/2″, 2 3/4″ and 3″ so I find that smooth foam balls work perfectly.

This board can also be adapted to use egg shaped foam, which are good for making longer and more cupped petals such as tulip petals.

For the foam ball former board, you will need a piece of 1/4″ foam board (or cardboard or fiberboard) – I used 9×12, but you can definitely use a bigger board to add more foam balls or multiple sizes if you would like. You will also need smooth foam balls and low heat hot glue gun. Place a liberal amount of hot glue on the bottom of the foam ball and adhere to the board. Space the balls evenly on the board, leaving space in between for overhanging petals.

Optionally, you can cut the bottoms off of the ball to make it more sturdy against the board. The best way to do this is by using a foam cutter tool that essentially just melts through the foam. Just cut off 1/4″ off the bottom, then glue. Fast and no mess.

Acetate Formers

Think of this former as similar that of an apple tray former. These formers are larger with more shallow wells, perfect for drying and shaping poppy petals, peony petals, Japanese magnolias, orchids, and more. You can form the acetate to make shallow or deep cupped petal formers.

You can use either food safe acetate, usually found in rolls, or you can make these with thin, flexible cutting mats. You can get both of these on Amazon and you can also get the cutting mats at the dollar store.

For this board you will need a 1/4″ piece of foam board, cardboard, or fiberboard, a low heat hot glue gun, and scissors. Cut the acetate into 4″x4″ squares. You can round off the edges if you like ( like I did in the photos) or you can leave them as is.

Cut two cuts in the acetate about 1/2″ opposite each other for a shallow former, or 3/4″ for a deeper former. Place a small dab of glue on one side of the cut, crossing the other side to overlap onto the glue, pressing gently to adhere. Watch your fingers because the glue will be hot. Repeat with the other side of the acetate. Repeat the process with remaining 4″x4″ pieces of acetate.

Place glue on the bottom of the acetate cups and adhere them to the board. Alternatively, you can omit the board and just use them as they are. They’ll be a bit easier to store without the board as well.

If you make these sugar flower petal formers, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. Any questions, feel free to DM me or leave a comment below.

Ash xx

For more tutorials, check out these posts:

Gum Paste Blackberries, Leaves and Blossoms Tutorial

Floral Piped Royal Icing Cake Tutorial

Gum Paste Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Gum Paste Holly and Berries

December 8, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

You asked and I listened – a simple, fast sugar flower tutorial using minimal specialty tools. NO veiner and NO cutter required, but by all means, if you have them, you can totally use them. These fast and easy gum paste holly leaves and berries look gorgeous on a holiday or winter cake, cupcakes and other centerpiece holiday desserts. Make these unwired and with modeling chocolate and put them on a BÃ»che De NoÃ«l. Impressive and so, so beautiful.

Supplies:

Gum paste – mid green and light red

Small rolling pin, like a Celpin

Groove Board, optional

Paper covered floral wire, gauge 28

Moss green 1/4″ floral tape

Petal dusts: bright red, dark green, moss green, golden yellow, brown, black

Egg white

Ball tool

Dresden tool

Firm foam mat, for shaping

Small square of aluminum foil, or holly veiner

Bumpy foam for drying

Paintbrushes for dusting

Small needle nose jewelry pliers

Umbrella modeling tool

Scribe tool, or toothpick

*More sugar flower supplies can be found in the Little Vintage Baking shop*

How to make the berries

1. Prep the berry supplies. Condition the red gum paste by kneading in a small amount of shortening until smooth and pliable.

2. Cut the floral wire into thirds, cutting as many as you need for your arrangement. Use small needle nose pliers to make a small hook on the end of the berry wires.

3. Roll a small ball of red gum paste, like the size of pea. Dip the hooked wire into egg white, removing any excess, and insert halfway into the berry.

4. Make a small indentation into the top center of the berry with the umbrella tool.

5. Make a light “x” shape over the indentation with the scribe tool. Set the berry aside to dry in the foam, and continue to make the remaining berries.

5. Once dry, liberally dust the berries with the bright red petal dust. Dust the centers of the berry (with the indentation and “x”) with the black dust. Just a small amount.

6. To set the color and remove the chalky appearance of the dusted berries, quickly wave the berries through the steam of a tea kettle, an iron, or a steamer. Take care to not burn yourself. The steam is very hot and can burn you. Set aside to dry.

How to make the holly

1. Prep the holly supplies. Condition the green gum paste by kneading in a small amount of shortening until smooth and pliable. Cut the floral wire into thirds, cutting as many as you need for your arrangement.

2. Roll a small piece of green gum paste over the groove of a groove board. Don’t roll the paste too thin as you need to be able to stretch and thin it it out to shape it.

If you are not using a groove board, roll the paste out on a non stick surface. You want it thick enough to be able to insert a wire without it poking through the leaf.

3. Remove the paste from the groove board and set the paste down, groove side up.

4. Center a holly cutter over the groove, and cut out the leaf.

If you are not using a holly leaf cutter, use a very sharp, brand new blade exacto knife to cut out the shape of a holly leaf. Refer to photos online, or my holly above to cut out the correct shape. These do not have to be perfect or all the same shape and size. Remember, nature is imperfect.

5. Dip the end of a wire in egg white, wiping off the excess. Insert the wire into the groove of the leaf, about halfway up.

If you didn’t use a groove board, place the holly leaf between you thumb and pointer finger. With your other hand, insert the wire into the leaf, between your fingers so that you’re sort of guiding the wire into the leaf without it poking through the paste.

6. Place the leaf groove side down on a firm foam mat. Use the ball tool to thin the surface of the leaf and the edges, stretching the pointy tips of the leaf.

7. Take a small piece of aluminum foil and crumple it up into a ball. Smooth out and flatten the foil, being careful not to rip it too much.

8. Place the leaf onto the foil. Fold the foil in half over the leaf and press lightly to make some subtle veining on both sides of the leaf.

9. Use the thin side of a dresden tool to draw a straight line from tip to bottom of the leaf. Make a few light veins on either side.

10. Point the tips of the holly leaf by pinching gently with your fingertips. Shape them a bit by slightly bending the tips down or up to give them some realism.

11. Place the leaves onto some bumpy foam to dry completely.

12. Once dry, dust the leaves. Dust the center vein with the golden yellow dust.

13. Liberally dust the remaining front side of the leaf with the dark green dust.

14. Make a 50/50 blend of the dark green and moss green. Liberally dust the backside of the leaf.

15. Mix a small amount (50/50) of dark green and brown. Lightly dust the tips of the leaf to define the tips and slightly darken them.

16. To set the color and remove the chalky appearance of the leaves, quickly wave the leaves through the steam of a tea kettle, an iron, or a steamer. Take care to not burn yourself. The steam is very hot and can burn you. Set aside to dry before arranging.

17. Stretch a length of floral tape to activate the glue. Individually tape the berries and leaves, taping about halfway down the wire.

18. Assemble your arrangement as desired.

If you make an arrangement using my gum paste holly and berries tutorial, be sure to leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram!

Ash xx

For more gum paste tutorials, check out these posts:

Gum Paste Blackberries, Leaves and Blossoms

Gum Paste Peony

Gum Paste Magnolia Branch

Mini Tutorial: White on White Baroque Cake

May 7, 2020 By Ashley 6 Comments

[This post is written in partnership with Iron Orchid Designs. All text and opinions are 100% mine. Please note that I would never endorse a product or company that I don’t actually enjoy using. Thank you for supporting brands that help me and my business grow!]

Hi guys! I’m super excited to share my white on white Baroque cake mini tutorial with you. Since monochrome cakes are one solid color, it can be hard to emphasize detail and textures, since those elements can get lost in the overall look of the cake. So, I’m going to share some ways to make a single color cake really pop. One of the best ways is to add textural elements using moulds, stamps, or other 2D elements.

The moulds I used for this cake are by Iron Orchid Designs. They’re large, durable, made with high quality food-safe silicone and are super easy to use. The fondant doesn’t stick to the moulds, and is easy to remove. The moulds also have a micro rim to help get a super clean edge. The two that I chose to use are baroque style moulds (the Classic Elements and Acanthus moulds) with lots of scrolls and embellishments with some pearl detail.

For the cake, I used a natural white fondant (slightly ivory tinted) and used an Iron Orchid decor stamp, called Craquelure. I love this stamp. It’s perfect for creating a fishnet texture, a lacy texture and great for animal skins, like snakes and reptiles. I imprinted all of my cake tiers with this stamp to add additional texture under the moulded pieces.

The best way to plan out the mould design for your cake is, as you are making pieces, lay them out on a non-stick mat to form the big components of your design before putting them on your cake. To use these moulds, press the fondant firmly into the mould. You can use a solid piece of fondant, or you can place the fondant into the mould in pieces. Note that the finished mould piece will be a bit segmented since the fondant was placed in pieces. I tend to like that look because it reminds me of old stone pieces, so a lot of my moulded pieces have some random segmented lines.

Once the fondant is in the mould, use a modeling tool to scrape off the excess paste. To remove the fondant, place the mould face down. Gently peel back the mould and ease the fondant out. It should come out easily and all in one piece.

I formed the larger pieces of my design to get a basic design and layout, then placed them onto the cake with sugar glue. Then I filled in the design with smaller accent pieces, followed by the pearl details. The pearl detail on the bottom tier is my absolute fave. It’s probably my favorite tier.

I also added a few white dragees to accent the design and fill in some blank spaces. I made some white heirloom roses with lots of petals and added those to the cake for more of a romantic touch. I left the petals all white and dusted the edges with just a little bit of cream colored petal dust.

Moulds and stamps are a great way to add textural elements and additional detail to help this white on white cake really stand out. If you recreate this cake, let me know. Tag me on Instagram so I can see it and share it!

For more mini tutorials, check these out:

Mediterranean Tile and Flowers Cake

Romantic Roses Cake