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Decorating a cake, or even a little biscuit, goes hand in hand with the desire to create something beautiful for a special occasion or person. Seldom are decorations added for the baker’s own consumption: an ornate cake is to be seen and shared.
Tea for two? A deliciously pretty tea cup cake, complete with a fondant icing tea cup, spoon and roses.
History reveals it’s an art that’s been around for a while. The ancient Greeks and Romans modelled sweet pastries in the shape of animals to be offered to the gods, and medieval nuns made delicate marzipan figurines and fruit. But sugar was scarce and expensive, so proper sugar craft and cake decoration art dates back to the relatively recent mid 17th century.
Today, refined cane sugar and a variety of ready-made icings offer an opportunity to create something unique that will reflect your personality or that of the cake’s recipient.
“You don’t need to wait for a formal gathering or a milestone occasion to present someone with a cake,” says For Heaven’s Cake owner and cake expert Jenny Nicholls. “It can be ‘just because’ – a desire to please someone with a handmade gift from the heart.”
Jenny uses fondant icing for most of her decorative work. “It’s a very user-friendly medium – malleable and versatile. I also use it for making all my flowers and added decorations for the cakes. Fondant icing is readily available and easy to use with a rolling pin.”
She coats her cakes first with chocolate ganache, which sets quite firm and isn’t as heat-sensitive as a butter cream. With her traditional fruit cakes, she uses only marzipan to coat, before applying fondant icing and then using royal icing – the hard white icing used for wedding and Christmas cakes – for piped decoration.
Jenny’s advice is to start with simple decorations and then become more daring as your confidence grows. There’s also plenty of help at hand for those who are strapped for time. “Shops like Milly’s Kitchen have a range of icings, ready-made sugar decorations and tools; places like Spotlight offer well-priced flower cutters, ribbons, feathers and cake boards.”
When decorating a cake, Jenny advises, ensure your work surface is spotless, as fondant icing will pick up the tiniest specks. Wear white cotton if you are icing cakes white, as a lot of clothing fabrics shed tiny fibres. Finally, don’t store iced cakes in the fridge, as this causes the icing to “sweat”. Instead, keep your works of art in a cool, dry place away from sunlight.
Nothing says “I love you” like a red heart cake.
How to decorate a heart cake
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You will need: 1 round cake (7.5cm across) cut into a heart shape (or use a small, heart-shaped tin for baking); a small quantity of flavoured icing such as cream cheese, butter cream or chocolate ganache (as used here); 250-300g red fondant icing; canola oil spray; a small quantity of royal icing; cornflour for dusting; 1 tsp gold powder colour, rolling pin, palette knife, small kitchen knife, 2 cake smoothers, round cake board (15cm across), piping bag, no. 2 piping nozzle, small artist’s paintbrush, 1 tsp clear alcohol (gin or vodka) to dilute the gold powder into a smooth paste.
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1 Place a small amount of ganache on the cake board to secure the cake in place. Using a palette knife, cover sides and top of cake with a thin crumb coating of ganache. Spray canola oil on to the work surface and knead the fondant icing until malleable, then roll it out into a round shape, 1 cm thick. Using the rolling pin, lift the icing and lay it over cake. Press down gently with your fingers to stick the icing to the cake.
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2 Using a knife, trim the icing at the bottom of the cake and neaten the edges. Dust the smoothers with a little cornflour to prevent sticking and smooth the surface of cake, keeping the nice plump shape of the heart. |
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3 Place a small amount of royal icing in a piping bag fitted with a no. 2 nozzle and pipe the wording on to the cake. Leave it for a few minutes to firm and dry before diluting the gold powder with clear alcohol to make a smooth paste, then gild your loving message using a fine paintbrush. |
Web Exclusive: How to decorate a Mini Rose Cake
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You’ll need: 1 small round cake (6.5 cm); a small quantity of flavoured icing like cream cheese, butter cream or chocolate ganache (as used here); 150-200g white fondant icing; canola oil spray; pink food colouring for the rose; a small quantity of royal icing; cornflour for dusting.
Equipment: rolling pin, palette knife, small kitchen knife, 2 cake smoothers, round cake board (10 cm), ribbon (26 cm). |
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1 Place a small amount of ganache on the cake board to secure the cake in place. Using a palette knife, cover sides and top of cake with a thin crumb coating of ganache. |
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2 Spray canola oil on to the work surface and knead the fondant icing until malleable, then roll it out into a round shape, 1 cm thick. Using the rolling pin, lift the icing and lay it over cake. Press down gently with your fingers to make the icing adhere to the cake.
3 Using a small knife, trim icing at the bottom of the cake and neaten the edges. Dust the cake smoothers lightly with cornflour and apply them to the top and sides of the cake to remove any bumps on the surface. Secure the ribbon at the base of the cake with small dot of royal icing. |
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To make the rose:
1 Form a small bud or teardrop shape of coloured pink fondant icing.
2 Take grape-sized pieces of icing, roll into balls and then form into petals by using your fingers (dust fingers with cornflour if icing becomes sticky). Wrap the petals gently around the bud and softly curl the edges with your fingertips.
3 Continue this process by overlapping each petal and gradually build up your rose to desired size (about 7 petals).
To finish, pinch excess icing from the bottom, and secure in place on the top of the cake with a small dab of royal icing. |
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A button box cake with a ribbon trim. |
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This floral handbag cake would be great for a hens’ party. |
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Pots of gel food colouring and paintbrushes. |
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A romantic wedding cake decorated with fondant poppies. |
Green wrought-iron chair (left; part of a three-piece setting) $520 and Robert Gordon round cake stand $55, both from The Attic, pink and green fabrics from Centrepoint Fabrics, other accessories stylist’s own.
Stockists
Centrepoint Fabrics (09) 529 2711
Milly’s Kitchen (09) 376 1550
Spotlight 0800 276 222
The Attic (09) 445 0504
Story: Alessandra Zecchini
Photographs: Kelley Eady Loveridge
Stylist: Jenny Nicholls
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