Ruffles, Pearls and Lace, three tier Wedding cake

Pretty in pink, this three tier cake has been decorated with rose effect ruffles, pearl beads with drops and embossed lace. Roses finish off the top tier which has a lustre shine.

Sunflowers, Hessian & Vintage Lace Cake

I designed this Vintage Sunflower cake for a friends 50th birthday, the brief was "up to you to feed 100 party goers!"

The invitations had a sunflower theme so I used that for my inspiration. I thought two deep cakes would be better than one huge one so opted for 6" deep 10" square with an 6" deep 8" round on the top.

I made the sunflowers using yellow flower paste for the petals and brown for the centres, when dried a good dusting with darker shades of yellow and some orange was added to the petals and darker brown to the centres before steaming to set the colour and achieve a more natural finish.

This flower choice does some what limit your colour options but I decided on a mink brown and sage green colour scheme to blend together rather than to clash.
White sugar paste had brown and a dash of pink food colour added to achieve the right shade of mink and spruce green was added to ivory sugar paste for the sage green colour.

A wood effect iced cake drum helps to draw the eye away from the dark flower centres making them less obvious and obtrusive. (there is a video on this blog showing how to achieve the wood effect)

Edible Hessian and Vintage lace was was achieved with "edible lace & moulds" after letting this dry over night the Hessian was dusted with shades of brown and beige for a realistic look.

I draped one piece over the top tier, the other around the base of the bottom tier.
For a more feminine look I added a double edged decorative lace and edible buttons to the bottom and a taller flat edged lace around the base of the top tier.

Bunting was made out from pieces of left over Hessian cut into triangles with letters added to spell out a birthday message, attached with piped string and more vintage edible buttons.

How To Use A Silicone Lace Boarder Mould

This tutorial shows you how to use a silicone lace boarder mould using a mixture of modelling and sugar paste/fondant icing.
It's very easy to use and can be added to the sides, base or top of your cakes to give a vintage effect result.
The lace can be made in any colour or have colour or lustre added to it to achieve many different looks all with the same mould.  

White "Roll n Cover" sugar paste has been used mixed with left over flower or modelling paste to a ratio of 50:50, this ensures detail definition and enables you to bend and move the lace around your cake without it cracking or breaking.
Non stick knives are very useful with any silicone moulds as they will not sharp enough to cut or cause any damage, they are also great for trimming off excess sugar paste from the base of your cake without damaging your cake board or drum.