It was with excitement that I received the three DVD’s (Perfecting the art of buttercream, Successful Stacking and Flawless Fondant) from the talented cake designer Sharon Zambito. I decided to start off with the Flawless Fondant DVD as I decorate most of my cakes with fondant.

Sharon shows how to prepare the cake so that it will not only make the covering easy but also make the cake look beautiful when it is finished.

You will see what kind of equipment she is using for the job. I really love the blue silicone mat so I just had to buy one;-) Then you will be guided through different ways on how to roll out your fondant, cover the cake and how to smoothe the cake. She shows that on both round and square cakes but also on difficult shapes like petal and hexagon. You will also see how you can decorate with impression mats, crimpers and pearls to make it look even better.

The part I love is where she shows how to get rid of air bubbles, white dust on the fondant and how to cover up small marks on the cake. The Flawless fondant dvd have also a bonus dvd with a small taste sample from Perfecting the art of buttercream. I think it is a “must” have if you are new into cake decorating because of the great step by step guides and it will help you to not give up if you have problems with your fondant. I also think that those with more experience including myself can learn from it aswell.

Happy Caking

Louise

I have received many questions about how I make my royal icing. When I make my royal icing I make it with eggwhites (pasturized) only because meringue powder or dried eggwhite powder is not commen use here in Denmark. Some of the cake decorating shops may have it though but I stick to the eggwhites.

If you do know how to make royal icing but are having trouble getting it runny for flooding your cookies then take a look at the photos maybe they can be helpful to acchive the smooth look on a flooded cookie. I can tell that I always start out with a stiff royal icing and then I thin it down with water to either soft for piping and runny for flooding.

Always remember to cover up your royal icing with either cling film or a wet cloth as this will prevent the royal icing to dry out. Also if your icing gets too thick add water or if it is too wet add more icing sugar. So here is the tutorial on how to make royal icing.

This is what I use:
2 eggwhites
2 lb icing sugar sifted (Not all may be used)
1 tsp lemon juice
Large bowl
Handheld mixer with hooks or kitchen mixer with paddle attachment
Cling film

Step 1:

Combine eggwhites and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add some of the sifted icing sugar to the mixture and start the mixer.

Step 2:
Keep adding icing sugar a little at a time. When the mixture looks like thick whipped cream and makes soft peaks when you push down the hooks/paddle in it, you can use it for piping.

Step 3:
When you have the soft peak icing, you start to only add 2 tbsp of icing sugar at a time because from now on the icing will get more and more stiff. When you can pull out small stif peaks the icing is ready. Cover the icing with cling film and a lid or wet cloth and store it in the fridge.

Runny icing:
If you want to make runny icing for flooding cookies or making run-outs then take some royal icing (stiff made) into a bowl and start mixing it with water, a few drops at the time. Continue this until the icing it thin and liquid. It should be smoothing out when you lift the spoon. The mixing with the water will most likely cause many air bubbles in the icing, so it is always good to cover up the icing and let it “rest” for 30 min. Then give it a slow stir and you have reduced the amount of air bubbles in your icing.

I hope you can use this

Happy Caking

Louise

Here are the four cookies that I made from my own templates. The cupcake cookie lollie from the previous post, a mini cupcake, a cake and a Petit Four or domed cupcake?.

If you like, you can download your own copy of the cookie templates, from me to you. They are easy to cut out with a small sharp knife on cold cookie dough.

Note: It is a good idea to transfer the templates to cardboard paper or laminate them so that they last longer.

You can also find inspiration on how to decorate cookies.

Happy Caking

Louise