- We Help Equine Businesses
Paul Bradford - Designer Cakes / Sugarcraft School
Paul Bradford runs a cake design website, www.designer-cakes.com showing tutorials showing how to create beautiful cakes, showing lots of cake making techniques, carving, ganache working and modelling. With courses from the beginner cake maker through to expert level who make a living making cakes.
Professionally decorated cakes always seem to have a molten, silky look. To get that same appearance in your homemade cakes, frost the sides and top of the cake and smooth out with a spatula as usual. Use a hair dryer to "blow-dry" the frosted surfaces of the cake. The slight melting of the frosting gives it that smooth, lustrous appearance.
For a quick cake decorating, place a large doily over cake then sprinkle with icing sugar. Remove doily gently. v When the cooling is finished, you can decorate your cake with variety of frostings and fillings that are delicious and healthy. Decorate it with more icing, different flavors of fuit preserves, pudding, custard, whipped cream, jams, peanut butter or pure chocolate. Just add a small tube of colored cake decorators gel to your grocery list and you can add your own personalized message on top of the cake.
For baby cake decorating you can use plastic ornaments and toys as your cake decoration, such as umbrellas, storks, bassinets, baby bottles, sports figure dells and newborn baby dolls. Or even bake your cake in round, square, or rectangle shapes,and then constructed to make a theme-related shapes, such as a train or an animal shape.
Model any figures for the cake. If the figures have many parts or aren`t sitting directly on the cake`s top, you may have to model some off to one side and let them harden before assembly. You may also need toothpicks or sugar sticks for stability. Some consider toothpicks to be "cheating" in that all of the cake should be edible. The rest of us have decided life is for living, not for drying sugarpaste bits for days and days. But if you do use toothpicks, be sure no one bites into one.
For cake decorating with icing sugar place doily on top of baked cake layer. Sift powdered sugar over entire top of cake layer, making sure all the cut-outs are covered. Carefully lift doily from top of cake.
Whipped Topping Dollops - Swirl spoon, held upright, through thawed Cool Whip Topping, creating rippled surface on the topping. Dip spoon into rippled topping and scoop up heaping spoonful, maintaining the rippled surface. Gently touch the spoonful of whipped topping onto surface of dessert. Release the topping gradually onto the surface, pulling the spoon up into a crowning peak to form dollop.
Make a cake decorator by rolling up a piece of wax paper into a cone shape so that one end has a smaller opening than the other. Snip the small end with scissors to make a good point. Put icing in and squeeze it out through the pointed end.
For a nice decoration on white frosting, shave colored gumdrops very thin and stick on. They will curl like little roses.
If you like simplicity, you can just frost the cake with icing or cover it with a simple glaze. You can make patterns in icings, such as swirls and spikes with a small spatula, and even with an icing comb. Tinting frosting beforehand always gives great results, too.
Glazes can be poured over a cake. They leave a smooth and shiny, thin surface. Depending upon the glaze, a layer of buttercream or marzipan can be iced or placed over it. Sauces served on the side make a nice accompaniment to a glazed cake, such as a raspberry coulis or any seasonal berry.
Use non traditional decorating items such as chopped toasted nuts, colored sugar or coconut, candied citrus peel, or even shaved chocolate, sprinkled on top or adhered to the sides. It gives the cake a nice finishing touch. Even fresh fruit can be used to decorate with.
A pastry bag, decorating cone or even a ziplock bag can be used to pipe a design with frosting, whipped cream, royal icing etc. on an already frosted cake. A simple border design is sometimes all you need for a finishing touch. Or, just writing a special message or making designs on top of the cake, in brightly colored icing with a parchment cone, looks special, too. A basketweave pattern, which is more complex, can be piped on the skin-coated cake. Even placing differently colored piped buttercream flowers on the top of the cake are so pretty, but are more complex to make.
An iced cake or cupcake looks so pretty topped with crystallized edible flowers. Even decorate with sugared grape clusters.
Fondant is a smooth, creamy white mass and is used for both icing cakes and cake decorating. It can be rolled or poured over cakes and cookies. A cake covered with it has one of the most exquisite backgrounds for piping designs on. Pastillage is a Fondant that is perfect for making decorations, as it dries quickly. Gumpaste is a type of sugar paste or pastillage made with vegetable gum, which dries very hard. This paste can be rolled very thin and formed into everything from decorative boxes to lifelike flowers. This is considered "technically" edible. If eaten, it will not harm you, but it is not palatable.
Buttercream or fondant? That`s the main question. Buttercream is often much more delicious to eat. But, if you love the smooth, almost surreal-like look of fondant as much as we do, consider frosting the cake in buttercream first and then adding a layer of fondant over the entire confection.
If you`re having an outdoor wedding in a hot climate, stay away from whipped cream, meringue, and buttercream: they melt. Ask your baker about summer icing options: Instead of pure butter, vegetable shortening (which melts at a higher temperature) is added to buttercream icing. This increases the cake`s ability to withstand the heat. Or go for a fondant-covered cake -- it doesn`t even need to be refrigerated.
Cartoon Horse Head
Below you can see an example of a fun cartoon horse head made by Paul Bradford, visit the website and watch a detailed video tutorial showing how Paul Bradford, constructed and made this epic equestrian cake.
Pug Dog Cake
Are you a dig lover? this canine themed cake depicting a cute little pug is perfect cake for any occassion. learn how to make it at designer-cakes.comTractor Cake
The ideal cake for any farmers special occasion, birthday, retirement, new job. Get a step by step guide to making this 3d tractor cake your self with Paul Bradford cake designer.Frangipani Flowers
How to make frangipani flowers? visit Paul Bradfords cake making site for a detailed course on this and other cake making techniques. Frangipani Flowers make an excellent addition to all types of cakes, learning how to make them can help lift your cake making skills to the next level.Cake Decorating
To decorate a cake directly on its serving plate, slip strips of wax paper under the edge of the cake, allowing them to hang over the rim of the plate. Frost cake, then, with a quick motion, pull out the paper. This leaves the serving plate nice and clean without a trace of frosting.Professionally decorated cakes always seem to have a molten, silky look. To get that same appearance in your homemade cakes, frost the sides and top of the cake and smooth out with a spatula as usual. Use a hair dryer to "blow-dry" the frosted surfaces of the cake. The slight melting of the frosting gives it that smooth, lustrous appearance.
For a quick cake decorating, place a large doily over cake then sprinkle with icing sugar. Remove doily gently. v When the cooling is finished, you can decorate your cake with variety of frostings and fillings that are delicious and healthy. Decorate it with more icing, different flavors of fuit preserves, pudding, custard, whipped cream, jams, peanut butter or pure chocolate. Just add a small tube of colored cake decorators gel to your grocery list and you can add your own personalized message on top of the cake.
For baby cake decorating you can use plastic ornaments and toys as your cake decoration, such as umbrellas, storks, bassinets, baby bottles, sports figure dells and newborn baby dolls. Or even bake your cake in round, square, or rectangle shapes,and then constructed to make a theme-related shapes, such as a train or an animal shape.
Model any figures for the cake. If the figures have many parts or aren`t sitting directly on the cake`s top, you may have to model some off to one side and let them harden before assembly. You may also need toothpicks or sugar sticks for stability. Some consider toothpicks to be "cheating" in that all of the cake should be edible. The rest of us have decided life is for living, not for drying sugarpaste bits for days and days. But if you do use toothpicks, be sure no one bites into one.
For cake decorating with icing sugar place doily on top of baked cake layer. Sift powdered sugar over entire top of cake layer, making sure all the cut-outs are covered. Carefully lift doily from top of cake.
Whipped Topping Dollops - Swirl spoon, held upright, through thawed Cool Whip Topping, creating rippled surface on the topping. Dip spoon into rippled topping and scoop up heaping spoonful, maintaining the rippled surface. Gently touch the spoonful of whipped topping onto surface of dessert. Release the topping gradually onto the surface, pulling the spoon up into a crowning peak to form dollop.
Make a cake decorator by rolling up a piece of wax paper into a cone shape so that one end has a smaller opening than the other. Snip the small end with scissors to make a good point. Put icing in and squeeze it out through the pointed end.
For a nice decoration on white frosting, shave colored gumdrops very thin and stick on. They will curl like little roses.
If you like simplicity, you can just frost the cake with icing or cover it with a simple glaze. You can make patterns in icings, such as swirls and spikes with a small spatula, and even with an icing comb. Tinting frosting beforehand always gives great results, too.
Glazes can be poured over a cake. They leave a smooth and shiny, thin surface. Depending upon the glaze, a layer of buttercream or marzipan can be iced or placed over it. Sauces served on the side make a nice accompaniment to a glazed cake, such as a raspberry coulis or any seasonal berry.
Use non traditional decorating items such as chopped toasted nuts, colored sugar or coconut, candied citrus peel, or even shaved chocolate, sprinkled on top or adhered to the sides. It gives the cake a nice finishing touch. Even fresh fruit can be used to decorate with.
A pastry bag, decorating cone or even a ziplock bag can be used to pipe a design with frosting, whipped cream, royal icing etc. on an already frosted cake. A simple border design is sometimes all you need for a finishing touch. Or, just writing a special message or making designs on top of the cake, in brightly colored icing with a parchment cone, looks special, too. A basketweave pattern, which is more complex, can be piped on the skin-coated cake. Even placing differently colored piped buttercream flowers on the top of the cake are so pretty, but are more complex to make.
An iced cake or cupcake looks so pretty topped with crystallized edible flowers. Even decorate with sugared grape clusters.
Fondant is a smooth, creamy white mass and is used for both icing cakes and cake decorating. It can be rolled or poured over cakes and cookies. A cake covered with it has one of the most exquisite backgrounds for piping designs on. Pastillage is a Fondant that is perfect for making decorations, as it dries quickly. Gumpaste is a type of sugar paste or pastillage made with vegetable gum, which dries very hard. This paste can be rolled very thin and formed into everything from decorative boxes to lifelike flowers. This is considered "technically" edible. If eaten, it will not harm you, but it is not palatable.
Buttercream or fondant? That`s the main question. Buttercream is often much more delicious to eat. But, if you love the smooth, almost surreal-like look of fondant as much as we do, consider frosting the cake in buttercream first and then adding a layer of fondant over the entire confection.
If you`re having an outdoor wedding in a hot climate, stay away from whipped cream, meringue, and buttercream: they melt. Ask your baker about summer icing options: Instead of pure butter, vegetable shortening (which melts at a higher temperature) is added to buttercream icing. This increases the cake`s ability to withstand the heat. Or go for a fondant-covered cake -- it doesn`t even need to be refrigerated.
