"Dish from the Sea" Small Sand Dollar Silicone Mold Tutorial

Here is part 2 of Joanne Wieneke's project for DTC product user group. These sand dollar dishes are so clever and unique - Thanks again Joanne for sharing your talents with us!

This is the second part of the Beach Mold Tutorial. This time the project is an edible serving dish made from poured sugar using the small sand dollar silicone mold. If you are not yet confident doing poured sugar, gelatin is the best replacement for this project.

Sand Dollar Caviar Dish

Materials and Tools:

Small Sand Dollar Silicone Mold

Clear venuance pearls or cooked isomalt

Gel food color of your choice

Silicone prep bowls (at least 2)

Silicone mat

Rubber gloves or garden gloves under a latex or nitrile gloves

Put a couple of venuance pearls in silicone prep bowl and heat in the microwave until it melts, It is recommended to wear gloves before tackling the hot sugar. Dip the toothpick in a small amount of food gel color of your choice and carefully color the melted sugar in the silicone bowl.

Once the color is achieved, pour the sugar in the mold , do not fill the mold - just 2/3 full. Should there be any bubbles , poke it with a toothpick or gently pass some heat from a lighter to burst the bubble. Use the yellow or blue flame that the lighter emits.

Carefully distribute the melted sugar on the sides of the mold by holding the mold with your thumb and forefinger or middlefinger (whichever you are comfortable with), lifting it up slightly from the the silicone mat and rotating it carefully until all sides are filled.

Lay it on the mat and let it set and cool.

Do not touch the sugar while it is cooling, do not test poke or tap with your fingers, you might get your fingers stuck, burned or have some finger prints while the sugar is in the process of cooling down. Never place it in the refrigerator to cool, this will just cause moisture and just melt the sugar and eventually not set at all… The sugar has set when the mold has completely cooled .

Carefully release the sides of the sugar out of the mold, if totally cool, it will be easy to unmold.

Repeat this process until you have collected 6 of the same color—these are your sand dollar petals. You will only need 5 but I recommend doing 6-7 because this is a fragile project and it might break as you proceed to assembly, it is better to have more than less sand dollar petals. For the last poured sand dollar, choose a contrasting food gel color, this will be for the center of your flower (this is where the caviar sits).

To assemble, get a round artist palette and carefully assemble five petals laying each petal on top of each other approximating 1/4 from the lower edge of each petal . Once you have seen how the petals will be formed, you can melt a small batch of isomalt and use it as your glue, watch out for the temperature of the isomalt glue because the heat of the melted isomalt glue cracks the cold petal sand dollar and you end up in breakage of petals . Adhering the sand dollar petals with hot isomalt should be done carefully and quickly. Another option is the use of clear piping gel, but this takes a longer time to adhere and dry.

When everything has set and ready to be presented, gently transfer the sandollar plate to a nice platter and plate the caviar in the center.

You can also use each sand dollar as a an individual caviar dish if serving Hors d'œuvre.

*** same procedure will be followed if using gelatin, best ratio if using Knox is 1:1, the advantage of gelatin is that you can flavor it and you can rest the whole plate on a bed of crushed iced while serving the caviar….

Enjoy the party!!!!

If you have any questions regarding the tutorial please email me at thelittlecakedecorator@thelittlecakepatch.com or contact Decorate The Cake.

Thanks!

Joanne

"Gifts From The Sea" Starfish and Shell Tutorials

It is my privilege to share some ideas, tips and projects that is all about edible decorating here at DTC Blog. My name is Joanne Wieneke and I own a cake garden in my yard called The Little Cake Patch, LLC. This will be the first time that I shall be doing web tutorials. Last year, I discovered DTC and instantly became a fan! I fell in love with excellent customer service and the quality of the products they carry and the simple joy of becoming their customer….

My first tutorial talks about some techniques and ideas using their Beach Molds, specifically the Starfish and Shell Silicone Molds.

"Gifts From The Sea"

Starfish and Shell Tutorials

White Chocolate Starfish and Shells

Materials and tools needed :

Beach molds, I have 2 kinds of Starfish and one shell

White chocolate, 1/2cup , melted and tempered

Spatula

Artist palette

2 Paint brushes, soft hair , flat or filbert

Pearl dust, pink luster dust, gold dust

Small amount of vodka

Linen box lined with paper towel

Temper the chocolate and pour a sufficient amount in the center of the silicone mold. Tap the mold to take out air pockets from the chocolate, tapping will also spread the melted chocolate down the arms of the starfish or in any edges of the shell. Scrape off the excess chocolate using a spatula.

Cool in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or until the chocolate sets. Carefully release the chocolate from the mold and trim sides of the shell carefully. Repeat the process until you have collected 12-24 pieces of starfish and shell chocolates.

Finish the chocolates by blending pink luster dust and gold dust , if the dust does not adhere, dab the brush with vodka and blend the gold and luster until you get the effect desired. Using the other clean brush, blush the entire starfish/shell surface with pearl dust to give a nice pearly sheen.

Place the painted chocolates in a linen box lined with paper towel and store in a cool dry place until ready to be served or packaged.

Starfish and Shells Gumpaste Charms

Materials and Tools:

Gumpaste

Pastry scraper or offset spatula

Toothpick

Shortening

Luster dust, gold dust, pearl dust

Paint brush, soft, flat or filbert

small amount of vodka

Knead small amount of gumpaste until it becomes soft and pliable and form it to a ball. Rub a small amount of shortening in the mold cavity and position the gumpaste ball in the center of the starfish mold cavity. Press the ball hard to ensure that the gumpaste has reached the bottom center and carefully stretching the gumpaste with your thumbs to fill in the arms of the starfish making sure that you pressed enough for the gumpaste to acquire the details of the mold. Trim the edges by taking out excess gumpaste using a plastic scraper or a metal spatula. After trimming, even and smoothen the bottom surface by rubbing your fingers on the gumpaste.

With a toothpick, score the middle of the starfish arms , then scoring it again this time with a fine cris cross pattern to resemble a groove and suckers in the bottom part of the starfish.

When done, carefully release each arm out of the mold holding the mold bottom side down gently until the whole starfish releases itself out of the mold. Get the toothpick and poke a good small sized hole in one of the arm’s tip. This hole will be used to string the starfish. Let the starfish set for a minimum of 3 hours but it is best to play with them after 24 hours.

Embellish and paint the gumpaste starfish the way you have painted the chocolate starfish and shells. If you used some vodka to paint the gumpaste, let the starfish/shells dry up before stringing the pieces.

These beautiful starfish and shell chocolates can be simply placed on a nice platter for dessert (tip: you can flavor the chocolate with mint, if desired) .

If you are giving it as a gift, arrange the chocolate shells and starfish in a clear box and sprinkle some pearl dragees over before sealing the box, tie it with a bow and hang some starfish and shell gumpaste ornaments.

If you have any questions regarding the tutorial please email me at thelittlecakedecorator@thelittlecakepatch.com or contact Decorate the Cake.

Thank you and have fun decorating!!!!

Lace Press

Hi this is my first time posting. Until about a year ago I didn't even know about using molds to create wonderful embellishments for cakes. I learned about this blog and store from a friend of mine and then attended an ICES day of sharing where some of Decorate the Cakes molds were used.

For the lace molds I am showing you today I chose to use Fondant for one and chocolate for another. First up the Fondant.

You will need a lace mold, fondant, a rolling pin, sharp knife, and a mat to roll your fondant on.

Knead fondant until soft and roll out to about 1/4 th of an inch thick with rolling pin.

Place back of mold on top of fondant and trim fondant to fit.

Lay fondant into front part of mold.

Place back onto fondant and press down using rolling pin making sure back of mold doesn't slip as you apply pressure.

Remove back of mold and gently remove fondant piece by either lifting out or turning over mold.

Use a sharp knife to clean up edges of your fondant piece.

You may now enhance your piece by airbrushing, hand painting on color or using luster dust or other embelishments.

For my second mold I decided to try using melted chcolate. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I thought I would give it a shot.

For this project you will need your lace molds, cooking spray, melting chocolate ( I used the wilton chocolate discs but I am sure any melting chocolate would work just as good.) a plate to place mold on, a container for chcolate so that you can easily pipe it into mold and either a tool, knife, or tooth pick for cleaning off excess chocolate.

First off I lightly sprayed the molds with cooking spray so that the chocolate would be easy to remove.

I then placed the mold onto a plate so that the mold would be stable for placing into the refrigerator to set chocolate.

After melting chocolate I place it in a squirt bottle so that it will be easier to get into all the small places of the mold without air bubbles. Gently squeeze bottle and fill mold with chocolate. (note: Fill mold about 2/3 full so that when you place back onto mold you don't have a huge amount of choclate ooze out. I learned this one the hard way :)

Place back onto mold and gently push it into place. DO NOT push it all the way down as this will cause your chocolate to be too thin and it will brek during the unmolding. ( Also learned this one the hard way) Push just enough so that imprint will be on back of piece and give shape to your final product.

Use a tool or tooth pick to remove excess chocolate from around the edges. This will make unmolding much eaiser.

Place mold into refrigerator for a few minutes to allow chocolate to set up. Remove mold from refrigerator and gently remove mold backing. Gently lift chocolate out of mold and trim edges with sharp knife.

TUTORIAL FOR DOGWOOD LACE AND SINGLE DAISY APPLIQUE

Hello, my name is Vivian, and I am new to cake decorating. I started one year ago and can’t seem to get enough of it! I love discovering new products and techniques, and I am honored to be a part of the DTC Product Test Group. Like many of you, this is my first time working with a lace & appliqué mold, and I look forward to trying it out and creating this tutorial.

Materials Needed:
· Your choice of Fondant, gumpaste, or modeling chocolate (I did it with fondant)
· Rolling Pin
· X-Acto Knife
· Shortening
· Mold















1. Start with a small piece of fondant. Lightly grease your hands with shortening and work the fondant to soften, until pliable.
2. Roll out the fondant with a rolling pin on a non-stick surface or pasta machine to #2 or 3.

















3. Trim the fondant to the size of the mold. Place the fondant over the base mold and press gently with your fingers, making sure to push the uneven edges into the mold until smooth.















4. Put the top part of mold above the fondant and press down gently, and then remove it.















5. Turn the mold over and gently bend it back, letting the lace or appliqué fall out.
6. Trim any excess fondant with an X-Acto Knife.

















7. Now you have a beautiful piece of lace and appliqué to decorate your cake.















Tips and Tricks:

• If your fondant sticks to the mold while trying to remove it, put the mold into the freezer for a couple of minutes to firm up. Another way to keep it from sticking is to dust cornstarch on both sides of the fondant before putting it into the mold.
• Dust your lace or appliqué with an edible luster or pearl dust in order to give it a more elegant look.
• To apply the lace or appliqué to your buttercream or fondant cake, use an edible glue (like thinned royal icing, gumglue, buttercream, or water) as an adhesive.
• If you would like to be a bit more creative, it is very easy to change the look while using the same mold. For example, with this Dogwood Lace, I broke-off the flowers on each end to make a smaller lace pattern, and now I can use the flowers as accents pieces.

See? Fun!


I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. Please feel free to contact me on Facebook if you have any questions, and I will be more than happy to help.

Thanks,
Vivian Pardo

Tutorial - DTC's Lace Press Molds

Hi Everyone!  I am so honored to be part of Decorate the Cake's product test group!  My name is Mark, and I own Morsels By Mark in Montreal, Canada.  This is my first time guest-blogging, but I do have my own sugar related blog where I talk sugar and even interview some pretty famous people in the industry!
I love the line of lace molds available at DTC and they are by far the best quality I have found out there!  On top of great quality, the entire line of products are reasonably priced, shipped in a reasonable amount of time considering they are all made to order, the selection is incredible, and I have never had such incredible customer service!  So, without any further adieu, here is a little tutorial I came up with on how to use DTC's lace press molds:

Materials:

Lace Press Mold

Rolling Pin

Embellishment of your choice (pearl dust, luster dust, highlighter dust) if desired

Molding medium of your choice (I used gumpaste, but fondant or modelling chocolate work also)

Step One

Soften gumpaste by kneading it with a little bit of shortening until it is smooth and pliable

Step Two

Roll the gumpaste out to a little over the same size as your mold. You want to get it to about the same thickness as the depth of the mold. I use my Kitchen-Aid pasta roller attachment on

number 1 or 2. Use a small pallet knife to trim it to size.

Step Three

Place the gumpaste in the cavity of the mold. Press the excess into the cavity and smooth. Use

the press back to apply pressure and emboss your lace.

Step Four

Turn your molded piece out onto your work surface, trim excess paste from edges using an

exacto knife. 



Step Five

 Finish using whatever method you choose. Here I used pewter shimmer dust on the small flower applique, and pearl dust on the large lace border.  For a metallic look (think of those embossed ceiling panels), you can mix some metallic highlighter with some clear alcohol or extract and paint it on.

Tips and tricks:

• To really make the lace pop, I highly recommend using luster or pearl dust to help bring out the pattern of the piece. I also love the way black lace pops off of a red or white fondant background!

• Smaller shaped two-piece molds can be tough to piece together once medium is in base of mold. Before using, use a Sharpie marker to mark registration lines on the mold for easy match-up.

• If using fondant, mix with a bit of tylose to give it some added strength

• If you need to make a lot of smaller applique pieces, I recommend making a template to cut your rough pieces out before molding to speed the process up a bit

• When trimming paste, always make sure your blade is clean and still sharp to ensure a perfect cut

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial - I had a blast doing it!  (Thanks Melissa for inviting me!) Check out my blog and become a follower if you haven't already - I have a few interviews in the works that you won't want to miss.  If you have any questions regarding the steps featured here, or about the molds I used, feel free to contact me - I'm more than happy to help if I can.  And remember to check back here often for updates on new products and more tutorials and other fun things! 


Until next time,
Happy Caking!

Potempa-Bissler Wedding - October 2010

In October, I traveled to Chicago to do a wedding cake for our good friends Christina Potempa and Paul Bissler - Mind you, I live in Kansas City... But what better way to celebrate a friendship and wedding that to be able to road trip to make the cake.

The wedding was held around the Wrigleyville area of Chicago and in one of the most beautiful venues I have ever seen -- Architectural Artifacts.

The 5-tier fondant covered cake featured the wide scalloped lace press, puddle pleats and gum paste flowers to match the brides flowers.

For those wondering, I did not traveled with the cake assembled -- I did assemble and freeze each crumb coated layer -- but all the assembly, including the flowers were done after arriving in the Windy City! 

I can't say enough about "The Mat" from Sweetwise for rolling out the fondant for the cake - the powdered sugar bomb was adverted using this tool!  Also, to Fondx, as I used their fondant to cover the cake.

Also, thanks to my dear friend Jennifer Dontz of Sugar Delites, who taught me how to make gum paste flowers in her classes a few years back -- She now has DVDs so you too can learn to make beautiful gum paste flowers

Here is another view of the cake - The cake's design was taken primarily from Christine's wedding dress

And we must not forget the groom's cake! Paul is a huge Cleveland Brown's fan - so what better than a Brown's helmet.

Thanks for letting me share....

Melissa
Decorate the Cake

2011 DTC User Group

Happy New Year! 

What a wonderful and exciting year 2010 was for Decorate the Cake!  We are so excited for 2011, new products, new services and lots of FUN!

In 2010, we did a pilot product user group and the response was so great that we have decided to make the DTC Product User group permanent. 

The DTC Product User Group or DTCPUG, is a group of subscribing members to our blog or facebook who share their talents while testing out our new or existing products. 

To become a member of DTCPUG, use the sign up form to the right in the blog to submit you name and email address.  You will be added to a mailing list and after confirmation will begin receiving information about how to participate. 

During the pilot program, we did limit the number of members - but going forward there will not be a limit to the number of members in the group. 

There have been some changes to the DTCPUG and how it works.  During the pilot, products were loaded to the website and users were able to log in and select the items for their projects.  Going forward, using email notifications, DTC will publish the product and or project that we need for contribution and or content.  Selection will be first come, first serve - but don't worry, there will be plenty of project and opportunities to contribute.

DTC will supply our product to you at no cost, and these items are yours to keep - all other supplies, such as fondant, gum paste, dummies, etc will be supplied by the participant. 

Each project request email will contain instructions, time frames and other information needed to complete and publish the content. 

The first project request will go out in about a week --

Thanks again,
Melissa

Mark Your Calendar!

Decorate The Cake

Pre-Black Friday Sale

Friday, November 19, 2010

ONE DAY ONLY

40% OFF

Yes, it is a week before the traditional "Black Friday" so mark your calendars! We are offering this special a week early to ensure that all orders arrive for the holiday gift giving season.

Scope out the product offerings early and give a list to your Santa by next Friday!

Gotta Have Heart!

Sandy Swart decorates cookies with some mini heart molds.

Cookies were molded with almond bark (white and chocolate) using molds from Spinning Leaf. To adorn the top, I used the almond bark molded in the Mini- Hearts 6 Pack and dusted them with gold luster dust. To attach the chocolate hearts to the top after dusting, I set them for a couple of seconds on one of my long icing spatulas that I heated under hot water then dried off. The small amount of heat on the metal spatula was enough to melt the back of the molded heart and stick to the molded chocolate covered cookie.

I made these to share with the crew that worked with me at the polls for Wards 1,2,3 & 4 at the elections in November. Impressed the ladies and they are simple to make with a lot of punch!

Products Used:

Mini-Hearts 6 Pack

Spinning Leaf Standard Cookie Mold

Bottle Molds

Sandy Swart shows us some great uses for bottle molds.

A 1/4 sheet cake was used, cut in half lengthwise and stacked. The sides were imprinted with a paring knife then airbrushed to give a faux basketweave look. The bottle after embellished with edible image was placed on top and the packing was white almond bark grated and placed around the bottle.

Aunt Dee's cake was made to look like a wine bottle by wrapping the top with part of a plain edible image then painted with gold luster dust/everclear. Fondant flowers used to decorate the top of the airbrushed cake. The lavender flowers in the top swag and two pink flowers in the bottom cluster were made using the five petal blossom cutter and the 5 petal blossom veiner.

Picture shows airbrushed plaid background with edible image printed special for the birthday boy, Derek. Deke is his nickname so it's labeled "Deke's Home Brew." Gumpaste bottle cap painted with gold luster dust/everclear.

Elver's cake was plaid airbrush with half bottle again to look like a wine bottle. Play on words making it Elverberry wine instead of elderberry wine. He's a card player so this worked perfect. Again, edible image painted with gold luster dust/everclear made the top look like it was wrapped in foil.

As you can see the 1/2 beer bottle mold is more than a beer bottle. There are endless possibilities.

Sandy will be doing several demonstrations at the Kansas ICES Day of Sharing on Sunday, November 14th in Olathe, KS. One demonstration will have her making a beer cooler, bottles and sugar ice. For more information on the DOS contact the Kansas ICES Rep - Cathy Hansen at cathyhansen@kc.rr.com.

Products Used:

Sugar Bottles

5-Petal Blossom Cutter

5 Petal Blossom Veiner