Let's get Corny!

I was attending the Missouri ICES Day of Sharing this last April when Laura White did a demo on a crab boil cake.  She started to show how to make the corn on the cob.  She mentioned that you should charge a lot if they want corn because they are difficult to make.  She then took a tiny oval cutter and started cutting out little corn pieces to attach for the cob.

Obviously my mind was working over time trying to decide if I could make a texture mat to ease the process.  It took me several attempts to get one that I could share with you.

Here is how hard it to make some corn!

I took some yellow fondant and white fondant -- added a touch of tylose to each -- unfortunately I do not measure the tylose.  You can also use gumpaste, 50/50 (50% gumpaste/50% fondant), candy clay, etc.  You will just want something that can hold its shape and not smoosh flat while drying.

I used about 60:40 ratio of yellow:white fondant/gumpaste.  Slightly mix and marble the colors together.
 Form the resulting marbled fondant into a corn cob shape.

Lay the log onto the DTC Corn Texture Mat and roll it up in the mat.

Give the tube some gentle even pressure making sure to maintain the log/corn cob shape.

Unroll.  How does my corn look?

Let me know what you think about Decorate the Cake's new Corn Texture Mat.

DTC Products Used:
Corn Texture Mat

You Gotta Have Heart!

Last February we posted these marbled hearts and several people sent notes asking how we did these.  I am finally getting around to writing this up.

Start with equal size pieces of fondant.

I then twisted them together.

Roll into a ball.

Place in the cavity.

And used my rolling pin to flatten it all out.

And there you have it!

DTC Products Used:
Conversation Hearts

Of Corset's Lace!

My neighbor asked me to make her a corset cake for a bachelorette party.  Of course, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to use two of DTC's newest lace molds.

What you will need - some fondant (or gumpaste or 50/50 or medium of your choice), a palette knife, rolling pin and lace mold.  You can use pasta roller if you wish but since I didn't have much to do I just rolled mine out.

When I rolled out the fondant I made sure it was large enough by laying the insert on top of my rolled piece.

Next lay the fondant on top of the mold and place the lace insert piece on top.  I then apply gentle pressure tot he back side with one hand as I remove the excess fondant with my palette knife. This step going pretty quick.

Next I removed the lace insert piece and clean up my edges while it is still in the mold cavity.  Once cleaned up you may wish to back it with the insert one more time and apply gentle pressure.

Then flip the mold over and gently begin to roll back the mold off the fondant lace piece.  I held the fondant down with the one hand will removing the mold with the other.

You may then use the palette knife to do any additional clean up you need.  With this piece I didn't need much.

Of course before placing on your cake you must play with the lace a bit and make fun designs.  

I used a just a swipe of water to attach the lace to my cake.  Here are a few close ups of the lace designs.

Using the Italian Lace Floral mold and the light purple fondant I created the lace design down the middle of the corset.

Full lace piece

Showing sections that I cut apart.

Then I turned the cut sections and over lapped them on the cake.

DTC Products Used:

Italian Lace Floral

Triple Scallop Trim

All Geared Up!

A BIG thank you to Amber Brooks for helping us out with this blog post.  

Amber first lightly dusted her molds with cornstarch.  

Start with a small amount of 50/50 (this was 50% fondant 50% gumpaste mixture) and place over the mold.  Amber used 50/50 but you may use straight fondant, gumpaste, modeling chocolate, isomalt or various combinations of sugar mediums.   

Then using a rolling pin roll out the 50/50 making sure to get the entire cavity filled.

Use a knife to cut away the excess 50/50.  Be careful around your fingers.  

Gently pull back the 50/50 as you are cutting.

Once removed clean up the back surface pressing any stray 50/50 back into the cavity and cleaning the edge.  

Depending on the medium used -- at this point you may wish to place the mold in the freezer for a few minutes to set the item which helps to avoid distortion when removing from the mold cavity.

Invert and flex the mold to remove the gear.  If using chocolate be careful on the flexing to avoid breakage. 

Tap the gear back into shape!

You can use the same application of molds for many different looks.  

DTC Products Used:

Mini Gear

Sprocket #1

Sprocket #2

Sprocket #3

Sprocket #4

For more mold options for a gear/steampuck look check out our Mechanical Section of molds!  Click here

Check out more of Amber's cakes on her website!  Sweet Arts Creations, LLC

Merry Christmas....in July!

A big Thank You to Rebecca and Roslynne for helping out with this blog post.  Definitely a group effort!

To make the jingle bells we use used our mini jingle bell mold, some little balls of fondant, an edible food marker (not shown) and silver luster dust of choice.  

We formed the fondant into almost tic-tac shapes which easily slipped into the mold cavity.

Firmly press the fondant into the cavity.

Use a palette knife to clean up the excess fondant.

At this point place the mold into the freezer for about 10 minutes -- or longer if you are forgetful like I am!

Flex the mold and pop out the jingle bells.

Finished jingle bells. 

 We used a black food marker to mark the lines then brushed the jingle bell with the silver luster dust.

On the left is the fondant bell, middle with just the black line drawn and right dusted with silver.

Close up of the finished jingle bells.

Close up of a snowflake we added.  This was lightly dusted with a silver pearl dust. 

DTC Products Used:
Small Jingle Bell
Small Snowflake

Optionally Larger Jingle Bell
Large Jingle Bell

I've Been Framed!

Need a way to sparkle up a frame?  Check out the new shimmer isomalt options from Cake Play!

First we gathered our supplies -- we used the new
* pearl isomalt
* bronze isomalt
* silicone cups
* Pearl Frame mold

Melt your isomalt in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted.  Some microwaves will take longer and other less time - so watch it carefully so you don't burn it.

Love the way the shimmers look when melted.

Very carefully pinch the sides of the silicone cup to create a pour spout.  Then pour a small dollop into each of the pearl cavities.  Don't worry if you get a little drop outside of the pearl - once slightly set you can use a toothpick to snatch that out.

Here I am getting some stray bits of isomalt out of the cavity with a toothpick.

Wait until the pearl color has set slightly so they don't blend.  Pour the bronze evenly over the back of the pearl.

Yes! That is my Icing Smiles shirt I'm wearing!

All pretty and swirly!

Allow the isomalt to fully cool.  Then gently turn the mold over and release the frame.

Ours came right out!  If it needs some coaxing make sure the isomalt is cool.  If it is cool then you can use a toothpick to encourage it to release.

Love the sparkle!

DTC Products Used:
Pearl Frame mold

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