A finished cameo picture

Hello,

I just wanted to put up a picture of a cameo I had used from my tutorial samples. This is the fancy single cameo mold. It was made from fondant and dusted with various petal and luster dusts. It is a very pretty mold and makes quite a statement.

I see seashells by the seashore..

Just in time for Spring Break!  A Sea Shell project from DTCPUG member, Andreea --


Hi, my name is Andreea and this is the first tutorial I am doing on this site. Even though I live in New Jersey , I am not near the beach but everytime I do a beach themed cake I dream of vacations. Using the molds from Decorate the Cake, it was so easy and fun that even my 13 year old niece Nicole helped me with it. What's so great about this cake is that it is quick, doesn't require alot of materials but yet still has the WOW factor.

First I covered the cake in white findant and allowed it to harden a little. Then to add a little more texture like at the beach, I wet a natural sponge and dipped it in thinned royal icing. Tapping the fondant with the sponge will give you a speckled effect. I used white on white but it also looks very nice with contrasting colors. Allow this to dry before decorating further.

Color some piping gel with blue food coloring to replicate water. I like to use a little blue and a little green but not blend it completely. The shells can be done in 2 different ways. Solid white is easy as you can then color the shells in whatever shades you want but if you are in a rush , you could just marbleize the fondant and mold as is. Pack it in as tight as you can and then remove excess above the mold capacity. I prefer to use a metal paint palette knife. I have a set specificially just for food. The blades are thinner and more flexible than a spatula.

Removing the shells is where alot of people have difficulty. The easiest method I have found is to place the mold in the freezer for a few minutes.The shells then remove very easily and can be dried flat on wax paper dusted with cornstarch . I like to give them more life, especially the starfish and sand dollars by placing crumbled up plastic wrap to fluff up certain areas or corners.

Once the shells have dried, I use DRY dusting colors to paint them. I find the dry colors give it a more subtle look and the colors blend easier. I keep on hand real shells as well as pictures of different shells for examplars of shading. The best thing about shells is that the details on the outside pick up the colors quickly and there's really no wrong way of coloring them. Nature is not perfect. They come in so many different color combinations. To add the shimmer on the shells, I then dust all with a luster dust.

To assemble the cake, a mound of fondant was placed on the top of the cake to elevate the shells. The blue piping gel was added to represent water as well as serving the purpose of glue. The "water" cascades down the the side of the cake and was spread on the board to continue with the design. The "sand" placed at the bottom of the cake is made of a mixture of brown sugars. You can also add some flipflops, umbrella or sand castle to complete the scene. Then there's also the palm tree too.

Hope you enjoyed my cake and have a blast playing "in the sand"

Tuscan Jewelry Bowl featuring The Italian Rose Swag Silicone Mold

Thanks again, to DTC Contributor, Joanne Wieneke, for this incredibly creative and most unique application of the Italian Rose Swag #1 mold! What a beautiful piece of sugar work.

Good Day My Fellow Sugar Enthusiasts!!! My name is Joanne Wieneke and it's my pleasure to present another tutorial for DTC.

The featured product is the the Italian Rose Swag#1. It is such a beautiful, versatile and a must-have mold! Just the intricate details and the elegant design will inspire you to create endless confectionery projects that will amaze your family and friends ...

I will present three techniques on how to use this mold and incorporate them all in one project.

Materials and Tools

Any size bowl of choice, dusted well with cornstarch

Gumpaste

Petal dust—any color of your choice, luster color (I used pearl and bronze)

Small amount of vodka

Soft Hair Paint Brushes , filbert, assorted size

Gum Glue (2-pea sized gumpaste dissolved in 1 teaspoon water)

Small paint brush for gumglue use only

Rolling pin

Pastry scraper

Small amount shortening

Lets make the Bowl....

Roll your ball of kneaded gumpaste on your mat approximately 1/8 or 1/4 inch thick and place it inside the cornstarch dusted bowl.

Smoothen the gumpaste inside the bowl as you would smoothen your cake when you cover it with fondant, make sure that the gumpaste can release easily out of the bowl. Using the pastry scraper, trim the sides and smoothen with your fingers. Let dry for at least 24 hours. Check every 8 hours or so if the gumpaste releases itself to the bowl easily.

After 24 hours, check the bowl if it has set and hardened nicely.

Now lets work with the mold…

Technique 1: Standard Way

Apply a small amount of shortening and apply a light film in the cavity of the mold making sure the fine details gets greased lightly. I do not recommend using cooking spray it is too gunky for the mold and sometimes affect the texture of the gumpaste.

Knead a small amount of gumpaste and shape it into a sausage, same length as the swag mold. Lay it on the mold and start pressing to get the details, then stretch it using a rolling pin.

Trim the edges with the pastry scraper and smooth the edges before releasing the gumpaste swag out of the mold. Trimming the sides before releasing the gumpaste eliminates possible distortion of the shape of the molded gumpaste.

With the excess gumpaste, knead it again and roll it out ¼ inch thick and with a small circle cookie cutter cut a circle which will serve as the base of the bowl. Set it aside to harden.

Position the gumpaste bowl upside down. Dab a small amount of gumglue on the sides and all areas of the back of the molded swag. Determine how you would want it positioned on your bowl. Adhere it with a gentle point pressure with the use of a paint brush so you will not disturb the details of the swag. Let it dry. Repeat the process for another swag that will be adhered on the opposite side of the bowl. Set aside to dry for at least 2 hours.

Technique 2: Extracting Filler Elements

Roll a small amount of gumpaste and pressing it inside the cavity of the mold, choosing either the leaves or any flower to extract a filler element. In this bowl, I chose to do the center rose to fill the blank space between the 2 swags endings.

Technique 3 : Achieving Impressions

Roll out the gumpaste thinly and lay it over the the cavity of the mold. Gently press with your thumb the gumpaste to achieve the impression. With any shaped cutter (I used a fluted round cutter) to cut the impression on the gumpaste. The cut-out impression actually looks like a doily.

I used the doily to embellish the inside part of the mold.

More Finishing Touches...

For a cleaner and more embellished look, you can roll and twiddle a gumpaste and adhere it around the lip of the bowl and the edges of the base. Use the handle of of your paintbrush to add a little texture to the edges.

Using your soft paint brush, you can start painting petal dust and luster dust over your decorated bowl. You can dab a small amount of vodka ( I use vodka because it buys you more time to play with the color) to help enhance the color of the petal and luster dust. You can brush the petal dust straight on to the gumpaste as the effect would likely be softer. To achieve a beautiful Tuscan look, I recommend dabbing a light shade dust, then blend in the dark dust and dry brush with a light color dust and finish it off with a pearl sheen or bronze luster dust.

The Finished Product....

Let the bowl dry for at least 48 hours before you can fully utilize it as your jewelry bowl.

For any questions, you can email DTC or my email thelittlecakedecorator@thelittlecakepatch.com or simply dropping a note at the comment space below.

My sincerest THANKS to Melissa for giving me this wonderful opportunity to work with her and her wonderful products…

Keep imagining and happy cake decorating!!!

Joanne W.

"Out Of The Jewelry Box"

Diamonds may be a girls best friend, but sugar jewelry might just come in a close second.  This amazing blog post from our DTCPUG member Nancy Mitchko is a must read.  What amazing techniques and instructions - Not to mention the BEAUTIFUL finished products!  Thank you Nancy for sharing your beautiful work!  Can't wait to see what is next from you!

My name is Nancy Mitchko and I am a first time poster. As an instructor and a life-long cake decorating junkie, I cannot tell you how much fun I had working on new techniques for these beautiful molds.

Jewelry can brighten any girl’s day…same goes for their cakes. My first tutorial will discuss some techniques for simple, elegant brooches are easy to create and are stunning accents when finished.

Filigreed Brooch

Supplies

Fondant, gum paste, 50/50 blend (mine are fondant)

· Cream

· Dark Chocolate or dark brown

Luster Dust

· Gold

· Silver

Shortening

Vodka, lemon extract or Ever Clear (whatever you prefer)

Brushes

· Soft bristle – dry

· Fine detail

Plastic scraper or Metal off-set spatula

Dusting puff with confectionery sugar

Ivory Inspired Brooch:

Knead a small amount of cream colored paste until it is soft and pliable. Roll into a ball and coat with a thin film of shortening. Place in the center of the mold. Using your thumb, firmly press the paste into the mold and stretch the paste out to the edges. Be sure to press hard enough to get all the wonderful detail from this mold.

Use a plastic scraper or metal spatula to trim off the excess paste. After trimming, go back and clean the edges by gently pulling you thumb from edge toward the center. Smooth the back by gently rubbing with your thumb in a circular motion. Invert on a flat dusted surface and press down.

Place in refrigerator for 5-10 minutes until firm.

Release brooch from mold by first carefully flexing the edge of the mold to release the edges. Invert and pull back until the piece it removed.

Let dry 12-25 hours.

This mold is lovely as is, but if you would like to embellish, use a bit of vodka and the gold luster dust to create a paint-able medium. Paint the edge of the brooch with the detail brush to create a setting for your filigreed piece. Let dry. Gently pass the piece through kettle steam to set the colors and give a very natural sheen to your piece.

Antique Silver Brooch:

This brooch is created in a similar fashion as the ivory by using the dark chocolate paste to cast the piece.

To prepare the mold, using the soft bristle brush, generously dust the mold with silver luster dust. The fine details will make it difficult to get into those spaces when the piece is dry. By dusting before it is cast, the silver will get into all the nooks and crannies and also serve as a releasing agent.

There is no need to put apply shortening since the mold is dusted. Just fill and shape the piece as above with pressing into the mold, trimming and cleaning. Place into the refrigerator until firm to the touch.

Turn out and let dry.

Dry dust your brooch with the soft bristle brush to add a little extra glitz to the upper edges. Steam and let dry.

(Hint: Sugar pastes not your favorite medium, use tempered chocolate and just pour. Let set in the refrigerator until set (5-10 minutes) and just dry dust to add color and metallic affects.)

Cabochon Brooches

Cabochon brooches are distinctive by their round topped central gemstone. Whether the setting is simple or ornate, the central stone is the focal point in these pins. To that end I have combined techniques to create the contrast between stone and setting.

Sugar work is all the rage, but for the novice decorator or a small piece, isomalt and sugar work can be intimidating. This tutorial will help make the process easier and less daunting.

As the daughter of a diabetic, I spend lots of time adapting recipes to so Dad is not left out. I have become accustomed to reading ingredient labels. I was picking up some hard sugar free candy and what to my sugary surprise…they are made with isomalt. I brought them home and the experimentation began!

Supplies

Sugar free hard candy (eg: Life Savers, Crystal Light)

Microwave oven

Fondant, 50/50 Blend, Gum paste, candy clay or chocolate (mine are fondant)

· Cream Colored

· Dark Chocolate

Rolling pin

Plastic scraper or Metal offset spatula

Brushes

· Soft bristle

· Fine Detail

Luster Dust

· Gold

· Silver

Disco Dust

Vodka, Ever Clear or lemon extract (whatever you prefer)

Tappit Alphabet cutter (or whatever motif you have that fits)

Dragees

THE GEM

Select color for the gem you wish to make. Crush candy and place in the gem cavity of the mold. Fill to the top to slightly above depending on the size of your pieces. Smaller ones melt easier, but are more difficult to move. Use a clean, soft brush to remove any stray “candy dust” that might be outside the gem cavity.

Place mold in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove and tap on tab top to get the sugar level and have any air bubble migrate to the top. Let set until hard and cool (about 5 minutes).

You have just molded sugar! The next parts will give you some ideas as to how to set your stone.

Embellishment (once cool and hard)

· Dust with silver luster dust OR

· Sprinkle with Disco dust

Simple Setting

Plain Stone

Knead paste until soft and pliable. Roll into a ball and place in center of the mold. Using a rolling pin, roll out paste to fill the mold.

Trim the excess with a spatula or scraper. Clean edges by stroking with your fingers from the edge toward the center. Smooth back with your fingers, invert mold and press on a flat surface.

Place mold in refrigerator 5- 10 minutes or until firm.

Embellished Stone

Cut out initial or motif with that fits inside the gem. Gild initial with luster dust/alcohol paint. Let dry. When dry, place upside down on gem in mold and gently press to be sure it makes good contact and lies flat. Sprinkle with Disco dust.

Knead paste until soft and pliable. Roll into a ball and place in the center of the mold. Press the paste firmly, stretching the paste from the center toward the edges to fill the mold.

Continue as above.

Embellished Setting

Once gem is set and ready, place dragees in the round spaces.

Fill mold as in ‘Embellished Stone’ so that the dragees stay in their wells.

Finishing

When firm, release the edges and turn out the piece. Let set for around 3 or more hours. Dry dust the setting or for more coverage, paint with metallic luster dust. Steam and let dry.

Hints: If you are looking for an antique look, use dark chocolate color.

If you want the antique look, but lighter stone, cut a small oval of a light background color and place it over the gem before finally filling the mold.

Don’t have dragees, and you are filling with light paste, fill the mold and then dust or paint the little pearls when you are done. If you are using dark paste, then first fill the wells with light paste and chill. Fill the balance and chill again before removing. Dust with Pearl or paint as desired.

Don’t like sugar pastes; fill with melted, tempered chocolate and dry dust the colors.

Cameos

Cameos are reliefs carved from agate, glass or shells on a contrasting background. Long associated as a symbol of gentility in the Victorian age, cameos in fact date back to early Romans.

Supplies

Fondant, gum paste, 50/50 blend (mine are fondant)

· Cream

· Light Jade Green

· Gold

· Dark Chocolate or dark brown

Luster Dust

· Gold

· Silver

· Blue

Shortening

Vodka, lemon extract or Ever Clear (whatever you prefer)

Soft bristle brush – dry

Fine detail brush

Plastic scraper or Metal off-set spatula

Dusting puff with confectionery sugar

Rolling Pin

Angel Cameo

Knead cream color paste until soft and pliable. Form a ball and coat with a thin layer of shortening. With a pin, roll from the center, out to the edges to fill the mold.

Trim the excess with a spatula or scraper. Clean edges by stroking with your fingers from the edge toward the center. Smooth back with your fingers, invert mold and press on a flat surface. Place mold in refrigerator 5- 10 minutes or until firm.

When firm, release the edges and turn out the piece. Let dry for 3 or more hours.

Dry dust with gold luster dust on high relief. Dust with blue on the angel’s dress.

Using the gold/alcohol paint the delicate swirl setting around edge.

Steam and let dry.

Portrait Cameo

Knead cream colored paste until soft and pliable. Roll a small piece into a ball and place in the face of the cameo. Press to fill just the portrait space in the cameo. Remove excess so that the edges of the face are sharp and the center is slightly under filled. Under filling the mold helps to avoid overflow when pressing the next layer in and keeps the edges crisp. Chill in the refrigerator until firm.

While face is setting, soften and marble a piece of jade and cream fondant. These colors, when marbled will give the effect of the stone veining and add realism to the piece.

When firm, fill the mold by rolling the marbled paste into a ball and placing paste into the center of the mold. Using a rolling pin, roll the paste out to fill the mold. Trim and clean edges.

Return to the refrigerator until firm.

Release the edges and turn out the cameo. Steam and let dry.

Portrait Cameo in Frame Setting

Fill portrait as above. Chill until set.

Marble the golden and cream paste and roll into a ball. Press the ball into the mold with fingers up to the first ridge. Again, trim extra, clean edges, and under fill the center of this layer. Chill until firm.

Soften and fill the mold with dark chocolate to finish the brooch. Trim excess. Clean edges and chill.

Release edges and turn out the finished cameo. Let set for around 3 or more hours. Dry dust the frame of the cameo with silver for an antique look.

Steam and let dry.

As a testament for the quality of these molds, I had left my pieces on the table so I could photograph and husband wanted to know where I bought the new jewelry!

I hope you have as much fun with these superior molds as I have. The combinations are limited only by your imagination. Inspiration is only a jewelry box away!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me through the DTC Blog website or at nemitchko.DreamSweets@gmail.com.

Brooch Tutorial

Our Brooch molds are some of the most popular on the site, and here Lisa show us how to make a beautiful Tall Scroll pin.  This was one of our very first products and was a brooch that I purchase in Boston in the early 90's, so it is very special to me to see it in work!  Thanks Lisa, Love it!

Hello, my name is Lisa and this is my first tutorial. This will show you the simple steps to creating the tall scroll pin brooch using fondant.

The items you will need for this is the mold, a small rolling pin, and a ball of fondant the color of your choice. Take the rolling pin and roll out the fondant a little bigger than the mold.

Take the fondant and lay it over the mold and gently push it in with your hands.

Then take the rolling pin and go over the fondant and the mold. This will make sure it gets in all the crevices. So you don't miss any of the detail in the mold.

When you are finished rolling, gently pull the fondant out of the mold. You will need to trim the excess fondant from the edges. You can use a small knife or cutter for this.

This is the brooch after it has been trimmed. I chose to take the middle layer out but you can leave that in depending on how you want it to look.

This is the final example dusted with gold and attached to some fondant ribbon. The pattern behind it is also from Decorate the Cake. It is the feather swirls texture mat.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. I look forward to doing more projects in the future and sharing them with you.

Sand Dollar and Starfish Tutorial

Let's welcome Shena Setzer to Decorate the Cake's product user group!  Shena's project included 2 of our newest beach themed molds the knobby star fish #2 and the small sand dollar.  Shell molds are amoung my favorite to create, maybe because I have to make a trip to the beach!  Thanks again Shena! Love the work.


Hi everyone! My name is Shena Setzer and I have a small home based business Everything Else is Cake. This is the first tutorial for Decorate the cake and I am so excited to be a part of the DTC Panel.

I decided to use the sand dollar and starfish molds on store bought cakes to show that any cake can become something custom and unique.

Tools Needed:

• Starfish and Sand Dollar Molds
• Gumpaste
• small knife or spatula
• small painters brush
• desired pearl or luster dusts
• shortening
• small rolling pin (not pictured)

Dtart by adding a small amount of shortening to the molds. Use just enough to coat the molds and the shortening should remain clear an

d not build up. Next add a small amount of gumpaste to the molds and press firmly and evenly throughout the mold.

Next, trim the excess gumpaste away with a knife or spatula.















This is how it should look before removing the gumpaste from the mold.

To remove from the mold, turn it mold where the gumpaste is facing your work area and slightly bend the mold. It should slowly pop right out. I found with the sand dollar, it was easier to release it into my hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the sand dolllar, I had excess gumpaste that I wasn't able to trim away still in the mold. Here I cut away the extra gumpaste with a small knife.

 

Here is what the removed gumpaste should look like!

 

To add color, use the paintbrush and brush the luster dust directly onto the starfish. Use a small amount of luster dust and make sure to tap the brush before applying. If you have trouble getting the dust to adhere to your gumpaste, use a small few drops of alcohol and mix it with a small amount of luster dust.

 

 

That's it!! Here are the finished products where is basically just attached directly to the cakes. The first is a standard buttercream cake and the last two are snack cakes. For the snack cakes, I "glued" the pieces onto the cakes with light corn sryup.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it very useful! I had a lot of fun doing it!! Please visit my website and feel free to contact me with any questions.