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DECORATE A SHOP-BOUGHT CAKE FOR MOTHERING SUNDAY

I hope these short videos alongside my instructions will encourage you to have a go at decorating a cake yourself.  You can download a full list of ingredients & equipment needed HERE

Preparation:

  • Make some Royal Icing (3 minutes)

  • Colour some sugarpaste (5 minutes)

  • Transferring cake to a bigger board (5 minutes)

  • Make several small icing bags (10 mins)

  • I prefer to use icing sugar with added maize starch (rather than calcium carbonate).

  • Transfer your royal icing to an airtight container (a jam jar with a screw lid is ideal).

  • Keep your Flower & Modelling paste in an airtight container.

  • You want to buy a 10" cakeboard.  It should be double thickness or, even better, a drumboard (they are currently on 'special' at Hobbycraft).

  • The smallest smear of Trex on your fingers will make it easier to knead the flower & modelling paste

  • Making your own icing bags takes a bit of practice!  Clean, dry crisp bags are very good (Cut to about 20cm x 12cm).  Aim to have 4 or 5 to hand because they cannot be reused

  • Stick your cake to the larger cakeboard with a few dabs of royal icing

  • You will probably use around 200g of flower and modelling paste

Making royal icing

Making small icing bags

Colouring flower & modelling paste

transferring cake onto stronger cakeboard

Making the Decorations:

  • Cutting the grass (20 minutes)

  • Cutting out flowers (20 minutes)

  • I like working on a sheet of baking parchment (not greaseproof paper)

  • A little dusting of cornflour will stop the paste from sticking.

  • You will need to repeat the process of grass cutting with as second ball of green paste to have enough.

  • The end of a ballpoint pen creates a dent in the centre of each flower and gives it more character, as well as making it easier to stick onto the cake!

  • Cut out LOTS of flowers!  Use three different shades of pink to create variety and two different sizes

  • The smaller flowers can remain flat

  • Don't waste any sugarpaste: knead leftovers together and re-roll.

Cutting the grass

Cutting out the flowers

You need to allow your grass and flower to dry overnight.  Lay them on sheets of kitchen roll.

Finishing the flowers & getting ready:

  • Colour some royal icing yellow (5 mins)

  • Pipe a yellow dot into the centre of each flower (30 mins)

  • Fill an icing bag with 1 teaspoon of yellow royal icing (and seal with sellotape!)

  • Fill an icing bag with 1 teaspoon of white royal icing (and seal with sellotape!)

  • Prick out a circle on the top of the cake using a knitting needle or skewer (3 mins)

  • You will only need a teaspoon or so of yellow icing but it will be easier to mix a bit more than that and discard what you don't use

  • Don't overfill an icing bag!!

  • I used the top of a plastic container as a guide to mark a circle on the cake

Piping centres of flowers

Prick out a circle on the cake

Let the flowers centres dry for at least 45 minutes

Decorating the top of the cake:

  • Attaching grass with royal icing (5 mins)

  • Adding the flowers (15-20 mins)

  • Snip a teeny bit off the tip of the filled icing bag.  If it is too small, just snip a little more.

  • Noone is going to see your icing so don't worry if it isn't neat

  • Once you have attached the grass, let the icing dry for 15-20 minutes before going back to add flowers using small blobs of icing as glue

Adding grass to top of cake

Adding the flowers

Decorating the base of the cake:

  • Use groups of 2 or 3 grass blades to hide blemishes in the fondant (10 mins)

  • Use different sized balls of green flower & modelling paste to create a border around the base of the cake and to disguise imperfections in the fondant (15 mins)

  • Add flowers (15 mins)

  • A tiny smear of Trex on your fingers might make it easier to roll balls of sugarpaste

  • The white royal icing won't show much even if it gets a bit messy

  • It is easier to glue the flowers onto the green balls while they are still soft

I hope you have a go at decorating a cake for yourself - I would love to see your creations!

Decorating the base

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