MILL POND CAKES
Based in Emsworth, Hampshire
call or text 07794 899656 or email millpondcakes@gmail.com
3 sizes, 5 flavours, limitless decoration possibilities!
I specialise in highly decorated, single tier cakes for special occasions
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:
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Make some Royal Icing (3 minutes)
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Colour some sugarpaste (5 minutes)
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Transferring cake to a bigger board (5 minutes)
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Make several small icing bags (10 mins)
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I prefer to use icing sugar with added maize starch (rather than calcium carbonate).
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Transfer your royal icing to an airtight container (a jam jar with a screw lid is ideal).
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Keep your Flower & Modelling paste in an airtight container.
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You want to buy a 10" cakeboard. It should be double thickness or, even better, a drumboard (they are currently on 'special' at Hobbycraft).
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The smallest smear of Trex on your fingers will make it easier to knead the flower & modelling paste
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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
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Stick your cake to the larger cakeboard with a few dabs of royal icing
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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:
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Cutting the grass (20 minutes)
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Cutting out flowers (20 minutes)
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I like working on a sheet of baking parchment (not greaseproof paper)
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A little dusting of cornflour will stop the paste from sticking.
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You will need to repeat the process of grass cutting with as second ball of green paste to have enough.
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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!
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Cut out LOTS of flowers! Use three different shades of pink to create variety and two different sizes
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The smaller flowers can remain flat
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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:
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Colour some royal icing yellow (5 mins)
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Pipe a yellow dot into the centre of each flower (30 mins)
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Fill an icing bag with 1 teaspoon of yellow royal icing (and seal with sellotape!)
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Fill an icing bag with 1 teaspoon of white royal icing (and seal with sellotape!)
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Prick out a circle on the top of the cake using a knitting needle or skewer (3 mins)
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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
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Don't overfill an icing bag!!
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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:
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Attaching grass with royal icing (5 mins)
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Adding the flowers (15-20 mins)
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Snip a teeny bit off the tip of the filled icing bag. If it is too small, just snip a little more.
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Noone is going to see your icing so don't worry if it isn't neat
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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:
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Use groups of 2 or 3 grass blades to hide blemishes in the fondant (10 mins)
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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)
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Add flowers (15 mins)
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A tiny smear of Trex on your fingers might make it easier to roll balls of sugarpaste
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The white royal icing won't show much even if it gets a bit messy
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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!