The Busy Girls Guide to Cake Decorating by Ruth Clemens Read Free Book Online

cut out six circles and attach in place on the tops of the cupcakes.
    3 Roll out the purple sugarpaste to a 3mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 in) thickness. Using a fluted cutter, cut out six circles slightly smaller than the size of the cupcake tops.
    4 Take the next smallest fluted cutter from the set and cut out the centres of the purple circles. Discard the centres. Cut each circle and open out the thin fluted pieces.
    5 Brush the back of each piece with a little water and place in the shape of a swirl on top of each cupcake.
    6 Cut out six large white stars and 12 small purple stars and brush the backs with a little water. Position the large star towards the left-hand side of the cupcake. Place one small purple star on top of the larger white star and one in the centre of the swirl.
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TIP
    Let the large stars dry out slightly before adding them to the cupcakes so that you can position them overlapping the edge of each cupcake without them drooping.
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    7 Sprinkle with a little edible glitter – because they’re worth it!

Chocolate starburst
Creating starburst flowers
    Using chocolate sugarpaste for this mini-cake takes out the laborious task of colouring sugarpaste a deep brown – all the work is done for you!

Get it together…
    6.5cm (2 1 ⁄ 2 in) round mini-cake, prepared for covering
    10cm (4in) round cake card
    Sugarpaste: chocolate and turquoise
    Buttercream
    Round cutters: 2cm ( 3 ⁄ 4 in), 3cm (1in), 4cm (1 1 ⁄ 2 in) and 10cm (4in)
    Basic equipment (see Equipment)
    1 Roll out the chocolate sugarpaste to a 3mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 in) thickness. Cut out a 10cm (4in) circle and use to cover the cake card (see Covering a board with sugarpaste ).
    2 Roll out some more chocolate sugarpaste to a 5mm ( 3 ⁄ 16 in) thickness. Cover the mini-cake, trimming the excess neatly and polishing with an icing smoother (see Covering a mini-cake ).
    3 Place the covered mini-cake in the centre of the covered cake card, securing with a dab of buttercream. Set aside to let the sugarpaste dry.
    4 Gather the trimmings of the chocolate sugarpaste and roll out to a 3mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 in) thickness. Cut out four 4cm (1 1 ⁄ 2 in) circles and four 2cm ( 3 ⁄ 4 in) circles. Using the corresponding sized cutter, cut the edges from the circle, creating four petals from each. Repeat with the turquoise sugarpaste creating four 3cm (1in) circles and dividing each into four petals.
    5 Begin to form the three starburst flowers on the cake using the largest chocolate petals first. Each flower has five petals. Secure each in place with a little water applied to the back of the petal. Build up the flower using the turquoise petals then the small chocolate petals.
    6 Roll a small ball of turquoise sugarpaste for the centres of the flowers and secure in place with a dab of water.
    7 Finish the cake by rolling a thin sausage of turquoise sugarpaste between an icing smoother and your work surface to get a good length and an even width. Place the sausage around the base of the cake and trim neatly at the back.
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TIP
    When working with dark-coloured sugarpaste such as chocolate, avoid getting icing (confectioners’) sugar on the surface as it can mark the sugarpaste and be difficult to get off.
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Marble bow
Creating a marbled effect
    The gorgeous rippling colours in this classic cake design look hard to achieve but it couldna’t be simpler – just mix them up and roll!

Get it together…
    20cm (8in) round cake, prepared for covering
    25cm (10in) round cake board
    Buttercream
    Sugarpaste: purple, pink and pale blue
    Pizza cutter
    Serrated steak knife
    12mm ( 1 ⁄ 2 in) wide purple ribbon
    Pearl-headed pins
    Basic equipment (see Equipment )
    1 Level and prepare the cake for covering (see Levelling and filling a sponge cake ). Once chilled, set the cake centrally onto the cake board, securing with a dab of buttercream.
    2 Roll each of the sugarpaste colours into long, thick sausages. Position the rolls side by