Stunning Stencilling by Trudy Mitchell Recreate

Stun n i ng Stenci lli ng R

EDIBLES

Round, filled sponge cake, 18cm (7") deep: 15cm (6") wide Buttercream: 2.25kg (4lb 153/8oz) SK Fairtrade Sugarpaste: 150g (51/4oz) Bridal White SK Sugar Florist Paste (SFP): 50g (13/4oz) Cream SK Professional Instant Mix Royal Icing: 25g (7/8oz) White Clear alcohol, i.e., vodka or gin SK Edible Silver Leaf, Book of 5 Sheets SK Essentials Edible Glue White vegetable fat SK Pastelz Paste Food Colour: Pink Colour Mill Oil Based Food Colouring: Concrete Grey

EQUIPMENT

Round cake board, 3mm (1/8"): 15cm (6") Round cake drum: 23cm (9") Round acrylic disc: 30.5cm (12") Cake smoother Floral wire: 22-gauge white Half-width floral tape: white Cake Pin Every Day' Pin Set: 1 small CelBud: 2cm (3/4") SK Multi Flower Cutter Set 1, Round Petal/ Leaf: 2.5cm (1"), 3.5cm (13/8") and 4cm (11/2") SK-GI Silicone Rose - Tea Veiner: Large Petal Amelie’s Kitchen Stencil: Fern Dried flowers and grasses Turntable Non-stick rolling pins: small and large SK Modelling Tool: Medium Ball SK High-Quality Paintbrushes: nos. 4 and 8 Palette knife LissieLou Metal Side Scraper: Size 0 Plastic side scraper Non-stick board Food-grade foam pad Dimple foam drying tray Small bowls: 4 Cocktail stick Polystyrene dummy 1.5cm (1/2") width satin ribbon: 90cm (351/2") white Non-toxic glue stick

MAKING THE BUTTERCREAM

1When mixing up your buttercream, don’t worry about it not being white. Buttercream is naturally quite creamy in colour, and the dried flowers for this cake are a similar shade so they work well with the pale cream of the buttercream. That being said, if you prefer, you can create a whiter buttercream by adding a tiny dot of purple food colouring (paste or gel) to tone down the yellow pigment. Mix well and add it in very tiny amounts or you will end up with a grey/purple shade. You can also use an edible food colour whitener to help this, if necessary.

COVERING THE DRUM

1Roll out 150g (51/4oz) of Bridal White sugarpaste to a 3mm (1/8") thickness. Brush the 23cm (9") drum with a little cooled, boiled water and lay the sugarpaste centrally over the top.

2Smooth over the paste with a cake smoother and trim away any excess from around the edges with a sharp knife.

3Use a non-toxic glue stick to fix the 1.5cm (1/2") white ribbon around the edge of the drum. Set aside to firm for 24 hours.

COVERING THE CAKE

1Attach the cake centrally to the cake board, securing in place with a little buttercream. Place the 30.5cm (12") acrylic disc underneath the board and refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up.

2Once chilled, begin to crumb coat the side of the cake with a thin layer

A

B

of buttercream. Smooth over the cake with a metal side scraper to create an even surface. Repeat for the top of the cake, smoothing it over with a palette knife. This layer does not need to be very thick; it is fine if some of the cake shows through the buttercream, as it’s only there to seal the cake so the top coat is clean and crumbfree. Transfer the cake to the fridge to firm up for 15–30 minutes.

TO P T I P

Remember not to place the buttercream scrapings from the crumb coat back into your remaining buttercream. Ensure you have a separate bowl to decant the crumbfilled buttercream into.

3Set four small bowls out in front of you. Take the remaining buttercream and place approximately one third in one bowl, then divide the remainder between the other three (the larger amount will be left uncoloured).

4Mix a little Pink pastel paste food colour into the three bowls with the lesser amount of buttercream. You want to create three different shades of pink, so vary the colours from very light to a pale pink (A). You can do this with any colour and, if you would like a darker ombre, then divide into five or six shades to give a more gradual ombre effect.

5To eliminate as many of the air bubbles incorporated when mixing the buttercream, smooth and press the buttercream gently against the sides of the bowl when mixing in the food colour. This gentle mixing encourages the bubbles out and means you will have less issues when smoothing it on the cake. Repeat with the uncoloured bowl too, smoothing and pressing to get rid of those bubbles.

6Using the palette knife, apply the darkest colour of pink buttercream to the bottom quarter of the cake. Smooth the buttercream on the cake quite firmly to eliminate any further bubbles and in quite a thick layer. The edge does not need to be neat – we are going to merge the shades together before smoothing over, but try to keep within the rough quarter of the height of the cake.

7Repeat the method from step 6 to apply the next colour in the same way, this time to the second quarter. Repeat again to apply the very pale pink layer of buttercream, before finishing the last quarter at the top of the cake with the uncoloured buttercream. Ensure you have a fairly thick layer of each shade of buttercream on the side of the cake, as you will be doing a few passes at smoothing it out.

8Take a clean palette knife and, where each of the four shades meet around the side of the cake, gently smooth over the buttercream along the joins to combine them slightly. Repeat with all of the joins, wiping the knife clean in between. This will give you a much smoother transition of colour up the cake, rather than four distinct stripes of colour.

9Place the cake on a turntable and, starting at the back of the cake, press the tall metal side scraper firmly against the buttercream and pull around the side of the cake whilst moving the turntable in the opposite direction until you return to where you started (B). Scrape off the buttercream from the smoother and make another one or two passes around the side of the cake until you have a nice smooth finish.

10 At this point, you need to ice the top of the cake with a thick layer of the remaining uncoloured buttercream. Use your palette knife and turntable to smooth the top and create a nice flat surface.

11 For the final one or two passes on the side of the cake, it’s a good idea to warm up the metal scraper by pouring over some slightly cooled, boiled water. Dry it with some kitchen paper, place the scraper at the back of the cake and pull around the side in one smooth motion. Repeat again if you need to, then place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes. These final passes around the side of the cake with leave a small ridge of buttercream around the top edge.

12 Once chilled, remove the cake from the fridge and hold a sharp knife flat to the top of the cake. Gently scrape around the top edge to remove the buttercream lip until you have a sharp edge finish.

13 At this point, you can either continue with the decoration by applying some edible silver leaf and the stencil, or you can leave the cake for a few hours or overnight before finishing. The buttercream will crust up overnight but will still need to be popped in the freezer before applying the stencil to ensure the buttercream coating is nice and firm. 4 Once the buttercream coating on the cake is firm, remove from the freezer and gently position the Fern stencil against the cake in the area you would like to cover. Apply a small amount of buttercream over the stencil using the palette knife (D). Smooth out the buttercream over the stencil with the knife, before running the plastic side scraper over and across the stencilled area to remove the excess buttercream (E).

5Carefully peel back the stencil to reveal the pattern. Wash the stencil in warm soapy water, dry and repeat step 4 to continue applying the stencil decoration to the cake. You need to work quite fast with this as the cake can come up to room temperature very quickly depending on the temperature in your kitchen, so you may need to pop the cake back in the freezer to firm up in between stencilling.

6Once you are happy with the stencilling design, leave the cake to set at room temperature for 12–24 hours.

TO P T I P

Make sure you cover the bowls of buttercream when you aren’t using them to prevent them from crusting over.

DECORATING THE CAKE

1Once the buttercream has set, place the cake back on the turntable in front of you. Using a little clear alcohol and the no. 4 paintbrush, lightly paint small areas over the side of the cake to give a tacky surface where you want the silver leaf to be placed.

2Take a sheet of silver leaf and use a dry no. 8 paintbrush to lift and apply small pieces to the tacky areas on the cake. You can also add larger pieces of silver leaf to the cake by lightly pressing the sheet directly onto the tacky areas (C). You can do this in several smaller areas over the cake, in a cascade or just in just one larger area to stencil over. Once you’ve applied all the silver leaf you want, place the cake in the freezer for 10–15 minutes to firm up the buttercream coating.

3Take the remaining plain buttercream and mix in a little Concrete Grey food colouring to achieve a pale grey shade. The buttercream needs to be nice and smooth, so remove any air bubbles with your palette knife to leave you with a creamy texture.

TO P T I P

I chose to dot the stencilled areas around the cake, close to and over some of the silver leaf. You can, however, completely cover the sides of the cake with the stencil or have only one or two areas covered, it’s entirely up to you. C

D

E

MAKING THE REFLEXED ROSE

1Colour the Cream SFP a very pale pink shade using a little Pink pastel paste food colour. Knead until smooth, using some white vegetable fat if necessary.

TO P T I P

I use a Cream SFP base when I want a duskier pink shade, rather than a baby pink-coloured paste that comes when using a White SFP base. You can always add a little brown or ivory colouring if you only have White SFP, as this will help create a much softer, slightly rustic pink.

F

G

H

I

J

2Take a piece of 22-gauge white floral wire and push it all the way through the ready-made hole of the 2cm (3/4") CelBud until it sits centrally in the middle of the wire.

3Gather the wire ends together underneath the cone at the pointed end and twist it around tightly to secure it in place. Continue twisting down the length of the wires until you reach the end.

4Roll out the pale pink SFP to a thickness of approximately 2mm (1/16") and cut out nine rose petals using the 2.5cm (1") cutter from the Multi Flower Cutter Set 1. Also cut out three petals using the 3.5cm (13/8") cutter from the set. Cover all the petals to prevent them from drying out.

5Place six of the 2.5cm (1") petals on the foam pad and, one at a time, smooth and soften the edges of each petal with the medium ball tool.

6Paint one of the petals entirely with edible glue and place it halfway up the cone centre, wrapping one side inwards and the other over the top to form a tightly curled centre.

7Apply a little glue to just the bottom third of the remaining petals. Take one petal and place it centrally over the join of the first, then tuck a second into the open edge and wrap them around the cone to form a tight spiral, securing the edges against the cone (F, G). Use a little more glue to secure, if needed.

8For the second layer, paint the bottom of the remaining three petals with glue. Place the first petal over a join from the base layer, tuck the next petal into the first and the final petal into the second, and wrap around the cone to form a tight spiral against the cone.

9Place the final three 2.5cm (1") petals on the foam pad and run the medium ball tool around the edges of each to soften and curl slightly.

10 Apply a little edible glue to the bottom third of each petal. Attach the first petal against the bud so it sits approximately 5mm (1/4") higher than the inner petals. Press one side of the petal against the cone and tuck the second petal inside the open edge. Press together to secure.

11 Tuck the third and final petal inside the open edge of the second petal. Press around to secure in place on the centre, using a little more glue if necessary. Leave the outer edge of each petal slightly curling open, rather than wrapping around completely as before (H).

12 Using your fingertips, gently curl the very top edges of the three petals over and set to one side.

13 Place the three 3.5cm (13/8") petals on the foam pad and run the medium ball tool over the edges to curl slightly.

14 One at a time, transfer the petals to the Large Petal Rose - Tea veiner and press down firmly to texture, before returning them to the foam pad and laying them right side down.

15 Hold a cocktail stick at an angle on one side of a petal and use your fingertip to gently curl the petal edge backwards over the stick to create a slight roll (I). Repeat to curl the other side of the petal. You should end up with a gentle point at the top of the petal.

16 Repeat step 15 to curl the edges of the remaining petals. Turn each petal over and cup the centres lightly with the medium ball tool.

17 Paint the bottom third of each petal with a little glue. Take the

TO P T I P

Your local florists may be able to help with the dried grasses and flowers. Alternatively, there are numerous places online to purchase dried flowers.

K L M

first petal and place it over a join on the previous layer, ensuring it sits 5mm (1/4") above the previous petal set. Press the petal against the left side and base of the centre to adhere. Tuck a second petal slightly under the open edge of the first and then repeat to attach the third petal, wrapping them around and securing at the base.

18 Using your fingers, gently squeeze the point at the top of each petal and pull it away slightly from the centre to give a more open look (J).

19 The reflexed rose has its base petals pulled out and sitting at right angles to the tight bud, so these final two layers need to replicate this, leaving the central bud high above the bent back reflexed petals. Roll out the remaining pale pink SFP and cut out six petals using the 4cm (11/2") cutter. Repeat steps 13–16 with three of the petals, also using the cocktail stick to curl the sides at the base a little. With your fingers, encourage the rolled sides of each petal to curl a little more (K), then leave on a dimple foam drying tray until they just hold their shape.

20 Paint the bottom half of each of the three petals with a little glue. Place the bottom of the first petal against the base of the cone, wrapping it tightly around the base but encouraging the curled edges to sit away from the centre. Repeat for the other two petals, wrapping them evenly spaced around the base of bud and encouraging the petals to sit at right angles to the bud (L). Leave the rose to dry for 20 minutes.

21 Repeat steps 19–20 to curl and attach the remaining three petals. Make sure to leave the petals on the dimple foam drying tray until they hold their shape and position each petal over a join in the previous layer, encouraging the rolled edges to sit proud of the central bud (M).

ADDING THE DRIED FLOWERS AND GRASSES

1You can use any variety of dried flowers and grasses on the cake. This project uses bleached ruskus, cream bunny’s tails, a painted pale pink palm, a white peacock feather, pampas grass and pink delphinium flowers (N).

2To assemble, gather all your dried blooms and sugar rose and start to play about with arranging them together in a bunch. To do this, place the stems in the small Cake Pin and move them around until you are happy with the arrangement. I wanted the flowers arranged against the side of the cake, so found it easier to push the Cake Pin into the side of a polystyrene dummy. This leaves both of your hands free and enables the stems to be added, removed and rearranged without worrying about damaging the iced cake. Once you’re happy with how it looks, trim the stems to they are all level at the base of the cake.

N

FINISHING TOUCHES

1Warm up a sharp knife and carefully run it around the base of the cake to release it from the acrylic disc. Once released, spread a small amount of royal icing over the centre of the covered drum and place the cake on top, measuring to ensure it sits evenly on the drum. If there are any areas of buttercream that have been damaged, carefully run the hot knife around the base of the cake to smooth the buttercream down.

2Remove the arrangement and the Cake Pin from the dummy, line it up in position on the side of the cake and push it carefully into the cake to secure. You can’t really see the Cake Pin since it’s clear in colour, but you can use a flower to cover the pin completely if you want to.

3To finish, if you are choosing to use a cake topper, now is the time to insert it down into the centre of the cake.