Cake Duchess Modelling paste (gumpaste) is now available from Kiwicakes

Cake Duchess modelling paste (gumpaste) is now available from Kiwicakes.Check out some of the great videos of super cute animals and figures from Cake Duchess below. (there's even more great videos on her You Tube channel)

This little Yorkshire Terrier tutorial is adorable

Kiwi kids all over NZ will love this adorable cow topper tutorial

I adore this little Daschund tutorial, he's my kind of cute!

With the recent release of the Moana movie, this tutorial will be a real favourite

Poppy from Trolls is so cute, such an easy tutorial to follow.

Olaf everyone's favourite from Frozen. This step by step tutorial will have you making him like a pro in no time.

Gumpaste - Vintage fabric look flowers

I often get asked how I made the white flower shown here on the ruffle cake above (The cake features on our current facebook Kiwicakes page cover.) It's very quick and simple to make.

You can take any three sizes from the FMM 5 petal rose cutters (there's 6 sizes in total to choose from) and a little gumpaste.

Roll your gumpaste out thinly, place on to fondant shaping foam, or foam pad  and using an XL ball tool gently rub around the edges to slightly ruffle.

Transfer to thicker foam and press down in centre to cup.

Transfer to flower forming cups (dust the cups with cornflour so they won't stick). allow a few hours for each layer to dry, before adhering the layers together using edible glue.

The 3 layer flower on my cake had a simple pink fondant button glued in the centre, however you can create any decorative centre you wish. My last photo (above), shows how more than 3 layers of petals can be used, to create a more full looking flower. The flower can be adhered to the side of the cake using royal icing or melted chocolate. It's reasonable heavy, so you need something substantial to glue it on with. Have fun!

Fun plaques to finish cakes - Tutorial Tuesday

There are a variety of plaque shapes out there to use and one of the most fun is the plunger set with the quilted embossed panels. These can be used in so many colour ways and designs as they are, or combining with silicone moulds and alphabet cutters. The following gives some ideas as well as combinations of tools to achieve the example shown. These can be used on cookies as well as cakes

The single plaque plunger 7.5 x 4.5 should be able to be used in all these designs although there may be a slight difference in fitting some of the embellishments

1 Using plaque plunger size 8 x 4.5 cm from the set of four plaque cutters cut a black embossed shape from gumpaste or stiffened fondant.

2 Paint the embossed lines if you wish to highlight them. Here I have used a mix of the gold's from the metallic paint range. It is easier to paint by lightly rubbing the side of the paintbrush over the raised edges rather than directly trying to paint the thin lines with the end of the brush. Any mistakes can be cleaned up with a cotton bud dipped in vodka or similar alcohol. The frame edges were also painted

3 Using the curlicues cutter make two of each shape and glue them like so to make a frame for the plaque. Once the curlicues are painted the plaque frame blends in with them to add extra depth.

4 Letters can now be added if required - this plaque will easily hold two alphabet initials around 15mm high or less of whatever alphabet type you have available

5 Using plaque plunger 7.5 x 4.5 cm cut a white shape from gum paste or stiffened fondant. This can be embossed with the quilted panel if you wish. Also mould the large bow in the "ribbon bows" silicone mould out of pale pink gumpaste and cut the letters BABY from the clikstixs range from a mixture of "small uppercase" and "small lowercase" or all uppercase

6 Glue together as shown

7 Using plaque cutter 7 x 4 cut required plaque shape. Using the Wilton baroque mould, make the following shapes 2 left and 2 right of the scroll shape. They are the ones shown left (partially) and right directly under the string of pearls at the top of this photo

8 Stretch the curl out as shown and glue to the frame of the plaque, curling the ends where needed to make sure it wont overlap with the curl on the other side once its placed into position.

9 Make a left and a right of the smallest baroque curl and glued them in this position

10 The frame was then painted with a mix of the metallic gold paints

11 Another mould with so many combinations and small embellishments is this one the "tiny decorative features" mould. The pearl string makes an ideal border embellished by the shapes as shown. The small bow can also be used or make a border using one of the flower designs for a pretty alternative.

I hope this inspires you all to further ideas and designs, we would love to see what you come up with!

Tutorial Tuesday - Lavender flower spray

Tutorial Tuesday is all about lavender today, with Lisa from The Whole Cake & Caboodle. This pretty flower makes a lovely addition to any garden or floral themed cake and is quick & easy to make.

Roll a ball of fondant or gumpaste about the size of a large marble. If using plain fondant with no stiffener it can be done but will be very soft and difficult to handle

Make a long skinny sausage shape

Using #18 or 20 wire for thickness screw the sausage onto the wire all the way through. If you push it on you will cause it to change shape screw & twist as you push the wire in at least two thirds if not all the way. The thickness of the wire is only to simulate the stem, you can use thinner.

Using a small pair of scissors (embroidery or other) cut two notches in the top of the sausage like a cross

like so

the notches should only go a small way down - like above

Using the scissors cut notches starting near the top, randomly, don’t line the cuts up with the top layer

Working down the sausage 

This is the approx angle you should be holding your scissors 

Right to the end. You can now use the lavender if you want as they are

OR you can dust it for added depth. I used a mix of 2/3 rainbow dust plum, and 1/3 rainbow dust simple bright navy. Then as I didn't like the darkness I added a little cornflour/cornstarch to soften the colour. If you have mixed a 1/2 tsp approx of dust then add about the same again of cornflour/starch. Play with the mix to get a tone you are happy with. Using a soft paintbrush brush liberally using a plain piece of copy paper underneath. Any excess can then be funnelled back into a spare jar for another time

You can see the difference here. The top four have been dusted and the bottom three haven't. Again you can now use the lavender as they are

OR you can add a small flower spire from the top. Using a calyx cutter of around 1 - 1.5 cm in size cut a shape from thinly rolled icing.

Cut three petals from the calyx like so (the rest isn't needed)

Squish/roll the petals into each other to look like so

Poke a hole in the top of the lavender in the centre of the cut cross 

Use a touch of glue or water in the hole and then using a tool or toothpick poke the petals into the top. It doesn’t have to be even or overly symmetrical

Use as needed on a cake or as a display

Mini gerbera cake

This little fruit cake might not be immediately obvious from  the photo, but it's only 4'' in diameter. It was a simple and quick birthday cake for a family member from a household of 2 people. For people in my family they can be a little daunted by the never ending supply of cake. And I sometimes hear "how am I going to eat all of that?"

To start I mixed 50% orange with 50% white satin ice fondant, to create this peach colour, which I covered the cake board with. I embossed the pattern using an impression mat. Within just 1-2 minutes, you can create a pattern that looks like it took you hours. The small cake is covered in white satin ice fondant and the top is adorned with a peach gerbera flower, made from gumpaste, dusted with flame frenzy edible lustre. The cake is finished with a 4mm pearl border from this mould.

This little cake was well received and I can promise you from start to finish the cake only took about 30 minutes to decorate. I really like the look of a single flower fitting the top diameter of the cake. What do you think?

Gumpaste tip I picked up.

Gumpaste as you know is notoriously hard and "gummy" to knead. I have found that "crisco" brand shortening (which has the consistency of margarine used straight from the container) is like nourishing hand cream for gumpaste. A quick smear over over the surface of the gumpaste before kneading and it is instantly more workable. This has proved remarkably useful for working with Cricut Cake.