How to create antique or vintage shades of buttercream icing

The good folks at Sprinks have supplied these awesome colour charts, to show you just how easy it is to create vintage shades using buttercream icing and the Sprinks range of gel paste food colourings.

The Sprinks bottles come fitted with an eye dropper, so you can easily count the drops. You can find the entire range here at Kiwicakes.

Pretty unicorn cookies

 This lovely step by step tutorial comes to us from Lisa at The Whole Cake and Caboodle 

Using a unicorn cutter from Kiwicakes. Lisa baked sugar cookies, to which she added fondant horns, shaped by hand. Painted with Rolkem Super Gold, mixed with a little rose spirit to form a paint 

Using the cookie cutter. Cut out fondant icing unicorn, then remove the horn and mane using a knife.

Glue the fondant to the cookie using  edible sugar glue and mark the ear and nose hole with a veining tool. The line for the mouth is cut with a knife.

These photos show the steps to pipe the mane. They are random squiggles of royal icing (which sets hard allowing cookies to be bagged) using Wilton tip #16

The eye can be drawn on with an edible marker pen, or painted with a brush and edible black paint.

Coloured Easter chocolate bark from Kiwicakes

I decided to make some chocolate bark using our Easter Sprinkle Medley. I couldn't decided between properly moulded bars of free form so I decided to try both. I melted some Wilton candy melts and half I spooned in to a bar slab mould and the other half I spread on parchment paper. Then I simply sprinkled over the medley mix and allowed to cool before removing from the mould or breaking in to pieces.

Any remaining candy melts can be simply spread on parchment paper, allowed too cool

Then broken in to pieces for remelting another day

I then packaged in to clear cello bags. These were super yummy to eat, the crunch from the sugar pearls and non pareils made it very enjoyable to eat.

By changing the style of sprinkle medley this would also be a fun idea for unicorn and butterfly parties, or even parties for adults. Which style do you like best?

Easter Bunny Cake fun tutorial from Kiwicakes

This cake was so much fun to make, and it made everyone smile that saw it.

I wanted to be a little different and use a white bunny, which I dusted with Rainbow Dust Pearl Blush Pink. You simply brush it on dry and it sticks beautifully. 

The cake was 6'' in diameter and is over 6'' high. I sandwiched the two layers together with millionaires caramel and then used Bakels white truffle to coat the cake. I went for a semi-naked cake look. I then added Rainbow Dust Caribbean Blue dust to more white truffle and mixed to form this lovely blue shade for the drip effect. I popped it in to a piping bag, first piping a ring around the outside and allowing it to drip. Once set, I then filled in the centre (if you cover the top and allow it to drip, you get too wide drips and too much dripping)

Before the truffle set, I sprinkled some Easter Sprinkle Medley around the rim of the cake - placing by hand some of the larger elements from the medley.

I couldn't decide at first on the final placement for my Easter plaque. In then end I placed it on the board.

I used some speckled candy eggs from the store, as well as dusting some plain white eggs (you can make these using this mould) with Rainbow Dust irridescent lilac fusion dust.

The shards were made by spreading melted Wilton candy melts on to baking paper and allowing to cool, then breaking up using my hands. Don't fret about waste, as any left over can simply be broken up for remelting another day

I used a sharp knife to cut a slit in the cake, then pushed the candy melt shards down in to the slit. It was certainly a quick cake to make, and a very effective finish with the help of some wonderful lustre powders and sprinkles.

Rocky Road Easter Eggs - a fun tutorial from Kiwicakes

These rocky road Easter eggs were fun to make and so easy even children could make them with you.

I used gluten free mini marshmallows in assorted pastel colours, as small bag of blanched almonds a 3d cracked Easter egg mould  and coloured Wilton candy melts.

The finished product I stuck to coloured cake cards, which are inexpensive yet look so pretty.

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The first step is to melt coloured candy melts in the microwave or on the stove top in a double boiler. I coated the inside of the mould using the back of a teaspoon. I hold it up to the light to look for any thin spots. Once satisfied I placed it int he fridge for ten minutes until cooled. 

Any left over candy melts can be spread on to parchment paper and cooled

They can then be broken up in to pieces for remelting another time

I used Malteser bunnies which I dusted with Rainbow Dust lustre dusts

Simply dust the powder dry over the chocolate, using a fluffy brush

To melted candy melts I added the marshmallows and blanched almonds

I placed a small amount of melted candy melts on to the cake card and placed the half egg on top to glue it in place. 

I spooned the rocky road mixture in to the egg half and pushed the bunny down in to the soft mixture. Over the top I sprinkled easter sprinkle medley

A Happy Easter Plaque finished him off.

Cute Easter Bunny cookie tutorial

This delightful Easter bunny tutorial is a quick and easy solution when you've loads of cookies to do and hate doing faces! - it's great to do with kids too. Click on the photos to enlarge and print

Do you struggle with Tappits & Clickstix lettering in icing or gumpaste?

If you do struggle, then this tutorial is for you. Tappits and Clikstix are quick and easy to use, when you know how. Click on the photos to blow them up, you can print off for easy reference.

Wafer paper flower using the new steam boss steamer

Here's a short little video I made today using the steam boss steamer we sell at Kiwicakes. You can either hold the steamer in your hand or leave sitting on the table as I have done. You can find the steamer here for 50.95, we also sell the wafer paper sheets for 5.95 each including patterned sheets and the wafer paper flower template

Faux Gold leaf effect from Anna Maria Cake Design

This awesome post comes to your from my friend Anna Maria of Anna Maria Cake design who can also be found on facebook here. Anna Maria had this to say about her wonderful faux gold technique

  Lately I have been working a lot with Claire Bowman products.

As I always say to my students and cake friends, this product has so much potential we barely scratched the surface of what can be created with it.

Today I would love to share with you how to make faux gold leaf, using Claire Bowman Cake lace.

Surely you will love it as much as I do. Not only can you save time and money but you can apply this technique with all other pearlised Claire Bowman lacemixes.

Here we go, just a few simple steps spread the gold cake lace mix onto a non stick baking tray liner

Use a large plastic or metal scraper (this is a Sugarveilscraper) and evenly spread the cake lace.

Turn a baking tray upside down, place the gold sheet on it and bake at 80° C for about 8-10 minutes.

Alternatively use "THE MAT" as a frame, cut it into a rectangle about 2" larger than the non stick baking sheet and for the centre about 1" smaller than the baking sheet.

Secure the baking sheet as well as the frame with some masking tape on the work bench, spread the lace mix evenly using the frame as a guide.

Remove tape from frame and slowly lift the frame away.

Place a baking paper on the work bench, turn the gold sheet upside down and and peel the non stick baking mat away.

Cut the gold paper to the required size using a scissors or a craft knife on a cutting mat. Any leftover gold paper can be stored between baking paper for up to 6 months.

Brush the entire cake with water

Stick the pre cut strips of gold paper on the cake.

For the top, cut a circle of gold paper same size as cake and adhere to the cake

"Voila" - all finished had to have a piece to eat!. Yummy - caramel mud cake with salted caramel and ganache filling.