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

It's Raining Cats and Dogs - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

This selection of pet themed cupcakes was made for our local Kamo SPCA opportunity shop on SPCA cupcake day recently. We have all the fun tools and equipment here to make a wide selection! Here are some of them...

These spooked kitty cats were shaped with a cutter from the Mini Paws set and black eyes were stuck into indents made with the back of the paintbrush with a little sugar glue. 

Here are the three finished scaredy cats lurking in fields of toadstools.

These butterflies were made with the medium plunger cutter from this this set and they float atop billowy clouds of white easy frost icing in sky blue butterfly cases. Champagne oil was added to the icing for a beautiful flavour.

Here you can see the intricate detail that the plunger cutters gives these butterflies with one simple push. The yellow butterfly has been dusted with a lustre dust for sheen and the entire cupcake is sprinkled with yellow edible glitter. 

We used alphabet cutters to brand these cupcakes with their blue SPCA. A pinch of tylose was added to the blue fondant to stiffen it. Once cut, the letters were indented with the back of a paintbrush for a dotty effect. The easyfrost icing was coloured and flavoured in one easy hit with the addition of lemon flavacol. These also come in other citrus and tropical fruit, and classics like coffee, peppermint, chocolate, caramel and butterscotch. A 1A tip was used to pipe the soft lemon swirls. 

These neon cats were formed with the help of a silicone mould and they look so peaceful! I always rub a tiny bit of finishing creme into moulds before I push the coloured fondant in. This ensures they pop out perfectly. These sleeping cats have been simply dusted with a lustre filled dusting powder pump brush.

These cartoony green grass cupcakes added vibrant colour to the boxes. We added mint green gel colour to our easyfrost icing as well as a couple of drops of mint chocolate chip oil flavouring. Then it was easily piped on through a grass tip #233.

The decorations on top were simply pressed into a dog themed silicone mould set. For the two-tone paw I rolled 4 tiny rounds of soft pink fondant and flattened them into the guide then put a touch of sugar glue on top of each. The ball of brown fondant was eased over gently to complete the shape. I used a sturdy pink foil cupcake case to match the pink touches on the paw.

New Kiwiana moulds in stock at Kiwicakes

Today I'm thrilled to be sharing with your three new silicone moulds joining the Kiwicakes kiwiana range The Pohutukawa sure to be popular for Christmas as well as weddings.

Both the caravan and the pukeko are kiwi classics.

These have been right manufactured right here in NZ, to our specifications.

Tutorial Tuesday - Fish Cupcake toppers

Every Tuesday here on the Kiwicakes blog in conjunction with The Whole Cake & Caboodle we'll be bringing you tutorial Tuesday. Today's tutorial is these gorgeous fish cupcake toppers (see previous tutorial for octopus).

Use the following cutters to make these required shapes (2 hearts) medium dove plunger cutter, 3 prong holly large plunger cutter or single holly leaf, 1 cm heart plunger cutter or similar cutters. 

Cut the three prong holly in this spot to separate the leaves 

Then cut the leaves down the centre, this will give you enough fins for 6 fish

Cut the tail from the dove shape like so

Then gently squeeze into a more fish tail look

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. We recommend using tylose to harden your icing.

Squeeze the end drawing it out into a teardrop shape around this shape but not quite as long as the octopus

Use a medium sized ball or dog bone tool to add holes for eyeballs. A paintbrush end or even a clean earbud can make impressions

Use a touch of edible glue to stick the tail under the body

And stick the fin to the top of the body like so

Stick the heart shape fins to the sides like so 

Roll a small ball of fondant for the mouth, stick on and poke a hole in the centre with a toothpick or similar tool

Use a small piece of fondant and roll into a oval shape then halve it. This gets you two eyes the same size. Its easier to half an oval shape than a ball. If the ball is too large start again with a smaller piece. Use a touch of glueto stick the eyeballs in then either dot a pupil with gel. If you use a toothpick you get an even dot instead of trying to paint a circle. Or use a slightly damp paintbrush to pick up small non-pariels and stick with a touch of glue.

Here I have made small holes to help the non-pariels stay in place

Voila...eyeballs can be made on the sides of the head for a different look

Octopus cupcake topper tutorial

Today's fun octopus tutorial comes to Kiwicakes with special thanks to The Whole Cake & Caboodle for creating it for us. (look for the fish tutorial next week.)

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. We reccomend adding tylose to your fondant

Squeeze the end drawing it out into a teardrop shape around this shape and length 

Cut the tail of the teardrop straight down the middle about 3-4 cm along 

Open up the cut 

Cut each leg in half again

So it looks like this 

Then cut each of the four legs again in half so there are 8. The knife needs to be clean or legs can stick to it and tear off as you cut these thinner ones.

It will then look like this

Give the top of the cuts a little roll/squeeze to make more of a head/neck

Flick each leg into a nice curl

Or twist and drape them in a direction you are happy with.

Use a smile tool to add a smile...or a frown

Use a medium sized ball or dog bone tool to add holes for eyeballs. A paintbrush end or even a clean earbud can make impressions.

Use a small piece of fondant and roll into a oval shape then halve it. This gets you two eyes the same size. Its easier to half an oval shape than a ball. If the ball is to large start again with a smaller piece.

Use a touch of glue or water to stick the eyeballs in then either dot a pupil with gel. If you use a toothpick you get an even dot instead of trying to paint a circle. 

Or use a slightly damp paintbrush to pick up small non-pariels and stick with a touch of glue.

Cute Owl fondant covered cookies

These cute fondant covered owl cookies were made by Kiwicakes staff member Karina. The Owl cookies were cut using this cutter  The fondant icing was first embossed using the floral collection impression mat set from Autumn Carpenter.
Once embossed, a fondant shape to adhere to cookie was cut, using the same owl cutter. The fondant can be adhered to the cookie using edible glue.  The little eyes and wings are made from scraps of fondant which are also adhered with edible glue.
I think Karina did an awesome job with her owl cookies. They sure made me smile!