Tuesday 13 February 2018

Valentines Puppy Plaque

There's only one day left until the 14th Feb! Have you got anything special planned? Or are you just going to pretend it's not happening? 😉


Now, I know I say this every year ... Valentines isn't something we celebrate. 
B-u-u-ut celebrate does not equal decorate
So, there have been Valentines-themed edibles exiting my kitchen for the past couple of weeks already.     



Last year we did "Puppy Love" for the Valentines cookie class. That was one of my favourite V-Day themes to date. (It has now been eclipsed by this year's "Stuck on You" theme).

I so enjoyed that theme and those colours, that when I saw a clay plaque similar to this, I knew I had to re-create if in fondant.
(Or rather fondant and modelling chocolate - my standard blend).
It's so very quick and easy to do, that if you're only deciding now to make a cake for your special people for tomorrow, a decoration like this will take hardly any time to put together.


I used a little rubber stamp set to print on the "i / you".
If you don't have letter stamps, you could paint it on, or write it on using an edible marker.


Place onto the top or side* of a cake, or make a smaller version to use as a cupcake topper.

(*For heavy details going onto the side of a cake that's been covered in fondant, I use melted chocolate to secure it in place.)

Happy Valentines Day and happy decorating!

xxM

Monday 5 February 2018

"Stuck on You" Valentines Cactus Cookies

The very first class I offered was Valentines Cookies.
Those days I had mounds of enthusiasm and not much skill, or experience.
We used three colours (red, white and pink), and decorated heart-shaped cookies. Heart-shaped cookies only.
Visionary stuff! 🙈

We've progressed a little since then.
And become a little more imaginative with the theme!

This year it's "Stuck on You"  - cacti being so on-trend. And oh-so-huggable!




I love all the various wet-on-wet techniques one can play with in this theme:

Like this one, with just a bit of feathering on wet-on-wet stripes







and this one, even simpler - just stripes.








That's the easy part.
The tricky bit, and always my biggest challenge, is writing script on a cookie. And it's a must for this particular theme.


If you don't have a projector to make your life easier, then print out the fonts that you'll be using and use a transfer method to get the script onto a dried flooded background.
Here's one way: http://www.sugaredproductions.com/blog/transferring-an-image-without-a-projector/
and here:
http://www.sweetambs.com/tutorial/piping-without-a-kopykake-projector/

 Or throw caution to the wind and copy them free-hand  (which is still a step up from just winging it!). I write the script on lightly with a graphite pencil first, then go over that with icing.


 If you're looking for a great selection of fonts, try www.dafont.com,  or download an app like Font Gallery on your tablet or phone.



There you go... Looking sharp!

😉
xxM