Amazing Wedding Cake Designs and Tutorials from Top Artists

Jan./Feb. 2012
Wedding cakes from some top shows, includ-
ing some of the Oklahoma Sugar Arts All-Stars
•Meetthreesugarartistsworkingtoward2012
CMSA certification • Mixing methods and
their purposes • Thinking outside the plate •
Tutorials: Contemporary Color, Wedding Dress
Wedding Cake and Stencil-Cut Spiral Rose

www.americancakedecorating.com 1
INSPIRATION
THE ULTIMATE WEDDING FANTASIES
Wedding cakes are the stars of almost every cake event.
Here are some amazing entries from a range 2011 shows
including ICES.
OKLAHOMA SUGAR ARTS ALL-STARS
Most of the top ten entries from the annual decorating
extravaganza, with special thanks to all those who helped
round up these images.
TUTORIAL
CONTEMPORARY COLOR
A clean, architectural wedding cake design inspired by the
runways of Paris and New York.
By Chef Nicholas Lodge
WEDDING DRESS WEDDING CAKE
A design based on the client’s wedding dress—from the
ruffled skirt to the pleated bodice.
By Annie Dam
STENCIL-CUT SPIRAL ROSE
Inspired by a Martha Stewart papercraft project, create
roses from one basic pattern and dozens of other blooms
with just small variations.
By Lew Churnick
CERTIFICATION 2012: MEET THE NEW CLASS FOR RENO
Q&A with some of the industry members seeking CMSA
status at the Reno convention.
18,000 BRITISH CAKE DECORATORS CAN'T BE WRONG
Beryl Loveland shares her experience at the massive Cake
International show in Birmingham, U.K.
SWEET SCIENCE: MIXING METHODS AND THEIR PURPOSES
The debut of a new column that digs into the ‘hows’ and
‘whys’ of cakes, sugarwork and chocolate. This issue features
an excerpt from the acclaimed text, How Baking Works, on
what’s really happening when you make dough or batter.
By Paula Figoni
THINKING OUTSIDE THE PLATE
How to create a hanging cake and other innovative cake
display ideas.
By Lori Sladyk Gilmore and Karen Sladyk
EVERY ISSUE
INTERNET SHOPPING DIRECTORY
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
FAVORITE TOOLS FROM OUR CONTRIBUTORS
Contributors to our wedding showcases share
their top tools.
CONTENTS
7
46
24
52
50
40
42
34
38
4
THIS ISSUE
Wedding Cake Designs
SPECIAL IN THIS ISSUE
6
62
ON THIS PAGE
ShownleftisadetailfromaVictorianhatboxdesignbyJuneLynchof
Ontario,Canada. PhotobyCraigMierop. Shownrightisadetailfrom
AnnetteHala’sentryinthe2011OSSASweddingcakecompetition. For
moreOSSAScakes,seepage24.
ON THE COVER
An award-winning wedding cake designed by Irene B. Maston, CEC,
AAC, o fLudlow,. Vermont, where the challange was to create a cake
for a fictional couple using at least four concepts from their imaginary
biography. Photo by Craig Mierop.

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4 January/February 2012
AMERICAN
CAKEDECORATING
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Managing Editor
Contributors
Featured Decorators
& Chefs
Special Thanks
President & CEO
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Sales Manager
Editorial Advisory Board
Subscriptions:
Susan Schultz
Craig Mierop
Nichole Day Diggins
Lew Churnick, Annie Dam, Paula Figoni, Lori
Sladyk Gilmore, Nicholas Lodge, Beryl Loveland,
Karen Sladyk
Lisa Bugeja, Kim Bush, Joseph Cumm, Ahn
gross, Annette Hala, Edith Hall, Bob Johnson,
Linda Kelly, Carol Lowe, June Lynch, Irene B.
Maston, Theresa McCollum, Nancy Mitchko,
Earlene Moore, Kim Morrison, Dawn Parrott,
Vivian Pham, Barb Sullivan, Ruth Rickey, Rebecca
Sutterby, Daniel Swift, Kimbla Trahan, Pamela
Tsaldaris, Joanne Wieneke
Valerie Hatton, Claire Holzman, Annette Hala,
Bob Johnson, Rebecca Sutterby
Grace McNamara
Peggy Yung
Karen Griffiths
Dalila Cabrita de Peña, Variedades Dalila
Mary Jo Dowling, CMSA, Elegant Edibles
Michael Joy & Beatrice Schneider,
The Chicago School of Mold Making
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PHOTOFROST: THE ICING ON THE CAKE
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SUGARVEIL CONFECTIONERY PRODUCTS
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EDITORIAL For most of my adult life I have had the premoni-
tion that how I felt on New Year’s Day would be an
indication of how the rest of the year would go. I’m
excited to report that I woke up feeling that 2012
will be a terrific year for not just me personally but
my business, which includes all of you passionate
cake decorators!
A recent survey gave us a good perspective of what
you want. For your favorite section, most readers
chose cake photos, followed by tutorials. When we
asked what you wanted to see more of, the most
popular responses were how-to tutorials and baking
techniques. To demonstrate that we do listen to our
readers, we introduce a new feature in this issue, Sweet
Science on page 40. Each issue we will tackle a specific
technique, ingredient or other aspect of baking that
will make your final piece better than ever.
Because we only have so many pages that we can
produce in print, we will be bringing you more of
the information and ideas that you want on our newly designed and launched website,
www.americancakedecorating.com. Check out our website regularly to see new tutori-
als, fabulous new products, an ingredient of the month, industry news, and coming soon,
‘tidbits’, where we ask our readers to share photos, stories and ideas. And don’t forget, our
monthly newsletter SLICE (you can subscribe on our website) to round out your cake
decorating and baking skills.
I predict 2012 to be an exciting and fulfilling year for the cake industry. We will do our best
to bring you fresh, timely ideas to inspire your passion. Please send us your thoughts and
requests—we are listening!
Happy New Year!
All the best,
Grace McNamara
Publisher
WHATAREYOUUPTO?
We’re interested in the successes (and interesting failures!) of ACD
readers. We’d like to hear from you regarding your projects, your latest
discoveries, your proudest achievements and more. It’s all part of the
new ACD website where we invite our readers to share, inform, inspire
and encourage each other. Get in touch with your photos and
comments: email contact@americancakedecorating.com.
And, if you go to a cake show, let us know! Beryl Loveland shared her
experience at the Cake International show in Birmingham, U.K., and
we would not have had the pages of great Oklahoma State Sugar Arts
Show cakes without the help of readers and participants such as An-
nette Hala, Rebecca Sutterby and Bob Johnson. So please, let us know
where you're going and we can share more shows with readers. Email
susan@spacedowntown.com
LOOKING FORWARD

WEDDINGFANTASIESTHEUTLIMATE Beautifully designed
wedding cakes are always
crowd favorites at the
shows… and why not?
Decorators go all out to
create these sweet and
stunning looks, following
visions of their own or
those inspired by clients.
Cake by Bob Johnson
Photo by Craig Mierop

Bob Johnson, Couture Cakes,
Huntsville, AL
Known for his ‘Grand Formal’
cakes, Bob Johnson says one of
his favorite design periods is the
French Baroque and the influences
can often be seen in his work, such
as this seven-tier cake, left, where
he uses different shapes and sizes
to create multiple ‘stages’ and areas
of design interest. A fantastical
bird, made of gumpaste shaped and
sculpted over an egg form, sits on
a bed of roses and hydrangeas. The
head and feathers of the bird were
made with gumpaste sculpted over
floral wire. A gold crown decorated
with a large pearl and featuring
more flowers tops the cake, carry-
ing the pearl and gold details from
the cakeboard all the way up.
A more restrained version of his
design style in shown on the previ-
ous page—five tiers with a shaped
separator, all decorated with a sten-
ciled damask pattern. “I used royal
icing, made a bit thicker than usual
to create a slight stucco effect,” said
Johnson. “This allowed me a better
surface to hand paint the pattern
with silver luster dust thinned with
alcohol.” To finish the edges of each
tier he created gumpaste ribbons
and pearls.
When asked how he got these
towering cakes to the show safely,
he gladly explained, “All of my
cakes are supported by a central
rod, no matter what size,” said
Jonhson. “I screw a base pipe
wrapped with white tape into a
1/2" thick Masonite board. Each
tier is then placed on a very thin
Masonite board covered with
white foam core with a 1" hole in
the center for securing around the
main support pipe.”

Irene B. Maston, CEC, AAC, Irene’s Cakes by Design, Ludlow, VT
This cake won the grand prize with a perfect score at the 2011 National Capital Area Cake Show Wedding Cake Competition. “I get very
few requests for string work so it is both a treat and a frustration to do it for competition cakes,” said Irene Maston. “I spent 12 1/2 hours
just on the crossed drop strings of the lace edging.” The endless knot detail under the monogram on three sides of the cake was also a bit
trying. “I probably made 30 or more of them, first from royal icing, but they kept breaking when I tried to move them to the cake. Then
I tried SugarVeil,” said Maston. It was tough piping for that long a period in one squeeze to get a nice even line.” Her favorite part of the
cake, in addition to the peonies which she loves to make, was the lace repilca on the top two tiers. “I loved how it came out,” she said. “I
used actual lace to make the impressions on my cut-out flowers.”

Earlene Moore, Earlene’s Cakes,
Lubbock, TX
Using the newest versions of the lace
molds she created with Dominic Palazolo
of Make Your Own Molds, Earlene Moore
only had a few days to create this cake. Us-
ing only one color of ivory fondant for the
covering and the decorations, along with
nearly a dozen of the new molds, Moore
designed this lace fantasy. Some molds
she used ‘as is’ and others she trimmed out
only certain elements to use. The top tier is
a three-layer cake with the bottom beveled
to make a smooth transition, accented, of
course, with another lace pattern. The top
of the cake was also designed with molds,
while hand-shaped fondant pearls were
added as accents throughout the design.
Everything was then painted using a flat
1/4" wide brush with pearl sheen so that
only the raised areas picked up a hint of
shimmer.
Nancy Mitchko, Dream Sweet, Hamilton, NJ and
Joanne Wieneke, The Little Cake Patch, Robbinsville, NJ
This unique and elegant cake features a seldom-seen technique—hand-piping on wires. Nancy
Mitchko and Joanne Wieneke collaborated on this design to create a cake that updates traditional
Philippine-style wedding decorations, such as the white Sampaguita (Philippine Jasmine) flowers
and buds. The cake structure uses a tall candlestick pillar support above the first tier, accented with
cascades of floral sprays to create a dramatic, sculptural effect.
The cage at the top was made out of gumpaste. In creating a structure that appears fragile yet will sup-
port a fair bit of weight from the top bouquet of flowers, Mitchko and Wieneke needed to find a way
to support the roof without destroying the airy quality of the delicate cage. Their solution came in the
form of a central footed pillar, covered in fondant and decorated to create a central focal point in the
cage. When assembling the top tier, the cage walls were placed around the central pillar, the roof went
on, and then the bouquet was placed into the pillar through the roof.
For the hand piping on wires, Mitchko and Wieneke needed to research a variety of different
methods, tricks and approaches to achieve the look they wanted. In the end, they realized that the
success of wire-piped flowers relies on a good recipe for royal icing.
As a display cake, the tiers were sytrofoam dummies. The team traveled from New Jersey with all
the elements in pieces and, once in Charlotte, assembled the cake in their hotel room. Once it was
finished, they needed to move it across the street, down the block to the convention center, and
then down to the lower level of the convention center to the cake gallery. The hotel let them bor-
row a luggage cart to transport the cake and both confess it was quite a site. It arrived whole and
intact with no damage whatsoever.

Barb Sullivan, Barb’s Cakes, Alabaster, AL
Barb Sullivan’s cake was fit for a queen, as indicated by the interlocking M and A gold monogram (as in Marie Antoinette) on the second tier.
This all-white confection is draped in shimmering swags and strands of pearls, all accented with roses, orchids and small touches of lace. Top-
ping it off is a gumpaste vase filled with even more flowers, completing a design that is rich and opulent without being overpowering.
Photos by Craig Mierop

Linda Kelly, Chadbourn, NC
Linda Kelly took advantage of her ‘local’
status to create several cakes for
the ICES show including these two
wedding designs. The pale blue Victorian-
inspired cake, left, was developed with her
shop in mind. She wanted something she
could look at every day and never tire of,
while also incorporating several design
ideas she had in mind. These included oval
tiers and the use of a divider betwen the
second and third tiers. The cameos were
made using a mold based on one of her
own pieces, while the lace and pearls used
commercial molds.
For the ivory cake, right, she wanted to
design something that used 6" tiers. She
loosely based the design on the idea of a
wedding dress, combining medium ivory
for the fondant covering and light ivory
for the decorations. The ribbons, corner
draping and the bow are all lace-im-
pressed. The center of the bow is a from
a mold Kelly made from one of her own
pieces, while the other decorations were
commercial molds.
For the floral topper, she cut a Styrofoam
ball in half and covered in it fondant, creat-
ing a lip and the support. The bouquet of
roses, lilies and other blossoms fills the
vase and gracefully spills over, accented
with ‘crystal’ drops.

June Lynch, Picture Perfect Cake &
Art, Dundas, Ontario
June Lynch created a cake designed
around a theme of Victorian hat
boxes, a concept that let her include
many of her favorite touches—lock-
ets, pearls, cameos, tassels, lace and
lots and lots of flowers. She chose
flowers popular in Victorian gardens
such as lily of the valley, old-fash-
ioned roses, honeysuckle, stephano-
tis and ivy.
Lynch made her own silicone molds
for the lace patterns used on the
cakes, a first for her. She had also
never tried making a honeysuckle
before, so picked several from her
garden to use as her guides.
She used a 24k edible gold ‘paint’
for the tassels, the lockets and the
border of the cameos. The cameos
themselves were made with a mold,
but she made the filagree borders for
each by hand.
Anh Gross, Blythewood, SC
For her ICES wedding cake, Anh Gross decided to focus on soft, fabric effects combined with
intricate piping. And although she enjoys creating realistic elements, in keeping with the fabric
theme she designed her flowers to look like folded fabric and ribbon.
For the royal icing piping, she marked six equal intervals around the sides of the tiers and then
traced the pattern on o the fondant, making sure that everything lined up correctly. She painted
the background of the area to be piped over with a mixture of pink petal dust, lilac petal dust,
super pearl dust, and vodka. The lattice was piped next with a PME #1 tip. The most challenging
part of piping were curling border lines. She used a PME #2 tip and applied different pressure as
she went to create different thicknesses. The fishnet piping was done with a PME #0 tip.
Gross said that the most challenging part of this cake was the drapery on the fourth tier. She had
planned to have the entire upper tier wrapped with one piece of fondant, and the lower tier in
another. However, without an extra pair of hands, that proved to be impossible. Instead she di-
vided the draped area into three parts and covered the overlapping seams with pleated ribbons.
To make that unexpected added element cohesive with the rest of the cake, she created pleated
ribbon around the cake board and accented it with ‘fabric’ blossoms.

Kim Morrison, Cakes for Occasions, Spring Mills, PA
This prize-winning cake at the 2011 National Capital Area Cake
Show was designed by Kim Morrison. It traveled to Virginia,
Maryland and then on North Carolina, with no real damage to the
delicate gumpaste flowers or the over structure.
Morrison created most of the cake on dummies, except for the sec-
ond tier. The sculpted shape was made with an almond butter cake
that she was also making for a client. She spent an entire month
working on the gumpaste flowers—roses, orchids, peonies and
calla lilies—with the top bouquet taking one entire day just to wire.
“The floodwork monogram was the trickiest part,” said Morrison.
“Attaching the monogram to the separator posts took some time
because I wanted it to appear as if it were floating.”
“I also had some difficulty getting exactly the right sheen on the
fabric-effect drapes. I finally resolved it by rolling the paste out on
luster dust, then rubbing the dust into the paste. That gave it just
the right sheen.”

Photos by Stringer Photography

Kimbla Trahan, Sweet Sensations by Kim,
Jennings, LA
The original design of this cake is by Sweet South-
ern Ladies, Becky Guidry and Martha Hebert, but
Kimbla Trahan loved the Victorian look and wanted
to try her hand at the spherical tiers, so she entered
this in the 2011 Austin That Takes the Cake show.
She used a variety of lace molds, but all the pearls
and draperies were hand shaped. “I’m particularly
proud of the birds,” said Trahan. “Each feather is
hand cut and layered for a delicate, realistic look.”
Photos by Adrian Williams

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Ruth Rickey, CMSA, Oklahoma City, OK
Designed for the 2011 Art of the Cake show in Ohio, which
had a wedding cake theme based on men’s ties, Ruth Rickey
chose the bolo tie her husband wore at their wedding. “I
used the Make Your Own Mold product to create a mold of
the bolo, the hat band from my husband’s cowboy hat and of
the conchos on one of my western belts,” said Rickey, adding
that she used a purchased mold for the ladies jewelry on the
top tier.
The pieces were all molded from gumpaste and then painted
with gold, silver or bronze and finished with Leaf Glaze on all
the metal surfaces for extra shine. The turquoise stones were
made from a marbled turquoise fondant that Rickey further
enhanced with painted accent line. The necklace lines were
piped with gray royal icing and then painted silver.
All roses were made with Platinum Paste, then dusted with
shimmers/pearl accents and steamed to set the colors. “After
comments from the judges in Ohio, I changed the blue roses
to white ones for the Austin show and I added silver leaves,”
said Rickey. “I thought it was more attractive and it is now the
cover cake for the 2012 ICES Brochures for the Reno Conven-
tion!”

Ruth Rickey, CMSA, Oklahoma City, OK
For her second cake at the Austin That Takes the Cake show,
Rickey was inspired by a demo she saw at the ICES convention. “I
saw Dalia Weinman do Zari Embroidery and I wanted to do a cake
with that style design ever since,” said Rickey. “I finally started to
research it and learned that it often features stones or sequins, as
well as metallic thread embroidery. I found some pictures online
and adapted my design from a blend of those images.”
All the cut outs are in fondant. The details were piped with yellow
royal icing and then painted with gold. For the sequins, she used a
#9 tip to cut out gumpaste circles, poked them with a straight pin
and shaped them slightly. These were then painted gold, given a
glaze and then applied to the royal icing detail lines as accents.
This cake was originally developed for a class Rickey taught at
Nicholas Lodge’s open house, but she felt it was too pretty not to
enter. “I added some gumpaste peonies and felt that it made a very
sweet display.”

Theresa McCollum, Florence, SC
Ruffles and lace are familiar themes for wedding
cakes, but for her ICES cakes, Theresa McCollum
wanted to incorporate those themes in a unique
manner. For the cake topper she used an acrylic
ball and applied molded fondant lace. This sits on
a stand made of molded cereal treats covered in
fondant. She used rock candy around the outside
edge of each tier to give the same glistening effect as
the acrylic ball.
Continuing the lace theme with her chocolate
cake, McCollum used brush embroidery on the
bottom tier, molded lace on the second tier and
vintage-style buttons on the top tier. As a topper,
she created a saucer rose. Using round cutters and
starting from the outside working in, she cut circles
of fondant mixed with gum-tex. Each circle was
slightly ruffled, then added on top of the next larger
layer. The saucer’s outside perimeter is the perfect
size to make a rose that will just cover the top tier.
“Place some small pieces of wadded paper towl in
between the layers to keep the ruffles shaped while
drying,” said McCollum. “The result is a beautiful,
full, open rose that is super fast and easy.”
For the chocolate cake, McCollum’s husband made
the custom stand, which included a stationary dow-
el through the center to stabilize the cake. It was
screwed from the bottom of the stand and the tiers
were placed over the dowels as it was assembled.
“Both cakes and decorations used my own marsh-
mallow fondant,” said McCollum. “I did add some
gum-tex to the fondant I used for the rose and ruf-
fles for additional support. When I first started cake
decorating, I hated fondant—I did not like the taste
or the texture. But then I discovered marshmallow
fondant and I realized you really limit your creative
abilities if you rule fondant out. I was determined
to find a way to make it work. ACD

SUGARARTSALL-STARSOKLAHOMA The theme for this year’s
Oklahoma State Sugar
Art Show was“Wedding
Cakes Rock”a concept
that let designers’ imagi-
nations run wild—with
inspiration ranging from
ancient warriors to con-
temporary art.

Pamela Tsaldaris, Great Bakes
Cakes, Port Huron, MI
Pamela Tsaldaris loves competitions
because they allow her to create
cakes with the goal of pleasing only
herself. For this unique and color-
ful cake, Tsaldaris used a photo of a
Japanese Samurai warrior she’d had
in mind for a while.
“I love using color, and I think this
makes my work stand out,” said
Tsaldaris. “The Samurai image al-
lowed me to use strong, bold colors
within a theme with lots of distinc-
tive design elements.”
Most of the designs were handmade.
Tasldaris handpainted the corners
using black food color gel. A new
technique she used for this cake was
coiling extruded fondant around
a wooden skewer. She was able to
create edges and borders in two
colors by wrapping the colors side
by side on the skewer. When she had
finished with the main design, she
felt the overall cake was very bold,
but almost a bit too masculine, so she
added some more delicate touches
such as scrolled piping with tiny
blossoms, little golden embossed
pulls and other little touches.

Annette Hala, Annette’s Cakes,
Denver, CO
Since this year’s theme for OSSAS
was open, Annette Hala decided
to create a cake that included only
things she liked—blue hydran-
geas and piped designs. “I love to
do piping and came up with the
idea to do piping that looked like
a soft lace overlay. Lace molds
are very popular right now, but
they didn’t suit the style I wanted
for my cake—a lace that was soft,
light and fresh.”
Hala had only made hydrangeas
once before and was determined
to make the ones on her cake real-
istic. She estimates she eventually
spent more than 100 hours just
on the flowers—cutting, veining,
drying, dusting, steaming and
wiring each of the more than 600
blossoms used on the cake.
The lace pattern was inspired by a
vintage lace table cloth Hala found
on eBay. “After covering the layers
with fondant, while it was still soft
I marked the basic elements of
the floral design on the cake,” said
Hala. When the fondant was dry
I did drop strings for the scallops
and then filled the entire upper
area with freehand cornelli lace
using a PME tip #0. I stopped and
started the lace at the edges of the
floral pattern I had pre-marked on
the fondant so that I would still
be able to see where I would over-
pipe the flowers and scrolls.”
In spite of meticulous sifting
and straining of her royal icing,
a clogged tip was her greatest
furstration during the 65 hours
it took to complete the piping
design. She then added tiny pearl
dragées to the center of the flow-
ers for additional interest.
“I believe that successfully entering
a cake competition has as much to
do with the patience and endur-
ance to complete the cake as
artistry or skill,” said Hala. “It’s like
running a marathon. You don’t ap-
preciate the blood, sweat and tears
until you’ve done it yourself.”

Dawn Parrott, CWPC, Cypress, TX
A beautiful piece of fabric embellished with sequins and stitching
served as the starting point for Dawn Parrot’s cake. To create the
sequins, Parrott used gelatin. “This was a new technique for me,”
said Parrott. “They are amazing—they look just like the real things. I
made 4000 of them for the silver leaves and when I finished them the
result looked exactly like the fabric.”
Another first for Parrott was the stringwork in colored royal icing.
“The base of the bottom tier was painted in an emerald luster dust
and the black extension stringwork created a rippling visual effect as
you walked round the cake,” said Parrott.
Asproudassheisofthisdesign,thisisnotthecakesheplannedto
bringtoTulsa.“Iwasplanninganotherdesign,butitdidn’tworkout,”
saidParrott.“Idecidedtostartfromscratchtwoweeksbeforethecom-
petitionandworkedonthisalmostexclusivelyduringthattime.”

Carol Lowe, Auburn Hills, MI
For her classically elegant wedding
cake, Carol Lowe based her design on
a porcelain plate handpainted with
green vines, colorful butterflies and a
gold rim.
Lowe is proud of her skill with gumpaste
flowers and developed an overall design
that showcased a wide range of blos-
soms. The butterflies she made with gel-
atin, a relatively new technique for her,
but she felt they turned out well. The
one design aspect she feels she needs to
work on is her brush embroidery.

Edith Hall, Cakes with the Personal
Touch, Hallsville, MO
Edith Hall called this design “vintage
couture” where she used a differ-
ent textile effect for each tier. The
bottom tier features 16 panels of
weaving, done with black, sliver and
off-white strips. In order to keep the
lines straight and keep the strips from
stretching, Hall cut each on the angle
before wrapping them around the tier.
Other layers feature what Hall called
“fantasy flowers”— layers of ever
smaller cut-outs, in gradually lighter
colors, each piped with black outlines.
The narrow, black tiers have simpler
versions of these flowers. A ring of
stringwork surrounds the tier, with
curtained openings to showcase these
tiny blossoms.
The top tier includes some of the
weaving technique, as well as a more
elaborate version of the fantasy flow-
ers—some placed on wires for added
dimensionality. A pearl border was
added to the base of each tier as a
finishing touch.

Lisa Bugeja, Flour Confections, Pickering, Ontario
During the 2011 ICES convention in Charlotte, Lisa
Bugeja visted the Bechtler Museum and saw one of the
Op Art paintings of Bridget Riley. “Prior to the conven-
tion, I had been toying with the idea of doing an Op Art
cake,” said Bugeja, “and seeing Riley’s work made it all
come together for me. I love the graphic nature of the
designs, how they make your eyes practically vibrate,
making you feel uncomfortable yet comfortable at the
same time.”
Each year for the OSSAS show, Bugeja sets a goal for
herself. Her first year, her goal was simply to enter. The
second year, her goal was to create as clean a cake—in
finish and style—as she could. This year, her chosen
goal was to take a classic technique and present it in a
modern and contemporary design. She chose Oriental
style stringwork and decided to encase an entire tier
using that technique in her Op Art theme of black
and white. It took over seven hours to complete the
‘cathedral-window’ style stringwork and piping for that
tier, while the striping of the base board and the top tier
took six hours each.
Although a contemporary version of stringwork was
her stated goal, Bugeja is equally proud of her gumpaste
flowers. “I had perviously avoided doing realistic flowers
for this competition. I was always afraid they wouldn’t
be ‘good enough’ when compared with the work of all
the other talented designers who entered, but I’m really
pleased with the results.”

Vivan Pham, San Jose, CA
Vivian Pham was inspired by Fabergé eggs; she was intrigued by
the delicate, jewelry-like metalwork the famous designs featured.
And because she didn’t want her cake to be just round, square or
oval, the theme also gave her the idea to explore other shapes.
Pham describes her typical style as very intricate, with a lot of
sclupting, so a Fabergé-type look was something she felt comfort-
able attempting, although it did require plenty of research into the
design elements.
Because she is self-taught, Pham often experiments to get the
results she wants. For example, she wanted a metallic look that was
neither silver or gold, so she mixed several different combinations
of these dusts together in order to finally achieve the warm, aged
silver she had in mind.
To create her ‘silverware platter’, she mixed tylose with water to cre-
ate a very thick paste and applied this in only certain areas. She let
this set, but not fully dry, and airbrushed it in this still-tacky stage
to create an antique finish.
The purple fondant sphere does not touch the encasing ‘crown’,
which necessitated some tricky wiring. Pham, who said that it felt
like she worked on the cake “forever”, admits she has no idea how
much time the design took in total, but says the the 26-hour drive
to Tulsa was the most nerve-wracking part of the whole experience.

Rebecca Sutterby, Sugar Creations, Uniontown, KS
Before she became a professional cake designer/baker, Rebecca
Sutterby studied commercial graphics in college. She worked for
several printing companies doing typesetting, logo design, dark-
room work, plate burning and proofreading. As a result, she’s still
a bit infatuated with fonts and typography. Her inspiration for this
cake was an ornamental character font called Calligraphia Latina
that she was drawn to for its gracefulness and complexity.
In working to get the designs to fit exactly to her cake sizes, she
discovered that the characters weren’t as symmetrical as they seemed
at first glance. “They may have looked fine printed on a page and at a
smaller scale,” said Sutterby, “but I needed them to be perfectly even.”
To correct and manipulate the characters, she eventually needed to
re-draw each one while trying to maintain the overall elegance. She
used a clay gun to extrude all the finished typography designs.
“Asthecakedesignbegantocometogether,Iaddedasmanyofmy
favoritethingsasIcouldtothecake:elegantbowsandpleats,alacy
cut-outedgedetail,beautifulshadesofpurple,somesparkle,andflow-
ers–lotsandlotsofflowers,”saidSutterby. Theflowerdesignsinclude
hydrangea,hellebore,peonies,ranunculus,anemonesandberries.
With all the work that went into the typography design, Sutterby
was most exited with how the butterflies turned out. Gumpaste
wings were hand-cut, wired and veined, then dusted with five
shades of pink and purple and finally painted each wing was then
individually wired to a body for finished positioning. ACD

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• more news and photos
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• book reviews
• more how-to demos
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• ingredient of the month
• and our all-new ‘tidbits’ section with
reader photos and ideas
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websitereally
takes the cake!
Our new

MEETTHENEWCLASSFORRENOCERRTIFICATION2012:
Throughout the course of the year, ACD will once again follow the plan-
ning and preparations of some of those dedicated cake decorators who
have signed on for certification testing at the annual ICES show and con-
vention. We’ll look into their motivations and goals, check in with their
training progress and follow up with them after the test. Here are three
prospectiveCMSAs,allworkingtowardCMSAaccreditationinReno.
ACD: How did you get started
in cake decorating and sugar
arts? What’s your background?
Chef Joseph Cumm, Philadel-
phia, PA:
My daughter was born 11 years
ago and when I finished her first
birthday cake, I realized that I
was in the wrong field. I began
making cakes for friends and
family. The cakes turned into
pastries and I soon found myself
catering for many weddings
and special events. This was the
beginning of my pastry/cake
decorating career.
I graduated summa cum
laude from Johnson
and Wales University
with a degree in Baking
and Pastry Arts. Upon
graduation, I worked two
years at Bank of America
corporate center as As-
sistant Executive Pastry
Chef. In October of
2008, I took the position
of Department Head of
Pastry Arts at Southeast
Culinary and Hospitality College in Bristol,
VA, and was nominated for Outstanding
Faculty Member 2010 for two-year Virginia
state schools. Currently, I am a Pastry Chef
Instructor at The Pennsylvania School of
Culinary Arts, a Division of YTI Career
Institute. I have been an active member of
ICES for the past three years.
Kim Bush, Tacoma, WA: When I was
young, I never wanted to play sports or take
dance classes, I just loved to cook and bake.
There was a small cake shop in a little white
house near where I lived growing up. When-
ever we drove by I begged my mother to let
me take classes and, in 1986, I took my first
Wilton classes there—I still have my original
Wilton instruction books!
I made cakes
for friends and
family off and
on and eventu-
ally moved
on to candy
making as
well. Life takes
over as we all
know and cake
decorating un-
fortunately was
put on the back
burner. But Ihadalwayswantedtoattend
the Wilton SchoolinDarien,IL,andtheonly
person stoppingmefromgoingwasme.SoI
scheduled a vacationfromworkandflewto
Chicago. Then,in2009Igraduatedfromthe
Baking & PastryprogramfromtheInterna-
tional CulinarySchoolattheArtInstitutein
Seattle. OvertheyearsIhavetakennumerous
classes from someofthebestintheindustry
such as NicholasLodge,BronwenWeber,
Debbie Brown,LorraineMaKay,Kathleen
Lange, KaseyLackey,LaurenKitchensand
Ron Ben Isreal.
Chef Daniel Swift, Las Vegas, NV: My
background with baking started when I was
19 and took a job as a baker at The Sand-
piper restaurant in Boise, ID, my home town.
I did not have any experience so I went and
bought a book on baking and started to read
and learn as much as I could.
After I started school at Boise State’s Culi-
nary program, I knew I was going to make
baking a part of my life forever. My first busi-
ness was making wedding cakes for friends
at church; they were standard Wilton-style
cakes with lace and ribbons, etc. None of
the fondant and fancy stuff for me back in
the day.
I began
entering
cooking
competitions
and won a
scholarship
to Johnson
and Wales
in Rhode
Island, so I took their pastry arts program.
There I learned more of the classical cake
decorating, chocolate and sugar work. Leav-
ing JWU, I was well rounded as a cook, baker
and pastry chef.
Over the next 10 years I traveled and worked
at some of the finest hotels, restaurants and
private clubs from Rhode Island to Hawaii,
including the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, So-
noma Mission Inn and Spa and Stars Seattle,
among others. In 2007, I opened my own
bakery, the Pomona Baking Co., with my
wife Alice, running it for three years before
selling it in 2010.
IreceivedmyMastersinEducationalFounda-
tionsfromtheUniversityofHawaiiin2005
andhavetaughthospitality,culinary,baking
andpastrycoursesforthelast11yearsatsuch
institutionsasKapiolaniCommunityCollege,
TheCollinsCollegeofHospitalityManage-
mentatCal-PolyPomona,andmostrecently
astheExecutiveChefInstructorattheUniver-
sityofNevada,LasVegas.
I am currently in my third year of my doc-
toral studies at the University of La Verne,
Editor’sNote
If you have registered for the 2012 Reno
test and would like to be included in future
issues, please contact susan@spacedown-
town.com. If you previously responded and
received no reply, I apologize. I had a com-
puter crash in October and lost some data,
including emails from just before the crash.
So please, get in touch with me again!

working on a Doctorateinorga-
nizationalleadershipandfocusing
onleadershiptheoryasitapplies
toMasterChefs.
I am a Certified Master Baker
through the Retail Bakers of
America and hold certifications
with the American Culinary
Federation (ACF) as a Certi-
fied Executive Chef and a Cer-
tified Executive Pastry Chef.
ACD: Why are you taking
the test for sugar art certifica-
tion?
JC: I am constantly trying to
challenge myself in all aspects
of my field, so I suppose this is
the main reason for trying for
certification. I need to prove to
myself that I can do it.
KB: Obtaining the CMSA/
CSA title has been a personal
goal of mine. It’s one thing to be
told by your friends and fam-
ily that your cakes and sugar
work are good and that you have talent, but
actually being tested on a set of skills with
specific adjudication standards is completely
different.
DS: I chose to go for the certification in
Reno because I very much believe in profes-
sional development and lifelong learning.
The test is very complex and thorough and
will prove to be a great challenge for me. I
am a new member of ICES so this is sort of
jumping into the deep end, but having just
completed my certification as an executive
pastry chef with the ACF and having owned
my own bakery from 2007-2010, the timing
seems right.
ACD: Given your overview of the certi-
fication handbook, what do you feel are
your strongest skill sets?
JC: I have not completely decided on all my
technique choices but I am getting close. I
feel my strength will be in intricate pip-
ing work, such as Oriental stringwork and
bridge and extension work. I also feel quite
comfortable with cast, pulled and blown
sugar work.
KB: I’m still working on which skill sets
I want to be adjudicated on. There are so
An example of string work by Chef Joseph Cumm.
A flower-filled wedding cake by Kim Bush.
many different skill sets to consider in order
to not only receive the highest point value,
but to also complete an aesthetically pleas-
ing and cohesive piece of sugar art in the
time allotted.
My absolute favorite things to make are
sugar/gumpaste flowers. I love all different
kinds of flowers. Gumpaste flowers will
most likely be one of the skill sets I choose.
I’m also a fan of what I call “old style” cake
decorating. I love buttercream cakes with
roses, swags, stringwork and borders. I
think piping skills are becoming a lost art.
Lambeth is truly a favorite of mine, in addi-
tion to pulled sugar.
DS: Looking at the handbook it is hard
to say what exactly I will create, as the
guidelines very detailed. I have always
done well with marzipan, pastillage,
chocolate work and sugar, working
very fast, clean and organized, but now
that I am 44 and just got my first pair
of glasses, all that detail work requires
a bit more attention than when I was
younger!

ACD: Which skills do you
feel you need to devote the
most time to?
JC: I plan on developing all
of my skills to my utmost
ability. I’ll work on master-
ing each skill, practicing
them over and over, and will
do several test runs over the
next several months.
KB: I won’t be giving
away any of my secrets for
my design plans, but I will
share my plan in the coming
months. I’ll be working on
some mold-making designs
and skills, new flower
designs and some new skills
I’ve never tried. Mostly, I’m
going to practice to make
my dad proud—and have
a lot of fun in the process.
My dad, who just died this
past December after a long
struggle with cancer, was
so proud of my sugar work
and wanted me to be happy.
Cake decorating is the one
thing that has always made
me happy! It’s the absolute
best feeling in the world to
watch a person’s expression
and excitement when they
see the special cake for the
first time that you made
uniquely for them.
DS: Planning is critical from
start to finish in competi-
tion and certification tests.
One needs to be precise and
focused and practice a great
deal. As I choose my specific
areas, I will let you know as
much as I can (gotta keep
a bit of a surprise for the
judges) but we do submit
our drawings in April. Fine
piping and fondant work
will be an area to practice,
as will flower making and
airbrushing.
ACD: How to you plan to
put your MSA/CMSA title
to work in your future?
JC: Certification can only
lead to a bigger and brighter
future, and I can take what
I learn through the process
and share it with my current
and future students. It will
also give me the opportu-
nity to perhaps travel and
teach sugar arts around
the country at local and
national cake shows.
KB: Due to my father’s
health, I’ve put my profes-
sional goals on hold for the
past two years. I’ve been
taking baby steps with my
cake career, but now it’s
time to take the leap. My
goal is to make 2012 my
best year ever. I’m hoping
that the CMSA accredita-
tion will open new doors for
me. I would love to have my
own bakery, teach classes …
the sky’s the limit.
IwantACDreaderstofol-
lowmystory,beinspired,
andknowtheycandoittoo!
KB: Professionally adding
CMSA certification will
enhance my marketability
as a teacher and allow me to
introduce more people to
the benefits of membership
in ICES and the great net-
working opportunities that
exist when you participate
in an organization focused
on a craft/art that you love.
In the end, I would also like
to explore the connections
between great organizations
such as ICES, the RBA and
the ACF, as well as other
trade-related organizations.
There does not seem to be
much going on between
them and with a little effort,
I believe that many win/win
outcomes can be created for
all members. ACD
Gumpaste decoration by Chef Joseph Cumm.
Lambeth piping designs by Kim Bush.

Jorg Amsler
Truly Jorg's Patisserie,MA
Jorg Amsler
Truly Jorg's Patisserie,MA
Ron Ben-Israel
Ron Ben-Israel Cakes,NYC
Ron Ben-Israel
Ron Ben-Israel Cakes,NYC
Elisa Strauss
Confetti Cakes,NYC
Elisa Strauss
Confetti Cakes,NYC
Anne Heap
Pink Cake Box,NJ
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Pink Cake Box,NJ
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Carlo’s Bakery,NJ
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Pulled sugar rose by Kim Bush.

CAKEDECORATORSCAN’TBEWRONG18,000BRITISH
In the past two years the number of visitors to Cake International, the huge and hugely popular
Britishcakeandsugarcraftshow,hasgrownby72%.BerylLoveland,ownerofBeryl’sCakeDecorating&
Pastry Supplies, attended the most recent Cake International, held in Birmingham, from November 4-6,
2011. Here she shares her experience, as well as some of her favorite photos.
The first thing you notice is the crowd. The exhibit hall
is the size of three football fields and features more than
100 exhibitors, but even with all that space, the aisles were
packed! There were more than 18,000 pre-sold tickets and
many additional registrants at the doors for three packed
days of decorating and molten sugar demonstrations, com-
petitive judging, vendors from around the world and prize
winning displays.
For cake decorators and sugar craft practitioners of all skills
and ages, it was a wonderful place to be. When we left for lunch, they
stamped our hands, just like at a dance. As I put my program down to
present my hand, the guard jokingly told me to watch it carefully as all
the programs had sold out the first hour the show opened.
This is truly an international cake show. Vendors, attendees and par-
ticipants come from not only the U.K., Europe, the U.S. and Canada,
but from as far as Australia, South Africa, Korea, as well as most of the
South and Central American countries.
Isawnewproductsincluding cutters, fast-acting silicone molds,newcol-
orsofdiscoandlusterdust and many new books. One of the bestpartsof
theshowformewasbeing able to meet some of my favorite authorsand
celebritycakedecoratorsincluding Massie Parish, Carol Deacon,Marion
Frost,AnnPickardandDebbie Brown.
Cake International has become so popular that the show producers
have decided to add a spring show, to be held in London. So mark your
calendars now for April 27-29 and November 9-11, 2012. And for any-
one who might be worried about driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road
to get to these shows, we never needed a car. We took public transport
everywhere, from London Heathrow to the London Underground to
the railroad to the bus right to the entrance of the exposition in Bir-
mingham. There is even a railroad station at the NEC and (I checked) a
stop by the London venue as well. ACD
Weblinks: ichf.co.uk/cake/
Beryls.com
Facebook.com (search for Beryls Cake Decorating)
Twitter.com/BeryLoveland
PICTURES FROM AN EXPOSITION
Sugarcraft is alive and well in the U. K. Perhaps it’s because they start them young.
There were competitive displays for ages 8-9, 10-12, under 18, and of course, adults.
The adult competitions included International (outside of the U. K.), novelty cakes,
Christmas cakes, wedding cakes (more than two tiers), figurines, miniature sugar
flower displays, floral sugarcraft and much, much more. At top, that’s me in the pink
shirt with Ann Pickard, the author of AnIdiot’sGuidetoChristmasCakesand many
other books.

CHARACTERSWELCOME
I admit I love character cakes and Cake International was filled with
amazing examples —whimsical, humorous, romantic and charming.
These particularly appealed to me because of the skill and subject. It
was difficult to choose from the incredible array of cakes on display
but I felt these were quite spectactular.

MIXINGMETHODSAND
THEIRPURPOSES
Baking is chemistry, and the key to success for any baker is an under-
standingoftheprinciplesthatmakebakingwork.InHowBakingWorks,
Third Edition, author Paula Figoni thoroughly covers the entire bak-
ing process. She takes the user through the major ingredient groups,
explaining how sweeteners, fats, milk, leavening agents and other
ingredients affect the appearance, flavor and texture of the end prod-
uct, emphasizing the‘whys’at work behind basic techniques. Here she
explains some of the reasons and results of various methods of
mixing…and why water is so important.
Mixing distributes ingredients evenly
throughout batters and doughs. While this
is the obvious reason to mix ingredients,
other important events occur during the
mixing stage. For example, during mixing,
batters and doughs trap pockets of air as
paddles and whips push through them. This
lightens the batter or dough, making it easier
to mix and handle. With continued mixing,
large air pockets are reduced in size to many
more smaller ones, providing the “nuclei”
that expand during baking into full-sized air
cells. This means that batters and doughs
must be mixed properly if the baked goods
are to rise properly.
Because batters and doughs contain trapped
air, they are sometimes referred to as
foams. When batters and doughs bake, they
transform from foams that trap air to porous
sponges that don’t. The term sponge is used
whether the product has a springy, spongy
texture or not. It simply refers to the open,
porous structure of baked goods, where air
and gases move freely in and out.
Water: The “Universal Solvent”
Throughout the mixing process, the friction
of the mixer on the batter or dough wears
down large particles, layer by layer, allow-
ing them to dissolve or to hydrate faster in
water. As particles such as flour hydrate,
water becomes less able to move freely and
the batter or dough thickens. The ability of
Excerpted with permission from How Baking Works, Third
Edition by Paula Figoni. Copyright © John Wiley Sons,
Inc. 2011. All rights reserved. ISBN- 978-0-470-39267-6
Sw
Sweet
1
Sc
Science
2
Editor’sNote
We’re introducing a new column with this issue
based on comments and requests from our read-
ers. The goal of the“Sweet Science” column is
to explain the‘hows’of baking in a technical but
approachable manner. This could be a discussion
of different flours, or sugars, or fats, or the role of
leavening agents, or even a discussion on weight
vs. volume measurements.
We’re thrilled to have Paula Figoni as our first con-
tributor with her great book, How Baking Works.
If you have ideas for topics you’d like covered in
future Sweet Science columns, or are interested
in contributing, get in touch with me: susan@
spacedowntown.com.
water to dissolve or hydrate particles and
molecules is a very important part of the
mixing process.
Until molecules either dissolve or are
hydrated in water, they do not act as
expected. For example, undissolved
sugar crystals are not able to moisten or
tenderize cakes, to stabilize whipped egg
whites, or to taste sweet. Undissolved
salt is unable to slow yeast fermentation
or to preserve food. Undissolved baking
powder does not produce carbon dioxide
for leavening. Each—the sugar, salt, and
baking powder—must first dissolve in
water before it can act.
Many larger molecules, such as proteins
and starches, do not dissolve completely
in water, but they do swell and hydrate.
Layers of water form liquid shells around
hydrated molecules, swelling and suspend-
ing them. Just as sugar, salt, and baking
powder must dissolve before they act, so,
too, must large molecules hydrate.
Flour contains hard chunks of protein that
must hydrate before being transformed into
gluten, a large, flexible web that is important
for proper volume and crumb structure in
baked goods. Mixing helps slough off the
protein, layer by layer, from the solid chunks
in flour, to speed up hydration and formation
of gluten. No matter the amount of mix-
ing, without water to hydrate the chunks of
protein, gluten would not form.
Besides dissolving and hydrating food
molecules, water performs several other
important functions that begin during the
mixing stage. For example, water activates
yeast and allows fermentation to occur.
Without sufficient water, yeast cells remain
dormant (inactive) or die.

Water is a convenient means for adjusting
the temperature of batters and doughs. Using
cold water in pastry dough, for example,
keeps fats from melting and ensures a flakier
crust. Likewise, carefully controlling water
temperature in bread-making ensures that
mixed dough is at the proper temperature for
fermentation. Heavy doughs, in particular,
generate frictional heat from mixing. A small
amount of frictional
heat is acceptable,
even desirable, but
with yeast doughs,
too much heat warms
yeast above the
ideal temperature for
proper fermentation.
The amount of water
in a batter or dough
affects its viscosity or consistency. In fact,
the consistency of a flour mixture defines
whether it is a batter or a dough. Batters are
unbaked flour mixtures that are relatively
high in moisture, making them thin and
pourable or scoopable. Examples include
CommonMixingMethods
Method Description Example
Straight dough All ingredients combined and mixed until dough is smooth and well developed Yeast-raised breads
Sponge and dough Liquid, yeast, part of flour, part of sugar mixed into a batter or dough (called a Yeast-raised breads made with
sponge or pre-ferment) and allowed to ferment; added to remaining ingredients poolish (liquid sponge), biga
and mixed until dough is smooth and well developed (Italian sponge, usually stiff),
levain (naturally fermented
sponge), or other sponge
Creaming or conventional Shortening and sugar creamed; eggs added, then liquids (if any) added alternately Shortened cakes, coffee
with sifted dry ingredients at low speed cakes, cookies, cake-like muffins
Two-stage or blending Sifted dry ingredients blended on low speed; softened fat cut in with paddle; liquids High-ratio cakes
added slowly to blend in two stages (eggs added in second stage); beaten to aerate
Liquid shortening All ingredients blended on low speed, then whipped on high, and finally on High-ratioliquidshorteningcakes
medium speed to aerate
Sponge or whipping Warmed whole eggs (or yolks) and sugar whipped until very light and thick; Sponge cake (biscuit), genoise,
liquids added; sifted dry ingredients gently folded in, followed by melted butter ladyfingers, madeleines
(if any) or whipped whites (if separated
Angel food Egg whites and sugar whipped until soft peaks form; sifted dry ingredients Angel food cake
gently folded in
Chiffon Sifted dry ingredients stirred or blended on low speed; oil and other liquid Chiffon cake
ingredients added and lightly blended until smooth; egg whites and sugar
whipped until soft peaks form and folded into flour-oil mixture
Muffin or one-stage Sifted dry ingredients stirred or blended on low speed; liquid fat and other Muffins, quick breads,
liquid ingredients added in one stage and lightly blended just until moistened quick coffee cakes
Biscuit or pastry Sifted dry ingredients stirred or blended on low speed; solid fat rubbed or cut Biscuits, scones,
in by hand or with paddle; liquids stirred in gently pie pastry, blitz puff pastry
cake, crêpe, and muffin batters. Doughs are
unbaked flour mixtures that are relatively low
in moisture, making them thick and mold-
able. Examples include bread, pie pastry,
cookie, and baking powder biscuit doughs.
Batter and dough consistency is important
for proper shaping and for proper leavening
of baked goods.
Unlike many
ingredients used in
baking, fats do not
dissolve in water, nor
are they hydrated by
water. Rather, solid
fat breaks into small
chunks, and liquid
fat (oil) breaks into
tiny droplets during
mixing to form an
emulsion. These small chunks and tiny drop-
lets spread throughout batters and doughs,
coating particles that they are attracted to.
Anything coated with fat or oil cannot easily
absorb water. In fact, that is one reason why
fats and oils are effective tenderizers. Fats and
TheSpecialRoleofWater
Even when water is not an ingredient in a
formula, it plays a part during the mixing
of all batters and doughs, because many
ingredients are significant sources of water.
Ingredients do not need to be fluid to contain
high amounts of water. Sour cream and ba-
nanas, for example, are over 70 percent water,
cream cheese over 50 percent and butter
over 15 percent.
Paula Figoni is a food scientist and associate
professor in the College of Culinary Arts at
Johnson Wales University in Providence,
Rhode Island. She also has more than ten
years of experience in product development
and food science at The Pillsbury Company
and Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
oils coat structure builders such as gluten
proteins and starches, and interfere with their
ability to hydrate and form structure. ACD

THINKINGOUTSIDETHEPLATE
SugarartistsLoriSladykGilmoreandKarenSladykareknownfortheirinnovativeapproachtocakepresentations.
American Cake Decorating spotted their‘hanging cake’(shown below right) at the 2011 ICES show and conven-
tion in Charlotte, NC.We asked for more information and the pair gladly shared information on where they look
for inspiration and some how-to advice for creating your own hanging display.
Whether you are a serious hobbyist or a career professional in sugar
arts, you are likely looking for something new to impress friends or
clients. We like looking for cake ideas in everyday items, so shop-
ping is always a cake adventure, whether it’s in a garden shop, home
improvement store, thrift shop or a store known for home decor.
Inspiration Everywhere
If flowers can be displayed on a stand, so can a cake, which is why
we love shopping at garden centers. Look for stands with varying
support heights to set off different tiers—check out the bird baths,
solar light posts and decorative lanterns
as options for pillars or bases.
After checking out the garden shop, try a
home improvement store. There you can
purchase decorative chains often used for
ceiling fans and hanging plants. These col-
orful chains can be used to hang individ-
ual tiers of cakes from the ceiling or from
an arched trellis. Consider glass blocks for
use as a base, or as a separator between
tiers. Some big box stores also have home
décor sections where you might choose a
decorative birdcage to display your cake.
Similar wrought iron pieces, shaped as
bicycles or carts, can be used. And while
Christmas lights are a popular addition to
table edges, consider also that a revolving
Christmas tree stand is sturdy enough to
hold and light your cake.
The thrift stores can always provide
interesting, although inconsistent ideas.
Look for retro items such as a record
player, which can be used as a base and
as a way to make your cake revolve. And
don’t ignore the toy section which might
provide an idea for a cake on wheels!
HANGING CAKES
Stands designed for hanging plants work great
for cakes.When evaluating them for use, look for
a wide base to reduce the possibility of tipping.
Choose materials such as wrought iron, strong
enough to support a layer cake. On the left, an
elegant tapered structure supports one tier on
the bottom and another hanging from a chain.
On the right is the‘mirror image’hanging cake
we showed in Charlotte.

A walk in the woods can result in another type of inspiration. A
tree stump is an obvious plate from nature, but what about a tiered
stump with several protruding branches accommodating three or
more tiers? For one event we positioned a stump under a tree so that
we could have ‘falling leaves’ suspended by fishing line floating just
above the cake.
And who isn’t drawn to a swing hanging from a tree? So just
imagine a well-placed cake anchored on a swing—that will really
turn some heads. Winter brings a new set of ideas: Create your own
decorated ice base by using a large plastic bin filled with distilled
water and float some pine cones, pine needles and holly berries
frozen into place. For one of our winter events, we made a battery
operated snow machine which gently dispensed wafer-punched
‘snowflakes’ falling from the sky.
Many clients are looking for a traditional cake, while others are hop-
ing to have something new and unique. We’d like to report that all of
our risks have paid off but the reality is, some experiments were just
that. Others, like our first hanging cake, were only successful in that
we managed to deliver them! It certainly wasn’t a financial success, as
it took about twenty hours to produce. But with each successive one
we’ve been cleaner and more efficient. And even though our ideas
sometimes don’t come off the way we hoped, we believe it’s best to
be armed with a variety of options and ‘what ifs’ to stay competitive
and to keep ourselves fresh and excited.
How to hang a cake
You will need the following supplies:
• Two wood plates the size of the bottom layer
• One wood plate the size of the middle layer
• 1 diameter wood dowel, 36 long
• One drywall screw at least 1 1/2 to 2 long,
narrow enough to fit in the 1 dowel
• 12 of decorative chain (75 lb. hold)
Note: Your decorative chain must be 75 lb. support weight, the standard
for hanging a plant or ceiling fan. This chain is available in many colors
at most hardware stores. Choose a color to match or compliment the cake
and the hanger.
• One hook with a screw end to join the dowel to the
decorative chain
• Wood dowels or your preferred cake supports
• Cordless drill with a 1 bit and slightly smaller bit as well
• Saw to cut the 1 dowel to size
First, plan the finished height of your cake, taking into account all the
different tiers. For a 12 finished cake, cut an 11 1/2 section from the
dowel.
Using a drill bit smaller than the dry wall screw, carefully drill a guide
hole in the center of one end of the dowel. Do the same for the wood
plate which will be the bottom of the cake. Screw the bottom plate
into the wood dowel.
CAKES FOR THE BIRDS
Bird baths and decorative bird cages can be fantastic pieces to use for display
and presentation and can be adapted to many different themes and events.
When using any non-typical stand or display, be sure to select foodsafe, non-
permeable materials, or use a cake board. All photos by Conway Chuong,
except where noted.

Drill 1 holes in the center of the two other remaining
wood plates, checking to make sure the holes are large
enough to accomodate the wood dowel. Screw the hook
into the top of the dowel. If the wood dowel should split
for some reason, begin again.
If you plan to decorate the bottom of the cake, frost or
place fondant on the plate now. You can also hide small
teacup hooks on the bottom plate to make flowers stay
securely after the cake is set up.
Begin putting the display together by cutting a 1 core
from the center of the bottom tier and placing this tier
centered sround the dowel. Then, using small wood dow-
els or your favorite cake supports, add several supports to
this tier of the cake to nearly the edge of plate.
Place the next wood plate on top of the tier you just as-
sembled, remembering to frost the bottom if it is going to
show. Add the cake and supports as with the bottom tier,
then repeat for the last tier. The core dowel should now be
hidden but the hook visible just at the top.
Transport the cake as you usually do but do not hang the
cake until the final set up. If you are using any dummy
tiers, these should be on the bottom as the cake can be
cut while hanging.
Note: We also hung a cake using plexiglass instead of
wood. This enabled us to have a photo sheet on the bot-
tom of the cake, which was then reflected in mirrors placed
below the cake. ACD
Lori Sladyk Gilmore is a high school
culinary arts teacher who also teaches
various adult ed classes. She is par-
ticularly interested in working with,
and eating her share and your share of
chocolate.
Karen Sladyk is a creative sugar hob-
byist who teaches food crafts in the
community and at a local college. To
finance her cake decorating purchases,
she works as a college professor teaching
Occupational Therapy. They both live
in northeastern Connecticut.

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MonthlyeNewsletter
’
Cake and Sugar
art Show Competition
February 25 26, austin, tX
• Judged Divisional Competition
• Themed Showcake Competition
• Onsite Decorating Contest
• Celebrity Demonstration Panel
• Vendors and more!
Celebrity Classes before and after the
show with:
Lauren Kitchens, Kaysie Lackey, Kathleen
Lange, Nicholas Lodge, Mike McCarey, Roland
Marsha Winbeckler
Mini-Classes during the show with:
Lisa Berczel, Lisa Bujega, Amy Eilert, Mike
Elder, Burton Farnsworth, Debbie Goard, Diane
Gruenberg, Yvette Humbert, Lauren Kitchens,
Ewald Notter, Lourdes Reyes, Ruth Rickey,
Janet Rosebeary, James Rosselle, Marina
Sousa, Wayne Steinkopf, Michaelle Stidham,
Peggy Tucker, Eric Woller and Sharon Zambito
North Austin Event Center
10601 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX
Competition rules, online registration and
information:
www.ThatTakesTheCake.org
Sponsors:

Photos by Scott Ewing

COMPONENTS:
One 3 x 3 square cake or dummy
Stress-Free Cake Support System or doweling method of choice
1 kg Massa couture orange rolled fondant
750 g Massa Americana white rolled fondant
250 g Massa white gumpaste
Chef Nicholas notes: Massa products are available at auiswiss.com.
FOR DESIGN AND ASSEMBLY:
Large white square pedestal cake plate
10, 8, 6, 4 and 3 square corrugated cardboard
(only if using real cake)
Kitchen Aid mixer with pasta attachment
Clay extruder
Carved-end toothpicks
“Fun Foam” sheets
Tuscan tile impression mat
FMM straight frill cutter (Set No.1)
FMM geometric cutter set
FMM patchwork cutter set
Patchwork trellis/lattice cutter
Patchwork large alphabet and key set
Patchwork Christmas rose set
Styrofoam disc (covered in plastic)
ISAC foam former
ISAC flower drying cup
Patchwork/Tap-It mat
3 1/4 fluted square cutter
Silk tool
Mini palette knife
PME cutting wheel
Metal knife tool
Large stick (or ball tool)
Small parchment paper cone for piping gel
Confectioners glaze
Semolina
Gel colors in leaf green and lemon yellow
Powder colors in yellow and orange or Harrison’s Yellow
Super pearl
Cornstarch
Shortening
Egg white
Piping gel
Tylose powder
Cosmetic sponge with a hole in the middle
HOW-TO:
Chef Nicholas notes: When designing contemporary themed cakes, add-
ing visual interest by alternating colors, varying the height of the tiers,
and offsetting their position will really make the cake ‘pop.’
This cake was stacked directly onto a modern white cake stand, securing
the layers with a mixture of fondant softened with piping gel.
1 Roll out the fondant —both orange and white—to cover the four
largest cake tiers; dowel as needed (if using real cake), and stack, so
the creativity can begin.
2 On the bottom 10 cake, roll out some white 50/50 paste (50/50
paste is made by taking equal quantities of Massa Americana and
Massa gumpaste, combining them together with a little vegetable
shortening). Feed the paste through the pasta attachment on setting
two. Rub a little shortening onto your work surface, and lay your paste
on top. Cut out eight sections of the border design using the straight
frill cutter. Trim to 3/4 wide, lay face side down onto a strip of foam.
The vibrant orange and bright white color combination for this cake by Chef Nicholas Lodge is taken straight off
the European fashion runways, while the design was inspired by a mix of contemporary and traditional ceramics
and fabrics.

3 Brush a little piping gel over the back and flip up to attach to the
base of the cake. Repeat this process on all sides. Extrude some
orange fondant using a small plain round disc through the clay
extruder to create a strand border, and attach with small dots of
piping gel at two or three points on each side.
4 For the 8 cake, roll out some white 50/50 paste and modified
orange fondant. (This
is done by mixing
150g of Massa orange
fondant with 3g of
tylose powder and 3g
of shortening. Place in
a zip-top bag to firm up
for approximately 10-15
min. before using). Roll
out both pastes on the
pasta machine on set-
ting three. Cut out using
the 1 square from the
geometric cutter set.
Place on foam to firm
up for a few minutes,
then attach around
the 8 cake with a little piping gel, starting in the back corner and
continuing around the cake.
5 Extrude and attach an orange fondant strand border as for the
10 tier.
6 For the 6 cake, roll out some white 50/50 paste and run it
through setting two on the pasta machine. Cut out using the small
decorative cutter from the patchwork cutter set. Trim the pieces for
the top and bottom rows as shown in the photograph using a mini
pallet knife and attach to the cake using a little piping gel.
7 Extrude and attach an orange fondant strand border as for the
other tiers.
8 For the 4 cake, roll out
some white 50/50 paste,
followed by the previously
modified orange fondant
on setting three on the
pasta machine. Rub some
shortening on the cutting
edge of the patchwork trel-
lis/lattice cutter. Press the
handle of the cutter into
a Styrofoam disc covered
in plastic wrap. Roll the
paste over the cutter and
remove the trellis, leaving
the squares. Tap the cutter
on your work surface to re-
move the squares, or press
out with a modeling tool.
Transfer squares and allow
to dry on the foam for ap-
proximately five minutes
then attach as per the
larger squares on the 8
cake. Extrude and attach
an orange fondant border
as for the other tiers.

9 For the 3 cake, take 100g of orange fondant, roll out to a 7 by 3
wide rectangle and run through the pasta machine on setting one.
Emboss with the Tuscan tile impression mat. Cut a 12 by 3 strip,
roll up and attach around the 3 cake, starting in the back corner.
Trim as needed.
10 Roll out white 50/50
paste,1/8 thick and cut out
using a 31/4 fluted square
cutter. Attach to the top of the
3 cake.
11 Roll out some orange
modified fondant, 3/8 thick,
and cut out a 1 1/2 square
using the medium square
cutter in the geometric cutter
set. Make a slit in the paste to
accommodate the monogram
frame (see photograph for placement).
12 Remove an offset 1 1/2 square from the white top of the cake
using the same medium square cutter, to accommodate the orange
square. Attach. Extrude and attach an orange fondant border as for
the other tiers.
13 For the monogram frame,
roll out white gumpaste, using
the setting three on the pasta
machine. Cut out a frame
using the large and medium
square from the geometric
cutter set.
14 Roll out some orange
modified fondant, using the
setting four on the pasta
machine. Rub a little shorten-
ing on the yellow side of the
Tap-It mat and on the cutting
edge of the letter. Cut out the
letter of choice from the large
alphabet and key set.
15 Attach in the frame with a few dots of pip-
ing gel. Allow the monogram frame to dry on
the foam for three hours, then turn over and
allow to dry for several hours or overnight.
16 Once dry, secure in the prepared
cavity with white 50/50 paste softened
with piping gel.
17 For the flowers,
take a ball of gum-
paste, about the size
of a corsage pin head,
and color it with the
leaf green.
18 Dip the carved end of a toothpick into egg
white and insert into the ball of paste. Form into a
3/8 long teardrop shape. Mark eight vertical lines
with the metal knife tool.
19 Roll out some gumpaste
and color it lemon yellow. Press
the handle of the stamen cutter
from the Christmas rose set
into a Styrofoam disc covered
in plastic wrap. Rub the cutter
with some shortening, lay the
paste on top and roll over the
top with the large stick to cut
out. Remove the paste with a
straight pin and place on foam.
20 Brush the base with
egg white and attach the
two layers separately
around the center. Mold
to secure at the base.
Separate the points with
a toothpick and brush
the tips with confec-
tioners glaze and dip into ‘pollen’ (semolina colored with a mix of
yellow and orange powders) or Harrison’s yellow dusting powder.
Allow to dry for 30 minutes.
21 Roll out some white gumpaste, setting four on the pasta
machine, and cut out a Christmas rose on the yellow side of the
mat. Transfer to the foam and roll over each petal with the silk tool.
Soften the edge of the petals on the back side with the large stick.

22 Turn over, place on a cosmetic sponge with a hole in its center,
and using the rounded end of the large stick, hollow out the center
of the Christmas rose, then brush
with the pearl dust.
23 Brush egg white around the
base of the stamens and thread
through the center of the petals.
Mold to secure and place into a
the former and flower drying cup
to set.
24 Once dry, attach to cake. ACD
Chef Nicholas Lodge was inducted into the International Cake Explora-
tion Societe (ICES) Hall of Fame in 2001, being the youngest person ever
to receive this honor. In 2010, Dessert Professional magazine named Chef
Nicholas one of the top 10 cake artists and top 10 pastry chefs, making him
the first to receive both awards in one year.
Chef Nicholas divides most of his time between teaching at his retail store
and school in Norcross, GA, The International Sugar Art Collection, and the
French Pastry School in Chicago where he is a chef instructor in the L’Art du
Gateau program. When not teaching, Chef Nicholas spends his spare time
searching for new and innovative ideas that can be introduced and adapted
into cakes and sugar art. Part of this inspiration comes from his love of gar-
dening, fashion and interior design.
Weblinks: NicholasLodge.com

COMPONENTS:
Two 6 round vanilla cakes
One 8 round vanilla cake
Three 10 round vanilla cakes
12 cups buttercream
One 6 round cake board
Two 8 round cake boards
One 10 round cake board
One 14 round cake drum
Rolling pin
Large pastry brush
Sharp knife
Serrated knife
Offset spatula
Dowels and shears
Dough scraper
Fondant smoother
Pizza cutter
Plastic wrap
Medium leaf cutter
Piece of thin foam
Round stick
Paintbrush
Fondant ribbon cutter
Pencil sharpener
Ivory satin ribbon
Glue stick
Piping gel
Royal icing
100 oz. white fondant
Cornstarch
Fine and medium silver dragées or fondant beads
Medium pearl dragées or fondant beads
Gumpaste
HOW TO:
1 With the pastry brush, spread piping gel evenly over the cake
drum. On a cornstarch-covered surface, roll out 10 ounces of the
white fondant to 1/4thick and cover the cake drum. Trim the
excess with the sharp knife.
2 Prepare the 6 and 8 tiers by leveling their tops with the serrated
knife, splitting them in half horizontally, and filling between the
layers with buttercream. Place each tier on its corresponding cake
board. Cover both tiers with a thin layer of buttercream. You will
have one 4 high tier and one 2 high tier.
Images and information from Cake Couture: Modern Sugarcraft for the Stylish Baker by An-
nie Dam. Copyright © Firefly Books 2011. Reprinted by permission of Firefly Books. All
rights reserved. ISBN-13: 978-1554079490
In her recently published book, Cake Couture, Annie
Dam demonstrates a variety of decorating ideas and
techniques, from basic to fairly advanced, including
figure modeling, stenciling and more. For our wed-
ding issue, we chose a cake she designed based on
thebride’sweddinggown—pleatedbodice,beaded
waist, ruffled skirt and all. The only thing missing is
the bouquet!

3 For the 10 tier, level all three cake rounds and split them in half
horizontally. Fill between the layers with buttercream. Stack
just two of the cake rounds (four layers of cake in total) on the 10
board. Cut six pieces of dowel to 3 long, and insert them vertically
into the filled 10 cake. Spread a layer of buttercream on top.
4 Place the remaining 8 round cake board in the center. Take the
two remaing 10 cake rounds and fill between the layers with but-
tercream. Stack this on top of the 8 cake board. The result will be a
10 tier measuring 6 high.
5 Cut another six pieces of dowel to 3 in length. Insert the dowels
vertically into the top half of the stacked 10 tier.
6 Spread a thin layer of buttercream on all three tiers. Refrigerate
for 20 minutes. Cover the top and sides with a second, thicker coat
of buttercream. Smooth with the dough scraper and refrigerate for
one hour.
7 Roll out all the remaining white fondant to 1/4 thick and cover
all three tiers. Smooth with the fondant smoother and trim the
excess with the pizza cutter. Save the trimmings, wrapped in plastic
wrap. Transfer the 10 tier to the cake drum, securing in place with
a dab of royal icing.
8 Roll out the leftover fondant to1/8 thick. Using the medium
leaf cutter, cut out medium-sized leaves.
9 Working on one leaf at a time, place the leaves on the thin piece
of foam and thin the edges with the round stick.
10 Starting from the base and working your way up, attach the
leaves to the side of the 10 tier with water.

11 Cover the entire tier, leaving an 8 diameter opening on the top,
where the second tier will sit.
12 Mix 1 teaspoon of gumpaste with 1/4 cup of water to make an
edible “glue.” Brush the side of the 8 tier with this glue. Holding
the tier at an angle, sprinkle the side with the fine silver dragées or
fondant beads. Try to coat the sides as thoroughly as you can. Fill
in the gaps without silver dragées with the pearl dragées or fondant
beads.
13 Roll out the remaining white fondant to 1/8 thickness. With
the fondant ribbon cutter, cut 1 wide strips that are long enough
to wrap around the 6 tier. Moisten half of the strip lengthwise
with water. Fold it over so that the strip is 1/2 wide.
14 With the seam facing out, attach the strip to the top of the
6-inch (15 cm) tier with a little water. Allow the ends to overlap
and trim the excess with a knife.

Annie Dam was born in Saigon and grew up in Canada. She currently
owns and operates a cake boutique in Edmonton, Alberta. She has
written about cake decoration for a range of publications and has had
her wedding cakes and cupcakes featured on blogs and in magazines
around the world.
Weblinks: FireflyBooks.com
CakeCouture-edibleart.ca
15 Roll 1/2 teaspoon of fondant into a ball to form a button. Attach
with a little water where the ends of the strip overlap.
16 Repeat steps 13 and 14 until the entire tier is encircled with
strips of fondant and you have a row of buttons down the front of
the tier.
17 Cut six 2 pieces of dowel and insert them vertically into the 8
tier, approximately 2 from the edge.
18 Place a dab of royal icing on top of the dowels. Set the 8 tier on
top of the 10 tier. Then, set the 6 tier on top of the 8 tier.
19 Sharpen one end of a 12 long dowel. Drive it vertically into the
center of all three tiers. Cover the hole on top with some royal icing.
20 Using royal icing, attach medium silver dragées or fondant
beads to the top edge and base of the second tier.
21 Finish off the cake drum by attaching the ivory ribbon with a
glue stick. ACD

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PhotoFrost® Cut-N-Frost Sheets™ in green
PhotoFrost® Cut-N-Frost Sheets™ in red (or your choice
of flower color)
Foam cutting mat
Stencil for rose pattern (included upon request with PhotoFrost
Sheet order)
Leaf cookie cutters
Non-toxic food-safe felt tip highlighter marker
Non-toxic food-safe felt tip black marker
Scissors
Spatula
Tylose-water gel for glue
Applicator wand for tylose
HOW-TO:
1 Remove the green PhotoFrost sheet from the backing, lay on
the foam cutting mat. Firmly press the leaf cookie cutter to cut the
edible sheet.
2 Repeat using multiple size leaf cutters if available, creating two
or three leaves for as many flowers as you plan to make. Use a non-
toxic marker to draw veins on leaves.
3 A standard spiral stencil has been modified with mild scallop pat-
tern to create a rose petal effect. Lay the stencil over the red Photo-
Frost sheet and use the non-toxic felt highlighter to trace the pattern
resulting in a faint line on the edible sheet to guide your scissors.
Lew notes: If you have an electronic die cutter we can supply the file to
import into the program for a perfect cut via your computer. The rest of us
cut by hand. The result is a spiral with irregular outer edges.
4 Turn the shiny side of the sheet upward. Curl and roll the spiral
into a cone-shaped coil.
This simple rose by Lew Churnick is an adaptation of a coiled paper rose ornament. “I am told the original
method may have been shown by Martha Stewart many years ago”he said. If so, thank you Martha!

5 At the end of the coil strip apply tylose gel under where the coil
will stand upright.
Lew notes: Apply a very thin layer of tylose to avoid melting through the
bottom flower layer and use a non-stick or waxed surface to allow final
drying. A spatula will then slide easily under the finished flower to be
removed without breaking.
6 Insert leaves, press
the back end into the
tylose to attach.
7 Roll the coiled flower
upright, gently unfurl
to arrange petals and
press into the tylose
to anchor. Repeat for
as many roses as your
design requires.
Lew notes: Altering the stencil pattern allows you to create a variety of
flowers using the same technique, such as this water lily. ACD
Starting in 1995 with a small
custom cake shop, Lew and Tricia
Churnick created the PhotoFrost
Edible Photo Method and went
on to become manufacturers of
edible inks and icing sheets under
the PhotoFrost Decorating Systems
brand name, supplying more than
50 countries. This technique is
brought to you by the team at Pho-
toFrost Decorating Systems to show
one of many ways to use PhotoFrost
Cut-N-Frost Sheets. They are always
at work thinking up new techniques
and share many of their ideas online
at their website or their YouTube
channel. The company is currently
running a contest—wedding cakes
featuring innovative PhotoFrost product techniques—with a top prize
of a new ZING electronic die cutter.
Weblinks: Photofrost.com
Facebook.com/photofrost
Youtube.com/user/photofrost01
Photofrost.com/contest

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FROMOURCONTRIBUTORSFAVORITETOOLSDecorators from the wedding cake showcases share what tools they turn to again and again.
f “My favorite tool is by far
my own hands. I love creat-
ing small edible art pieces for
our customers,” said Pamela
Tsaldaris. “But I have found
the small tools typically used
for working with clay to be invaluable. You can use
them to make small eyes, details on hands and faces,
evenhair.”
g “My favorite tool is my
Exact-O knife. It's a basic
one that I got from Hobby
Lobby,” said Anh Gross. “I
switch the blade out regu-
larly; you get cleaner cuts
whenthebladeissharp.”
f “I often talk about the ten
tools I can never be without,”
said Kim Morrison, “but if I have
to choose just one, it would
be the Holly Products Ceramic
Random Veining Tool. With just
thistool,Icanveinmanyflowers
without needing all the silicon
veiners. Daisies, pansies, peonies, sweetpeas and poppies
look softer and more realistic, and the tool is wonderful for
helpingtoreflextheedgesofotherflowerpetals.”
f “The dresden tool—
veiner on one end and
foot tool on the other,”
said Earlene Moore. “I
lovetousethistooltoadd
alittlemoredimensionto
a design. A deeper vein-
ing, cleaning up edges,
trimming in small places and pressing the extra
fondant down between the pearls when you use the
beadmakers.Thenusefootendforsmoothingdesign
elementsordeepeningraiseddesigns.”
i “One of my favorite ‘go to’ tools in the summer and when I am
in a hurry is my food dehydrator,” said Nancy Mitchko, below left.
“Themotorhasagentlywarmingfanthatallowsmetodrythings
quicklyandcontrolthesummerhumidity. Ifmypiecesaretaller,I
placetheminasturdycardboardboxandthenplacethetopmotor
overtheboxtop. Piecesarereadyquickerandcanbemovedonce
they have cooled to room temperature. It works like a charm, especially in the
thickNJhumidity.”
i “I love the Viennese Spatula from Geraldine Randalsome,” said Joanne
Wieneke,belowright. “ItisalwaysbesidemewheneverImakeflowers,ribbons,
mold figures, decorate a cake, trim and cut—fondant and gumpaste does not
sticktoit!”

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h “Probably my one most indispensable tools is my palette knife. It’s an
artist’stool–foundintheartsupplyaisleofthelocalcraftstore,”saidCarol
Lowe.“Ipreferthestylewithafairlylargetriangularblade. It’svery,very
thinandveryflexible—makespickingupthoseultra-thingumpastepet-
alseasy. Ialsouseitforcuttingedges. It’salwaysrightathand,soIrarely
havetogolookingformypizzacutter,insteadIjustzipitalongtheedgeof
arulertocutafondantribbon.”
g “My favorite decorating tool is my
pasta roller,” said Theresa McCollum.
“It is easier to roll the fondant and
gumpaste thin when making sugar
flowers.Italsohelpsmakethefondant
more consistent in thickness to use in
someofyourmoldsandcutters.

f“My favorite tool,” said Lisa Bugeja,“… how can I pick? I have a few
toolsIcouldnotlivewithout. OneofmyfavoritesismyPME1.5tip—Ilove
it! And I cannot live without my small palette knife—I get angry if anyone
tries to borrow it! It's perfect for gliding under strips of fondant or gum-
paste, for lifting small items, and for making small adjustments to ribbons
and bands on cakes. And my ultimate favorite cutter set—the nine piece
teardropset—Iusedittomakealltheflowers(shortofthesweetpeas).It’s
amazing.Youcanmakeazilliondifferentflowersfromthatset.
h “My favorite tool is the
Round D/S Multi-Purpose
Veiner by Sunflower Sugar
Art,” said Annette Hala. “I
have used it for so many
different flowers, including
myhydrangeas!”
f“ThetoolIuseonalmosteverycake
is a sugar craft gun, or clay extruder. It
comes in three sizes—from small to
large—with various discs,” said Bob
Johnson.“Iuseittotrimoutmyboards
because it gives a professional finish
with less time. It can be used to frame
patterns or give added dimension to
a design. I usually use a mix of 50/50
gumpaste/fondant with extra short-
ening kneaded in and place a small
piece of plastic wrap on the end that
will be loaded into the gun to prevent
itfromsticking.”
g “My favorite tool is
my ball tool,” said Irene B.
Maston. “It's one with ball
bearing type ends and a
wooden handle center. (I
have a tendency to break
plastic ones!) I make so many cakes with flowers
andleavesonthem,asweareratherwoodsyhere
in Vermont, that I find I use it like another hand. It’s
also great for sculpting and making impressions in
cakestoattachedflowerssothey havea3-Deffect.”
f “It's hard to pick a favorite tool,” said Rebecca Sutterby. “There
are several that I find indispensable. Something I've been experi-
mentingwithlatelyaretheMarthaStewartborderpunchesmade
forscrapbooking.There'sahugevarietytochoosefromandwhile
not all of them are suitable for gumpaste, many make wonderful
edgedetailsonbowsanddraperies.”
g “Although I love my pasta machine,”
said Vivian Pham, “my other favorite tool is
the Sculpey Style and Detail tool set—three
piecesthatareamazinglyverstatile.Notonly
do I love the metal balls, the other end of
the tool has this rubber shaping piece, that
makes it easy for me to sculpt faces, necks,
arms,etc.It’ssomethingthateveryoneneeds
forsculpting.”

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Amazing Wedding Cake Designs and Tutorials from Top Artists

Amazing Wedding Cake Designs and Tutorials from Top Artists

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