Fondant rose step-by-step tutorial

A couple of months back I did a 3 separated tier rose cake for a customer. Due to budget, I'd only planned to scatter a few roses here and there to tie the cake together... but I got so caught up with them that I covered it in them. 

So many people asked me how I'd made the roses that it seemed obvious to dedicate a post to it...

YOU'RE GONNA NEED...

-Fondant (or gumpaste)
-Rolling Pin
-Foam Board
-Petal cutter
-Ball modelling tool

-water & modelling stick (optional)






STEP 1

Roll out your fondant until it is just a couple of millimetres thick (as shown in the picture below). Your fondant is what you are going to be making your petals out of, but don't worry about rolling it paper thin as your tools  will help you do this later.

STEP 2

Using your ball tool, rub around the edges of your cut out. The fondant will start to thin out and curl up slightly. It's important to start with the edges as they will be harder to do if you curl the centre up first.

STEP 3

Once you have worked your way around the edge, rub the ball in a circular motion in the centre of the petal and work out. The fondant will naturally curl up into the shape of a petal...

Continue to do this until you have the number of petals needed (I used about 12 to make the size of rose featured in the final piece picture). Don't worry if a few of your petals tear... nature isn't perfect, so you don't have to be.

STEP 4

Take a new piece of fondant and roll into a ball about the size of a marble...

...Using your index finger and thumb, roll the fondant so that it is thinner at one end. This piece will be the centre of your rose on which you will build your petals round.

 STEP 5

Take your first petal (withe the curl facing in) and wrap it reasonably tight around the centre ball piece. Ensure that the top of the petal sits slightly higher than the tip of it. Don't worry about any excess at the bottom, this should just roll off, as the base will be covered be the next petals.

STEP 6

Add the next petal on the opposite side, at the same height...

...From here you can start building the petals on top of each other from any side you like, just keep it reasonably even. If you find that the petals are not holding one another naturally, you can add a tiny slick of water to bottom of them to get them to hold.

STEP 7

Once you feel the middle petals are heavy enough (I usually find after about 5 or 6), start applying random petals with the curve facing outwards. This will bulk your rose up and give it a more natural shape. Don't do this with all of the petals going forward though, as this will look odd...

...Build up your rose until you are happy with it's size and shape. You can use the pointed tool to manipulate the direction of your petals whilst building it up.

I piled my cake high with red and white roses.... :)

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Fondant cloud tutorial

Where the hell have I been!!!? I haven't posted anything for aaaaages, mostly on the basis that the cakes I've been doing have been a bit fiddly and didn't suit my quick blog theme. But its nice that some of my Tumblr followers actually messaged me asking when the next one was coming. Well wait no more my friends, because here it is..... (hmmm... overhyped much?)

I made this cake (and posted it on all my usual social medias) just yesterday, and already I've had a few messages asking how I made the clouds (they're a tricky thing fake clouds).

They are SO EASY...so I figured a wee blog tutorial was in order!

YOU'RE GONNA NEED....

White ready to roll fondant
Little bowl of water/vodka (to stick)

....THAT'S IT!!!!!


STEP 1

Tear off pieces of fondant and roll into a variety of different sized balls.

STEP 2

Arrange the balls into the shape you want your cloud (2/3 layers looks best without being OTT). Use a little water/vodka to keep them together if you find that they don't stick on their own. 

Roll out a piece of fondant large enough to cover your pile.

STEP 3

Cover the pile with your rolled out fondant and then pat around the shapes of the balls underneath. This will give you your smooth cloud effect.

STEP 4

Trim off the edges of the fondant at tuck any remaining bits underneath to create a smooth side.

Attach to your cake/fondant, using a bit of vodka/water as a glue.

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Oreo Cookie dough Brownies

I'm ashamed to admit this, but the other day I was having friends over for diner, and I simply couldn't be bothered whipping up another cake from scratch. So I did the unheard of... I went and bought a Brownie packet mix! 

'Noooooooooooo' I hear you cry! But actually, it got me to thinking about those of  you that aren't so arty farty in the kitchen, or just don't have the time. So after buying the packet mix I decided to put a little spin on it (i.e make it a little bit more impressive), and after positive feedback decided to share. This is a great trick for those with kids or those who just can't be bothered...

YOU'RE GONNA NEED

1 x Asda Cookie dough Brownie mix
(I suppose another brand would do, but I like an Asda trip.... You can thank me for the plug later Asda!)


9 Oreos (I actually used 10, but 9 would work)













STEP 1

Line your tin with greeseproof paper and then line the bottom with Oreos. As I mentioned, I used 10, 9 would have sufficed, more probably would have been better (but I'm stingy with sharing my Oreos!)

STEP 2

Make up your brownie mix (as per the box instructions). Now at this point I deviated... Asda told me to add 5 tbsp's of water to the mix to make a batter which could be poured. Now I don't know how big Asda's tablespoons are... but 5 of mine certainly didn't make a 'pour-able' batter!!!

I added another 3, the batter still wasn't of pouring structure, but it spread nicely.

So....'Spread' your batter over the full tin. Make sure you cover the Oreos completely (you don't want any of those wee bad boys getting burned!)

STEP 3

Cook as the box instructed. AGAIN, I deviated and left them in for a further 5 mins, as when I checked them at the instructed time they were a bit gloopy (probably because I added extra water).

Allow to cool for 20 mins and then cut into slices and serve.. nom nom nom

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Banana Caramel Cupcakes

I don't usually do these kind of cakes on my blog, but I had a lot of over ripe bananas kicking about, and figured they looked pretty enough to warrant a tutorial. I took this recipe from Woman's weekly, The complete book of cupcakes', but tinkered about with it to suit what I wanted.

Because these cakes have to come out of their case after baking, they dry out a little faster than ones that you would ice over and leave in their cases. So if you're needing them for a certain event/time, try make them as close to it as possible, and store in a tin.

YOU'RE GONNA NEED

90g soft butter
110g brown sugar
2 eggs
75g self raising flour
75g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice
2/3 cup mashed overripe banana
2 bananas (thinly sliced)
80g (1/3 cup) sour cream
2 tablespoons of milk
small tin of carnation caramel
100g chocolate (for grating)

STEP 1

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tin with muffin cases (you can do this with cupcakes, but the larger your cases, the larger you cake, and the more layers you can put in). My mixture made around 12 cakes.
Beat butter, sugar and eggs into a bowl until light and fluffy.

STEP 2

Stir in all of the dry ingredients, banana, sour cream and milk. Your mixture should look something like this.

STEP 3

Divide the mixture into your prepared cases. I filled them just over half way to get the size I got, however, if you want your cakes deeper (for more layers) then don't worry about adding more mixture to each case. As you are using only 75g of self raising flour, I find the cupcakes won't rise as much as they usually would.

Bake for about 20-25 mins (depending on size) and then turn cakes out to cool.

STEP 4

Remove cakes from their cases and cut in half (if you have made them deeper, you could cut them into 3 sections for an extra layer).

STEP 5

Spread a generous amount of caramel onto the bottom half of the cake and then top with slices of banana. Replace top half.

STEP 6

Top cupcakes with remaining caramel (or thick whipped cream). Using a grater, grate chocolate and sprinkle over cakes.

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Celebrity dress cupcakes

Every baker I know has a little trademark piece that they love making, that nobody does quite like them. So I'm super excited to be releasing my new 'Dress' cupcake range. 

The pieces I started with were inspired by a a very girly friend of mine who, like me, loves all things fashion. For her leaving do (she's ditching picturesque Edinburgh for the hustle and bustle of London), I wanted something extra special... this is one of my besties I'm talking about here! I got thinking about all the times we'd coo'ed over fab pieces that celebs had worn, and thought 'I could do that... but with cakes!!'

Here I've posted the full collection that I made for my (already greatly missed) gal pal, including detail of the designers looks behind them.... let me know what you think!

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Contrasting Heart Cupcakes

A couple of months back I posted a picture of valentines cupcakes that I wanted to try for myself. So, with a few spare cupcakes and a bit of extra fondant to hand, I made a batch this week. These cupcakes are brilliant for valentines day, but would be perfect any time of year for those deserving loved ones...

YOU'RE GONNA NEED...

Cupcakes
Jam
Butter cream
Packet of ready to roll fondant
Red gel food colouring

Circular cutter
Small Heart shaped cutter
Grease proof paper




STEP 1

Lay down some grease proof paper to roll your fondant onto. It's really easy to peel your fondant shapes away from this, meaning no sticking to surfaces.

STEP 2

Using a skewer/knife/cocktail stick, add small globs of the red gel colouring to your fondant. Need in the colour until you have a smooth overall look.

Keep a little bit of white fondant to the side for your white hearts. 

NOTE: If you're not used to working with the gel colouring, add the colour and need in little by little... YOU CAN ADD, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE AWAY!!!

STEP 3

Take your cupcakes and cut a small hole in the center of each one. Fill this hole with jam/chocolate spread/filling of your choice.

NOTE: You can buy a little contraption that allows you to inject the filling into the center, but this way you get more filling (plus you can keep the cut outs for cake pops!!)

STEP 4

Top your cupcakes with butter cream (I chose red to stick to the valentines theme). Make sure you don't go right to the edges, as this could mean it will show/come out at the sides when it comes to adding your fondant toppers.

Choose a circular cutter and ensure that it is big enough to go over the top of your cupcake neatly. This will mean that your circle of fondant will cover all of your cupcake without a lot of excess as the sides.

STEP 5

Roll out your fondant and cut circular toppers for your cupcakes. sit them on top of your butter cream.

Using you small heart shaped cutter, use the rest of your fondant to cut out heart shapes. Remember to cut out your white heart shapes for the center of the cupcakes.

STEP 6

Peel your small hearts away from the grease proof paper and (using water or edible glue) arrange them onto your cupcakes, starting from the outside. When I first tried these I started on the inside, beginning with the white heart. This didn't work as it meant my hearts around the edge of the cakes didn't run in a straight line and I had to think about it more. Working from the outside means that all your hearts will run in the direction they are supposed to and gives the cakes a nice finish.

At the end, your cakes should look something like this. If they don't... you did something wrong!

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