The Contemporary Buttercream Bible Read Online Free Page A

a
    wavy motion.
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    Palette knife
    By using a simple palette knife, you can give
    another textured finish on your cake. Different
    stokes will result in various lovely effects.
    Cake comb
    Cake combs are another fantastic tool for creating
    texture. They are made of either thin plastic or
    metal and have different contoured edges – waves,
    ridges and swirls. You just run the edge of the
    scraper around your cake to form ridges. To get the
    best result, comb your cake when the buttercream is
    freshly applied and use a cake turntable.
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    Impression mats
    Impression mats (also called texture mats) are
    plastic or silicone sheets with fantastic designs that will allow you to emboss prints directly into the
    surface of your cake. They are mostly used for
    sugarpaste
    (rolled
    fondant)
    but
    since
    our
    buttercream recipe is a ‘crusting’ type, you will be
    able to use these sheets. Just make sure that surface of the cake has already crusted properly by touching
    it gently with your finger.
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    Covering Boards
    Since our method of cake decorating is is all about
    buttercream, you might guess that we do not use
    any other medium. However, it is tricky to cover
    your board with buttercream so we have thought of
    a more creative way of doing it.
    In everything we do, we try to make the technique
    easy, be adventurous and create brilliant results. So if we are using a cake board, we always choose the
    most exciting materials we can source, like fancy
    papers, fabrics, and colourful tissue papers. To
    these you can add on accessories that will
    complement the design of the cake. Make sure you
    don’t over do it – avoid colours that clash with your cake design, and make sure nothing upstages your
    cake, which should, after all, be the centre of
    attention.
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    You will need…
    • Ribbons, buttons, ruffles, lace
    • Wrapping paper, colourful tissue paper, crêpe
    paper, fabrics
    • Glue gun/stick (hot melt), double sided tape,
    clear tape, adhesive spray, craft glue
    • Scissors
    • Pen or pencil
    • Clear cellophane, contact paper/sheet
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    SQUARE
    Whatever the size of cake board you are covering,
    cut your chosen paper or fabric about 5–7.5cm
    (2–3in) and your cellophane or contact paper about
    13–15cm (5–6in) larger all round than the board,
    then cut across the corners as shown. Place your
    paper on the board and fold all the sides under,
    then secure on the back of the board with clear
    tape. Make sure that the paper does not have any
    lint, icing or any debris stuck to it, then repeat the same process with your cellophane or contact paper
    to cover it. Put matching ribbons or buttons or
    anything else you have chosen around the edge your
    board.
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    ROUND
    Covering a circular board is basically the same as
    covering a square. Follow the instructions above,
    but instead of snipping the corners, you just have to make small cuts approximately 2cm (1in) apart and
    up to the board all the way around your paper
    before you secure each piece with clear tape. Repeat
    with the cellophane or contact paper, then finish
    with accessories around the board.
    Tip
    You may come across all sorts of different
    shapes of board – hearts, ovals and hexagons.
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    Follow the advice for covering a square board
    for all the angular shapes, and the instructions
    for a round board for the curvy ones.
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    Dowelling
    Anything that is complex and made up of different
    parts will need some structure to hold everything
    together in one piece. The same principle applies to
    stacking layers of cake. You will need plastic or
    wooden dowels, inserted properly into the lower
    tiers of a cake, to bear the weight of the layers above and to make sure that each cake layer does not get
    squashed and collapse.
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    Tip
    Instructions for making the cake above can be
    found in the Lace tutorial in the Textiles Effects
    chapter.
    You will need…
    • Dowel rods, plastic or wooden
    • Wire cutter, big scissors or serrated