Useful Recipes

Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie Treats (or RKTs) are really useful to use in cake decorating - they are light and easy to carve into tricky shapes.  This is great when you need to create a 3D shape that you can't achieve by carving cake and they are light and sturdy for when you need to create a structure on your cake.  Plus they are easy peasy to make from just 3 ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
225g marshmallows (mini white ones are best but I've used the big pink ones and they are just fine too)
2 cups of Rice Krispies

1. Gently melt the butter in a large saucepan.
2. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted.
3. Quickly stir in the Rice Krispies until completely coated.
4.  Press well into a tin pre-lined with silicone paper.  I find using another layer of silicone paper on top then pressing down with the base another tin gives the best, flattest result.  Once cool, refrigerate for an hour or two then carve away!

RKTs in action: Fishing Boat Cake, Footballer Cake, Handyman Cake


Modelling Paste

Modelling paste is firmer and more pliable than sugarpaste, which I use for making figures and 3D objects.  You can buy modelling paste ready made, but this is an expensive option and sometimes you only need small amounts of each colour.  You can make your own very easily.  One way is to mix together sugarpaste and sugar florist paste - you can use this straight away, but it is an expensive option if you don't already have sugar florist paste to hand.   My preferred option is to use gum tragacanth, which is a natural edible gum powder and when mixed into regular sugarpaste it makes it firmer and more pliable.  It's easy to work with and also the most cost effective option.  It can be used to make smaller amounts if needed by scaling down the recipe below.

250g sugarpaste
1 teaspoon gum tragacanth

Simply work the gum tragacanth into the sugarpaste until fully incorporated.  Wrap well with clingfilm and leave to work.  The gum tragacanth does start to work after a couple of hours but it's best left overnight.

Modelling paste in action: Turtle Wedding Cake, Hippo In The Bath Cake, Fishing Boat Cake, Footballer Cake, Handyman Cake

1 comment:

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