Clean & Simple Cake Design with JESSICA HARRIS Rhonda s Ultimate MMF (Adapted) INSTRUCTIONS Grease microwave-safe bowl and spatula with vegetable shortening. Pour marshmallows and water into bowl then microwave on high for approximately one minute. Stir well for about one minute. Continue to microwave on high in 30-second intervals until all the marshmallows are melted. Take out of microwave and add remaining ingredients except confectioners sugar. At this point you can add any gel colors to your fondant in order to create uniform color, including white coloring to get a true white color. Add half the bag of confectioners sugar and mix until you can t mix anymore. Turn the mixture out onto the other half bag of confectioners sugar you mounded on your counter. Slowly knead the dough working from the outside in. Knead until you incorporate most all the sugar. INGREDIENTS 16 ounces (454 grams) mini marshmallows 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water ¼ teaspoon (1.5 g) salt ¼ teaspoon lemon extract (1 ml) 2 tablespoons (30 ml) light corn syrup (this helps with pliability) 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla, clear 2 pounds (907 g), approx. 7 cups, confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted ½ cup (118 ml) shortening for utensisl, bowl and a few tablespoons at the end per instruction in video Gel colors if tinting fondant or white food coloring to create a true white Adapted from the Cake Central website Rub your hands with a generous amount of vegetable shortening and begin kneading the fondant until it becomes smooth and is not coated in confectioners sugar anymore. Continue to add a little shortening until it s pliable and smooth. Coat again with vegetable shortening and wrap up in two layers of plastic wrap and then place in a ziptop bag overnight to rest. EDIBLE GLUE Ingredients 1 teaspoon (5 ml) tylose powder or Gum-Tex 3 tablespoons (44 ml) water Instructions 1. Mix ingredients in a small bowl with a toothpick. It will not blend together evenly but still be chunky and uneven. That s OK. 2. Cover glue and store overnight in the fridge. The next day, stir it again and you ll notice all the ingredients have dissolved together to create a gel. Add more water if needed to make consistency desired. 3. Use a small brush to apply the glue to your decorations before applying the decorations to your cake projects. 1
Modeling Chocolate (Candy Clay) INSTRUCTIONS Slightly warm up the corn syrup in the microwave for 10 seconds. In another glass, microwavable bowl, add candy melts and microwave on high for up to one minute. Remove and stir well. Continue microwaving at 20-second invervals, stirring well in between intervals until everything is melted and smooth. Add corn syrup to melted chocolate and begin stirring slowly for about 20 strokes, making sure to get the sides and bottom of the bowl. Turn seized chocolate out onto some saran wrap and pat down to about ½" (1.3 cm) thick Let sit for about an hour until firm, but not hard. Begin kneading modeling chocolate until smooth and wrap up in plastic wrap until needed or at least four hours. Work out any hard bits by pressing modeling chocolate firmly to the center with the palm of your hand. INGREDIENTS 14 ounces (397 g) Wilton candy melts 3 ounces (85 g), by weight, light corn syrup (Note: 3 ounces is just more than ¼ cup) For making smaller quantities of modeling chocolate (due to smaller bag sizes of melts), multiply the number of ounces of candy melts by.15 (for dark colors) or.21 (for light colors) to get how many ounces of corn syrup to add, by weight. For example, if you have 10 ounces of red candy melts (dark color), you would need 1.5 ounces of corn syrup, by weight (10 x.15 = 1.5 ounces). 2
Dark Chocolate Ganache INSTRUCTIONS If your chocolate isn t in small pieces (chocolate chip size), break it up well and set aside in a glass bowl. Heat up heavy cream to almost boiling. Pour heated cream over chocolate chips and wiggle the bowl to make sure all the chips are coated in the heavy cream. Let it sit for a minute. Wiggle bowl again and place in the microwave for one minute on high. Wiggle bowl and let sit for another minute. Chocolate should be warm, not hot. Grab a whisk and begin to slowly incorporate the melted chocolate and cream together. Continue to whisk until all the chocolate and cream come together. If there are any small pieces of chocolate that are still not melted, put the mixture in the microwave for one more minute, let sit for a minute and stir again. Let ganache sit out until it s the consistency of buttercream and begin crumb coating your cake. INGREDIENTS 32 ounces (907 grams) of dark chocolate (at least 52% cacoa) 16 ounces (454 ml) of heavy cream (at least 33% fat) Tip: Two parts dark chocolate to one part cream. This recipe should make enough ganache to crumb coat a 6" (15.2 cm) and an 8" (20.3 cm) round cake with a little left over. Tip: If you want to make white-chocolate ganache, use high-quality white chocolate. Use three parts white chocolate to one part heavy cream (3 pounds (1.36 kg) of white chocolate to 16 oz (454 g) of heavy cream). 3
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe INSTRUCTIONS In a bowl of an electric mixer, lightly whisk egg whites and sugar together over simmering water until the egg-sugar mixture is very warm to the touch and the sugar crystals are completely dissolved (or a candy thermometer reads 140 F (60 C)). Place the egg-sugar syrup into mixer and whip on high with the wisk attachment until the bowl hascooled to almost room temp (approx. 15 minutes). You may use a cold pack under the bowl tospeed up the process. Meanwhile cut up butter into two-inch pieces. Turn mixer down to stir or the low setting and begin adding the butter pieces a few at a time over a minute or two until all the butter is added. Turn mixer up to medium-low speed and incorporate all the butter for a few minutes. Take off wisk attachment, scrape bowl, and put on paddle attachment. Continue to mix at medium high speed for another five minutes or until mixture emulsifies into a beautiful soft buttercream. INGREDIENTS 10 ounces egg whites (or pasteurized egg whites in liquid form) 20 ounces white refined sugar 25 ounces unsalted butter (room temp but not soft) 3 Tablespoons good quality pure vanilla extract (or any other flavorings) For chocolate buttercream, add in eight ounces of melted, but cooled, chocolate when adding flavorings. For cream cheese buttercream, add in eight ounces of softened cream cheese when adding flavorings. Tip: This is a 1 to 2 to 2.5 ratio of egg whites to sugar to butter. So you may adjust quantities according to how much buttercream you need by following that simple ratio/formula. Add your flavorings and mix for another few minutes until incorporated. At this point, in order to reduce air bubbles, turn the mixer off and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Turn the mixer back on at the lowest speed and let stir for about five minutes very slowly to remove air bubbles. This won t eliminate all of them, but helps to reduce them! Leftover buttercream can be placed in plastic containers with lids and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week and the freezer for up to three months. Defrost completely to room temperature (several hours) and rewhip before using. Tip: In hot weather, reduce butter quantity to 16 ounces and use nine ounces of high-ratio shortening. You may want to increase your flavorings to taste. 4
Ruffle & Bow Stitching line Ruffle stripe cutting guide Bow center Graphic bow template 5
Ribbon Horizontal Band Templates Stripes Top stripe Measure each side of your square cake and size band accordingly. This band measures 8⅜" to allow for fondant covering and thickness of design. Center band Bottom band You can use the waxed-paper transfer method to attach each stripe separately if using fondant. Otherwise let modeling chocolate set up so it is firm before placing each panel on the cake separately. 6
¼" (6.4mm) wide Accent colored band - Cut another colored stripe and replace this one with a new color This template is based on a finished fondant-covered cake that is 4⅛" (10.5 cm) tall. Each stripe is ¼" (6.5 mm) wide giving you a 3¾" (8.3 cm) tall design once you cut ⅛" (3.2 mm) off the top and ¼"(6.5 mm) off the bottom. Center your stripes on your finished cake. Cut your wax paper the finished height of your cake by the circumference of your cake (after covered in fondant), plus 1" (2.54 cm) for extra. 7
Extruded Rope & Petals Top of cake Fantasy flower petals For extruded rope, print and lay under your greased wax paper. Extrude design right onto template. You ll need five panels for a 4" (10.2 cm) round cake. Size template according to the size of your cake. Bottom of cake This template will work for a fondant covered cake with a finished height of 4⅛" (10.5 cm). 8
Offset Chevron See notes below Finished height of your cake There should be eight panles total, so depending upon the diameter of your cake, you ll need to size your panels accordingly. To figure out how wide each panel should be, take the finished diameter of your cake AFTER you ve covered it in fondant, add ⅛" (3.2 mm) and multiply it by 3.14. Then divide that number by 8 (the number of panels around the cake to get the width of each panel. The panels above are sized for a 6" (15.2 cm) diameter cake with a ⅛" (3.2 mm) fondant covering and ¼" (6.5 mm) stripes. 9
Vintage Stripes Personalize your cake here with a hand-painted design or an edible image. Print two copies of this template - one for the stripes and one for the picture frame. Measure finished height and width of cake and size template accordingly. This template is sized for a 6" (15.2 cm) tall square cake with ⅛" (3.2 mm) fondant covering. 10