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See? See up there? I decorated that cake! I know, I can’t believe it either!

Last Sunday I was given the opportunity to attend a workshop hosted by ‘Cakes by Judy C’ at Ashgrove.  Her shop sells an array of beautiful cakes, biscuits and other baked sweets. Just recently she has been offering workshops to small groups of people who are interested in learning specific cake decorating skills.  I’ve always been impressed with decorated cakes but daren’t try making one myself – I simply didn’t know how to do it! But since doing this workshop I have complete confidence that I will be able to ice a cake again at home. And this all comes down to Judy’s teaching style. She is a natural tutor – for the 5 ladies in the workshop, she first showed us how she would decorate the cake, and then we were each given a cake to decorate ourselves. Throughout this time she would move between us, offering advice and assistance if we needed it.

If you are interested in learning this skill, I highly recommend Judy’s workshops.

JudyC

I was pleased as punch with my cake and so proud of what I had acheived. And at the end of the day we not only went home with our finished creations, but we also took with us the confidence of a new skill.

Here follows a step-by-step How To of icing a traditional fruit cake. I have focused mainly on the base icing only, because I feel that the only way to get that flawless, professional-looking cake is to get a perfect, satin-finish white base.  

A couple of my fellow students – the very glamourous Marilyn and lovely Karen – who is a cake master, having already attended 3 of Judy’s classes!

 Here is a quick list of utensils and tools we used during the day. Most of them, apart from the wood float you probably will have already. If you would like to buy a wood float, you can contact Judy – she has them handmade! (I’m seriously thinking about getting one!)

• A cake to decorate
• Pettinice icing (or any good quality ’plastic’ icing)
• Cornflour
• Decorations
• Royal icing (eggwhite and icing sugar)
• Sherry
• A foil-lined card cake platter (or a plate!)
• dessert spoon and water
• Pastry brush
• Rolling pin
• Wood float /acrylic float (see photos below)
• a pin
• a small knife

Judy had baked a batch of beautiful fruit cakes for us and had them ready at room temperature. (P.S. Judy’s cake is to die for – one of the best I’ve ever had!)

Hot Tip! Often, before adding the fruit to the cake batter, she will smear some batter over the sides of the cake pan then  add the fruit to the batter and pour it in. This eliminates a lot of the extra fruit on the outside of the cake, which can cause dimples.

Turn the cake over so the flat bottom is facing up and remove the paper (Judy uses old butter paper to line her tins. I love her for that!! )

Hot Tip! To stop the cake from ’sweating’ after it’s complete, make sure the cake and the icing are at room temperature before you begin.

Make sure the cake sits in the centre of the presentation platter

If the cake is sitting unevenly, take some icing and roll it into a sausage with your hands and wedge it under the cake to ensure it sits flat

Make more thin sausages and with moist fingers press and wipe it along the bottom edge of the cake to fill the gap down there.  If there are any divits on the top or sides of the cake made by the fruit in the cake, press them down and see how far they go in. With wet fingers, press little smudges of icing into them to fill the hole.

As you go, wet the back of a dessertspoon and press and wipe the icing so it sits flat on the cake.

Wipe away any crumbs and water with a teatowel

 

Brush the whole cake with a fortified alcohol. You could use sherry (which we used), brandy, cognac or rum. Whatever you choose, to help preserve the cake, it must be over 17.5 percent alcohol.

Again, wipe away any crumbs off the platter and clean and dry your whole bench.

Dust your bench with pure cornflour, cut a large piece of pettinice icing from the block and knead it with your hands until you feel a change in texture to smooth and silky. The heat of your hands with make it more maleable.

Dust the dry bench again with plain cornflour. Roll the piece of icing until it will fit over the cake and down the sides. Don’t roll it too thin!

Pick it up and with one quick movement place it straight onto the cake.

Working quickly now – rub your hand across the top of the cake to make it smooth

Carefully smooth the sides and press it onto the cake

Rub the icing back and forth so there are no creases or lumps

This is a specialty tool, but it is wonderful! Use the smooth wood float to further smooth the surface of the icing. Rub it firmly across the top and around the sides

If you notice any air bubbles sitting under the icing take a very thin pin, find the airpocket with your finger and at an angle pierce the icing then press out the air with your finger and gently smooth it over.

With the acrylic icing trowel smooth the top and sides and with the edge cut into the icing all the way around the edge of the cake

Now use a knife to cut the excess icing completely away from the cake

Lift the excess icing away and smooth out the edges again with the trowel

Wipe away any smudges of icing from the presentation platter.

Ta Da! That’s how you ice a traditional fruit cake!

Use extra pettinice icing to make the decorations. It can be coloured using liquid food dyes. Massage the dye into it, then shape it how you wish.

To get the decorations to stick to the cake, use a small wet artists brush and use the water as a glue.

Add extra decorations (like these lovely red cinnamon flavoured holly berries)  by piping royal icing onto the cake. Also use the royal icing to add the candle wax detail and to use as a glue to help the inedible ribbon to stay put.

We used a little edible lustre powder to make the candles glow.

Iced cakes like this can last for months and months at room temperature – just pop them in a container so the bugs won’t get to it before you do!

I’m sorry to say this cake lasted no more than a few days – but it was delicious! My justification is that I plan to make one just like it again before Christmas to hone my skills.

Merry Christmas!

Cakes by Judy C

Shop 1/227 Waterworks Road
Ashgrove QLD 4060

Phone: (07) 3366 9111
Fax:(07) 3366 9222

http://www.cakesbyjudyc.com.au/