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Ingredients
For 12 cup cakes
* 175g (6oz) unsalted butter
* 175g (6oz) golden caster sugar
* Finely grated zest of 1 orange
* 2 large eggs
* 100ml (7tbsp) milk
* 175g (6oz) plain flour
* 7.5ml (1½tsp) baking powder
Method
1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mark 4).
2 Place all the ingredients into a food processor and cream together.
3 Arrange the paper cases inside two fairy cake tins and spoon the mixture into them, filling them two-thirds full.
4 Bake for 15 minutes until risen and springy to the touch, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.
5 Ice and decorate as desired.
Other Recipes
Now you have your sugarpaste (see pages 8-9) and your cakes (see pages 18-21) ready and waiting, there are a few other recipes you will need in order to complete the projects in this book.
Pastillage
Pastillage is a form of sugarpaste that dries very hard, so is wonderful for building things like tables and chairs, houses and so on (see the baby carriage on page 84, for example). For the best results you have to give it 12 hours to dry on one side, and then turn it over for another 12 hours. You can colour it with paste food colour while it is still pliable, or spray colour on to it once it has dried. I have also painted it with liquid food colour to great success. As an alternative to using dry spaghetti to support your models (see page 14), you can make sugar sticks by rolling lengths of pastillage and cutting them up. You can buy pastillage powder from sugarcraft shops – just add water, following the instructions on the packet – but it is not difficult to make your own from this recipe.
Ingredients
To make 350g (12oz) of pastillage
* 1 egg white (or the equivalent made up from dried egg albumen)
* 280g (10oz) sifted icing (confectioners’) sugar
* 10ml (2tsp) gum tragacanth
Method
1 Place the egg white in a large mixing bowl and gradually add enough icing (confectioners’) sugar to make a very stiff paste. Mix in the gum tragacanth and then turn the paste out on to the work surface and knead it into a smooth paste.
2 Store the pastillage in a polythene bag and then place it into a plastic airtight container. It can be kept in the fridge or frozen for up to a month.
For delicate models that need to stand up, it is best to use pastillage instead of regular sugarpaste, as it is stiffer and dries to a harder finish.
Tip
Dry pastillage pieces cannot be stuck together with edible glue (see opposite) alone. You need a much stronger paste, so mix together some edible glue and pastillage and work it into a creamy paste with a palette knife. Apply the strong glue to your pieces and leave them to dry completely.
Sugar Flower Paste
This is a good strong paste that can be rolled very thinly. It is ideal for making delicate objects such as facial details and flowers (see pages 49 and 111 for examples).
Ingredients
* 25ml (5tsp) cold water
* 10ml (2tsp) powdered gelatin
* 500g (1lb 1½oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar
* 10ml (2tsp) liquid glucose
* 15ml (1tbsp) gum tragacanth
* 10ml (2tsp) white vegetable fat (shortening)
* 1 egg white (or the equivalent made up from dried egg albumen)
This hippo’s glamorous long eyelashes are made from sugar flower paste, which can be rolled out much thinner than sugarpaste and dries hard so that they don’t flop over.
Method
1 Mix the water and gelatin in a small heatproof bowl and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Then sift the icing (confectioners’) sugar and gum tragacanth into the bowl of an electric mixer and fit the bowl to the machine.
2 Place the bowl with the gelatin mixture over a saucepan of hot water. Stir until all the ingredients have melted.
3 Add the dissolved gelatin mixture to the icing (confectioners’) sugar with the egg white. Turn the machine on at its lowest speed. Beat until mixed and then increase the speed to maximum and continue beating until the paste is white and stringy.
4 Empty the paste out, then roll tightly in a polythene bag. Store it in an airtight container until required. It will keep for several weeks if stored correctly.
Edible Glue
This is the glue that holds sugarpaste pieces together, used in every project in this book. Always make sure your glue is edible before applying it to your cake.
Tip
Should you require stronger glue, use gum tragacanth as the base. Mix 5ml (1tsp) gum tragacanth powder with a few drops of water to make a thick paste. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Ingredients
* 1.25ml (¼tsp) CMC (Tylose) powder
* 30ml (2tbsp) boiled water, still warm
