The Contemporary Buttercream Bible (30 page)

J

Tip

Before printing your pattern, be mindful that

you need to flip or make a mirror image of the

picture before you print it out. Make sure that

your

pattern

is

really

frozen

so

your

greaseproof paper will peel off easily and not

stick.

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To create this cake…

• 20 × 10cm (8 × 4in) square cake

• 2.25–2.95kg (5lb–6lb 6oz) buttercream

• Paste colours: light pink (Sugarflair Pink), dark

pink (Sugarflair Claret), dusky pink (Sugarflair

Dusky Pink), foliage green (Sugarflair Foliage

Green), light green (Sugarflair Gooseberry), dark

green (Sugarflair Spruce Green)

• Piping bags

• Palette knife

• Scraper

• Pen

• Ruler

• Scissors

• Greaseproof (wax) paper

• Sticky tape

• Printed pattern (see Templates)

• Baking sheet or any flat board

• Small petal nozzle (Wilton 104)

• Small leaf nozzle (Wilton 352)

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• Writing nozzles 1–3 (optional)

• Cake stand or covered cake board

Crumb coat (see Crumb Coating in Buttercream

Basics) and place the cake on a stand or covered

board. Use the template supplied to create your

frozen buttercream transfer by following the

tutorial. You will need to colour the buttercream in

the following quantities: 200–300g (7–101⁄2oz) each

of light pink, dark pink, dusky pink, foliage green,

light green and dark green. Leave 1–1.1kg (2lb

4oz–2lb 71⁄2oz) of buttercream uncoloured to apply

the transfer and cover the sides of the cake. Smooth

the sides to a perfect finish (see Smoothing in

Buttercream Basics). Pipe roses around the base in

all the pink shades and arrange using the ‘freezing’

method (see Rose and Rose Bud in Piping Flowers).

Add some leaves in foliage green (see Sunflowers

and Leaves in Piping Flowers).

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Frozen Buttercram Transfers

on a Curve

Now that you have seen how to do the flat version

of a frozen buttercream transfer, you might wonder

how you apply this technique to the curved side of a

round cake. We have spent lots of time and loads of

buttercream experimenting and perfecting a

method to achieve this. Here we modestly offer you

yet another brilliant innovation, brought to you

exclusively by Queen of Hearts Couture Cakes!

1 Choose your graphic image and make sure that

you re-size accordingly and flip it to make a mirror

image before printing it. Place your pattern on a

baking sheet (or any flat board) with greaseproof

(wax) paper on top of it. Secure the image and the

greaseproof paper with sticky tape.

2 Using buttercream tinted in the colours you

require, outline and fill in your pattern in layers.

When you have finished, quick freeze it for about

5–10 minutes until the buttercream is firm. When

the pattern is hard enough, take it out of the freezer and pipe over it with another thin layer of

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buttercream which is slightly bigger than the

pattern (A) and smooth (B). The buttercream

should be the same as the background colour of

your cake.

A

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B

Tip

If your pattern is big or wide you will have to

divide it into several parts, freeze each and

reassemble it when you apply it to the cake,

repeating the process described above for

each part.

3 Remove the pattern from the board and gently

slide it onto the side of a round Styrofoam dummy

cake. Secure it with cocktail sticks (toothpicks) or

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headed pins (C). Freeze the dummy with the

pattern on it for about 30 minutes to an hour, or

until it is rock hard. Secure it in the freezer so that it doesn’t roll over.

C

4 When the pattern is ready, apply a thin even layer

of buttercream on the surface to which you will

apply it. Take the pattern out of the freezer then

quickly but carefully flip it and position it on to the cake, lightly pressing it down so that the pattern

sticks (D).

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D

5 Using the same colour as the background, apply

another layer of buttercream around your pattern

(E)and level it using a palette knife (F). It is most important that the amount of buttercream you

apply everywhere on the cake including between

patterns is the same thickness as the pattern.

Repeat the same process to apply any other

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patterns. Apply buttercream to the rest of the

surface of the cake and remove any excess.

E

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F

Tip

When placing a pattern over the edge of a

cake, make sure the pattern is firm from

freezing but not rock hard, so that it will bend

to the required shape. Press it firmly on to the

surface and quick freeze the whole cake again

to reduce the risk of the pattern sticking to the

greaseproof paper when you pull it off.

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6 When cake is crusted, finish by creating a

perfectly smooth surface (see Smoothing in

Buttercream Basics) (G).

G

Tip

You can also pipe borders around your pattern

once you have stuck it to your cake. If you do

this, make sure you follow the shape of your

pattern.

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