Cake with Horizontal Stripes

This cake is decorated with strips of modeling chocolate, sheeted and cut with the Kitchenaid pasta attachments.

Modeling chocolate is make with chocolate and light corn syrup. Baking chocolate or chocolate melts work well, but chocolate chips make the modeling chocolate too crumbly. For this project I just used what I already had - semi-sweet baking chocolate for the dark modeling chocolate, and Wilton melts for the white modeling chocolate.

Dark modeling chocolate:

12 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate

1/3 cup light corn syrup

White modeling chocolate:

16oz (1 bag) white chocolate melts

1/3 cup light corn syrup

To make modeling chocolate:

1. Melt the chocolate according to the package directions. Keep mixing until the chocolate cools to about 90°F.

2. Add the light corn syrup and mix until it comes together.

3. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap and let it cool to room temperature.

To make and assemble sheets of modeling chocolate for the cake:

When the modeling chocolate has cooled, it will be hard. Knead small pieces with your hands until it warms up and can be rolled out.

1. Form pieces into thin rectangles and run them through the pasta roller attachment as you would with pasta dough (continue to knead dough by folding sheeted pieces in half and running them through again.) Strips will need to be long enough to fit around the cake. For a 5-inch round cake, strips will need to be approximately 17 inches long.

2. When strips are long enough to fit around the cake, run them through the fettuccine cutter attachment to cut them into equal sized stripes.

3. When you have enough stripes of each color, arrange the pieces on a non-stick surface, pressing them together so that there aren't any gaps. Then roll out an additional sheet of modeling chocolate and press it on top of the pattern to hold all of the pieces together. (This seems to work best with white modeling chocolate since it is more sticky.) This side is the back.

The side on the bottom will be on the outside when wrapped around the cake.

4. Each cake will also need a circle of chocolate to cover the top. Using a piece of chocolate that has been rolled into a sheet, press the rim of the cake pan into the chocolate to make an imprint, then cut along the line. 

5. Attach the side piece to a crumb-coated cake by rolling the chocolate up on the side of the cake. The edge can be trimmed if it is too long. Last, press the chocolate circle on the top of the cake.

Giraffe Sugar Cookies

Another non-round design on round cookies! (Remember these penguin gingerbread cookies?)

The cookies are vanilla sugar cookies...

And the design is created with royal icing:

- Orange piping and flood icing

- Brown flood icing (I made this flood a little thicker than normal, instead of making both piping and flood icing for the brown spots.)

- Cream flood icing (also a little thicker, for the same reason)

- Black piping icing

- Royal icing eyes (these are pre-made eyes.)

To make a giraffe: 

1. Pipe around the edge of the cookie with orange piping icing.

2. Flood the center of the cookie with orange flood icing. Then let the icing dry completely.

3. Add a cream nose just below center.

4. Add four orange ovals for the ears and horns.

5. Add brown spots around the bottom edge of the cookie. Then pipe black accents on the horns and ears, and dots and a smile on the nose.

6. Attach the eyes with a dot of extra orange icing.

Let the cookies dry completely before stacking or packing them - they're dry when they are no longer shiny.

Easter Egg Sugar Cookies

These striped and marbled designs are made by piping a second color of royal icing on the wet flood.

- Royal icing tutorial and recipe

- Sugar cookie recipe 

To create a striped and marbled designs with royal icing, start by piping and flooding with the main color.

While the icing on the cookie is still wet, pipe lines with a second color of icing on top, using the flood consistency icing. Use a piping tip (Ateco #1 or #2) to create finer lines. Stop at this point for a striped design.

To create a marbled effect, drag a toothpick through the stripes while the icing is still wet.

Ladybug Fondant Cupcake Toppers

Ladybugs and a bumblebee! These guys are made with Satin Ice pre-made fondant since black and red are so hard to dye.

Supplies: fondant (back, red, yellow), icing eyes (3/8''), silicone rolling pin with guide rings, circle cookie cutters (for this size cupcake, I used the 1-1/2'' and 2-1/4'' diameter cutters), icing tip for cutting dots, corn starch duster (see the bottom of this post for how to make one.)

Step 1. Roll out black fondant, dusting fondant with cornstarch to keep it from sticking. This is rolled to 1/16'' with the pink guides. For thicker toppers use the purple 1/8'' guides. Cut bases for the ladybugs using the larger of the two circle cookie cutters (2-1/4'' diameter). Each ladybug needs 1 base. Set bases aside.

Step 2. Cut more large black circles - these will be used to make the heads. Use the small circle cookie cutter (1-1/2'' diameter) to cut three heads from each of large circle. Cut the same number of heads as bases.

Step 3. Cut spots from the left-over black fondant using a piping tip - about 4 spots per ladybug.

Step 4. Roll out the red fondant and cut large circles (the same size as the black bases) - one for each ladybug. These will make the wings. Cut a triangle out of each red circle. Place a head on top of the red circle to judge where to make the cuts.

Step 5. At this point, all of the pieces are cut out. Each ladybug will be assembled from 1 black base, 1 red wing piece, 1 black head, and several black spots.

Attach pieces together using water. Brush a small amount of water on the back of one piece to attach it to another.

Step 6. Attach the icing eyes with a small dot of the frosting using on the cupcakes. Place toppers on cupcakes immediately after piping cupcake frosting.

Other ideas for fondant:

- daisy fondant cupcake toppers

- homemade fondant and cake decoration