Fun and Original Character Cakes. Maisie Parrish

The colour will deepen slightly as it stands. If you want to darken it even more, just add more paste colour and knead again.

      Marbled Effect

      1 Apply the paste food colour to the sugarpaste as directed above, but instead of working it until the colour is evenly dispersed, knead it for a shorter time to give a marbled effect.

      2 You can also marble two or more colours into a sausage shape, twist them together and then roll into a ball. Again, do not blend them together too much. Cakes and boards look particularly nice when covered with marbled paste.

       Tip

       When colouring white sugarpaste, do not use liquid food colour as it will make the paste too sticky.

      Edible food colours come in a wide variety of forms – liquid, paste, dust and even pens – all of which can be used to add colour and life to your sugarpaste models.

      The cheeks of this hippo were dusted with pink dust food colour and a cosmetics brush to give her a nice healthy glow.

       Painting on Sugarpaste

      There are various different ways of painting on to sugarpaste. The most common way is to use paste food colour diluted with some cooled boiled water, or you can use liquid food colours and gels. There are also some food colour pens available, but these tend to work better on harder surfaces. Another way is to dilute dust food colour with clear alcohol; this is particularly useful if you want it to dry quickly. Just wash your paintbrush in clean water when you have finished.

      Food colour pens can be used to add quick and simple embellishments, such as the red dots on this bear’s dress. They are cleaner and easier to use than liquid food colours.

      Brushes

      In terms of brushes, to paint facial features I use No.00 or 000 sable paintbrushes. The finer and better quality the brush the better job you will make of it. To dust the cheeks of my figures I use a cosmetics brush, which has a sponge at one end and a brush at the other. For more detailed work, you can use a variety of sable brushes in different widths.

      For a quick effect, eyelashes can be painted on with liquid food colour and a No.00 paintbrush to really bring the character’s expression to life.

       Storing Sugarpaste

      Sugarpaste will always store best wrapped tightly in a polythene bag, making sure you have removed as much air as possible, and then placed in an airtight container to protect it from atmospheric changes. It should be kept out of the sunlight and away from any humidity, in a cool, dry area at least half a metre (20in) off the ground. If the paste has become too dry to work with, knead in some white vegetable fat (shortening). The main thing to remember with any paste is to keep it dry, cool and sealed from the air, as this will make it dry out and go hard.

       Modelling

      Mastering modelling with sugarpaste is the key to creating professional-looking cakes. This section reveals all the tools and techniques you need to help sharpen your modelling skills.

       General Equipment

      There is a myriad of tools on the market for cake decorating and sugarcraft, but many of them are simply unnecessary. The following list gives my recommended essentials, and these are the items that form the basic tool kit listed in each of the projects in this book.

      * Large non-stick rolling pin For rolling out sugarpaste and marzipan.

      * Wooden spacing rods (1) For achieving an even thickness when rolling out sugarpaste – available in various thicknesses.

      * Two cake smoothers with handles (2) For smoothing sugarpaste when covering cakes – use two together for a professional finish.

      * Flower former (3) For placing delicate parts in while working on them so that they do not lose their shape.

      * Paint palette (4) For mixing liquid food colour or dust food colour and clear alcohol in for painting on to sugarpaste.

      * Quality sable paintbrushes (5) For painting on to sugarpaste and for modelling – used mainly for painting facial features, applying edible glue and adding paste. The end of a paintbrush can be pushed into models to create nostrils, used to curl laces of paste around to make curly tails or hair, and used to open up flower petals.

      * Textured rolling pins (6) For creating decorative patterns in pieces of sugarpaste – for example, rice textured, daisy patterned and ribbed.

      * Pastry brush (7) For smoothing on glaze or buttercream.

      * Cutting wheel (8) For making smooth cuts on long pieces of sugarpaste, for use on borders mainly. A pizza cutter can be used instead.

      * Plastic marzipan knife For trimming the edges of cakes and boards for a neat result.

      * Sugar press (9) For extruding lengths of paste to make grass, wool, fluff and hair – a standard garlic press, found in all kitchens, is very effective for this.

      * Plunger cutters (10) For cutting out different shapes in sugarpaste – such as daisies, hearts, stars and flowers.

      * Good-quality stainless steel cutters Round, square, rectangle, butterfly, heart, petal/blossom – in assorted sizes. For cutting out clean shapes for use in decorations.

      * Frilling tool For making frills in sugar flower paste pieces – a cocktail stick or toothpick can be used instead.

      * Cake cards For placing models on while working on them before transferring them to the cake.

      * Mini turntable (11) Useful for placing a cake on so that it can be easily turned around while working on it – not essential.