The last couple of weeks have been about sugar! And lots of it!
I have added Sugar art and cake decorating to a long list of hobbies, but I think this one will stick.
This current obsession stated one night during a stunning dinner with friends in which several bottles of very nice wine were had by all. the couple we were dining with were discussing their plans for their engagement party and I excitedly volunteered to decorate the cake.
There were a couple of factors which aided my decision (apart from the wine). The most influential was an episode of the ABC cooking show Poh’s Kitchen, in which the lovely Poh casually whipped up a colourful wedding cake complete with darling jewel encrusted birds. Craft AND cake! Could life get any better?
So began a journey in to the world of cake decorating.
At first, things seemed to be going swimmingly. Find cake decorating shop. Check. Figure out how to make roses. Check. Arrange on pre-brought cake. Done. BUT then I decided that it might be nice to start making the cakes from scratch. Problem. I can’t bake. So then started a month of feverish baking, with about 89% of the attempts being completely inedible.
The second problem that I came across was that fondant and humidity don’t mix. At all. The result is a depressed, sweaty looking pile of white mush and fondant that won’t smooth, no matter how much you rub at it with a fondant smoother. All of the delicate sugar roses that took months to create also begin to look a bit sad and droopy. A very upsetting sight indeed.
But we live and learn. Isn’t that the most exciting part of being creative?
book and thread 