22/02/2020 – 23/02/2020: The Irish Sugarcraft Show
The Irish Sugarcraft Show celebrates the art of cake decorating. It is Ireland’s largest Sugarcraft show and will have 23 different competition categories to suit all levels and styles, from novice to masterclass. The Show is open to all and competition entries will be judged by The British Sugarcraft Guild.
If you like to bake cakes, decorate cakes, look at cakes and eat cakes then this show is definitely for you.
- Published in Events
23/05/2020 – 24/05/2020: Cake & Bake Germany
The international sales exhibition Cake & Bake, Germany is now a fixture in the calendar of the well-known international cake fairs. Cake & Bake Germany is by far the largest event of its kind in Germany. The mega event on the subject of cake decoration, baking, motif cakes, cupcakes presents international cake artists, Germany’s largest cake competition with around 500 exhibits, a variety of demonstrations and workshops as well as hands-on activities.
The Cake & Bake:
Around 100 international exhibitors from 14 countries
Over 450 exhibits in the 19 categories of the cake competition
More than 40 internationally renowned cake artists
Live shows on two stages
Workshops and Demonstrations
Hands-on areas
- Published in Events
06/11/2020 – 08/11/2020: Cake International – Birmingham
The World’s Greatest Cake Show returns with the most groundbreaking displays, the wildest competition entries and the most famous cake stars from around the world! Hone your skills with workshops and demos, discover the latest trends and make the most of the world’s biggest cake shop in the HUGE shopping zone!
See hundreds of competition cakes over three days. Judging takes place on Friday and visitors will be able to access central aisles to view the exhibits.
- Published in Events
Karen Davies Cookie Craft – Top Tips For Cookies That Won’t Spread
Our Cookie Craft recipes are guaranteed not to spread but here we share with you some further tips to make sure that you get perfect cookies every time..
- Chill your dough – Chilling cookie dough will help to prevent spreading. For best results chill the cookie dough overnight. After chilling, let your cookie dough come to room temperature before moulding and baking otherwise your dough will be too solid to mould.
- Line your baking tray – Use baking paper or a silicone baking mat. Don’t use a nonstick spray or butter as this will cause your cookies to become greasy and spread.
- Ouch that’s hot! – If baking your cookies in batches, don’t put your next batch onto a hot baking tray. Use another tray or wait for your tray to cool and always use a new piece of baking paper or allow your silicone mat to cool down before moulding your next batch of dough.
- Butter, butter, butter – When butter is too warm, it is too soft. When butter is too soft, your cookies will spread all over the baking sheets. You want your butter to be room temperature. When you press it, your finger will make an indent. Your finger won’t sink down into the butter, nor will your finger slide all around.
- Correctly measure your flour – Cookies spread because the fat in the cookie dough melts in the oven. If there isn’t enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level your flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.
- Don’t over mix your dough – Don’t leave your dough unattended mixing away in your mixer while you get on with tidying up. Beating too much air into your dough can cause your cookies to collapse.
- One batch at a time, on the middle rack – This is how to get the best possible results.
- Freeze – Once you have moulded your dough, you can put your designs in the freezer for 10 minutes whilst your wait for your oven to warm up. Your dough may have become warm from the heat of your hands whilst moulding.
Ready, set, bake!
- Published in Recipes
Karen Davies Cookie Craft – Gingerbread Recipe
We often make cookies using our moulds. They are perfect for Christmas tree decorations, baby showers, gifts and wedding favours. They are also delicious!
The secret to creating perfect moulded cookies is to use a dough that won’t spread..
Here we share with you our perfect gingerbread recipe..
Perfect Gingerbread Recipe
- 75g light brown soft sugar
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup
- 1 tablespoon black treacle (this can be substituted for a tbsp. of golden syrup to make your gingerbread lighter)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 rounded teaspoon ground ginger
- A pinch of cloves
- 95g unsalted butter
- 250g plain flour sifted, plus a little more (if needed).
Method
1. Put the sugar, syrup, (treacle), water, and spices together in a large saucepan.
2. Bring them to boiling point, stirring all the time. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until melted.
3. Next, stir in the flour gradually until you have a smooth dough – add a little more flour if you think it needs it. Knead your dough and then leave it covered in a cool place to become firm (approximately 30 minutes).
4. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.
If you’re not immediately making the cookies, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate (or freeze) until you are ready to use it. Before using, bring to room temperature.
Now you are ready to mould and decorate!
How To Mould And Bake
As a general rule of thumb, we suggest that you follow the moulding instructions that come with your mould. Otherwise, please follow the steps below..
- Dust your mould with Plain Flour or Cornflour and tap out any excess.
- Take some of your cookie dough and roll into a smooth ball. Press the smoothest side down into your mould. Use your fingers to push the dough into the mould until it is flat on the back and up to all of the edges. Use your thumb to tear away any excess. If using one of our larger moulds, you can roll your dough into the mould using a rolling pin.
*Top Tip* If you would like to bake your cookies onto lollipop sticks, now is the time to attach them! With your dough still in the mould – place the top of your stick about half way up the back of the moulded item. Take a small piece of spare cookie dough and press over the back of the stick so you can no longer see it. This will secure your stick into your dough. *Please note* Lollipop sticks can only be added to items that are complete once turned out of the mould. If you plan on cutting your moulded item with a shaped cutter afterwards, you will distort the shape.
3. Turn your mould over and slowly peel the mould back until you see the dough start to fall out. Keep pulling back slowly so as not to tear any thinner details.
4. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper (you may have to bake in batches).
5. Each design will vary in cooking time due to their various thicknesses. Smaller items take approx. 8 minutes. Larger items take 10 – 15 minutes. Keep an eye on your oven to prevent anything from burning.
6. Once baked leave them to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
7. Cookies can then be decorated with edible powder colours, edible paints, edible glitter and/or royal icing!
Ready, set, bake!
- Published in Recipes
How Did They Make That?!
People often look at cakes and question ‘where did they get the idea from’? ‘where did they begin in making that’? and ‘I wonder how long that took them’? Here, Christina Ludlam answers all of these probing questions and more..
Farmyard Cookies
Which is your favourite cookie?
I love the horse cookie. I was really pleased with how the barn doors turned out and the horse has such a cute face. The horse cookie really makes me smile.
Which moulds did you use?
I used the Farm Animals Mould, Rustic Wicker Mould, Rustic Basketweave Mould and the Rustic Driftwood Mould.
How did you make the metal pieces on the barn door backgrounds?
For the metal bracing, I cut two narrow strips of grey sugarpaste and indented them at intervals with a #1 piping tube to indicate the bolts. I painted the bolts with black food colour paste.
What size cookie cutter did you use?
These cookies were made using a 7 cm round cutter.
What cookie recipe did you use?
What dust colours did you use?
I used Sugarflair Nutkin Brown, Skintone, Primrose and Autumn Gold. I also brushed a little cocoa into the woodgrain.
How long did they take you to make?
These cookies were very quick to make, thanks to Karen and Alice’s beautiful moulds. In fact, I think it probably took me longer to colour the sugarpaste than it did to decorate the cookies.
How far in advance could I make these?
The toppers for these cookies can be made weeks in advance. Simply cut out and decorate the sugarpaste toppers then store them on parchment paper until required. To keep them soft, store them in an airtight container until required. If you prefer them to set harder, allow them to dry in a cardboard box. When you’re ready to decorate your cookies, use a little royal icing, piping gel or jam to attach the sugarpaste toppers.
- Published in Blog
Tutorial – Bottoms Up! Cookies
These cute bunny bottom cookies make perfect Easter treats. Give as gifts or make with the kids this Easter! Can also be used as decorations on cupcakes and cakes.
Equipment
Karen Davies Sugarcraft Wild Meadow Mould
Karen Davies Sugarcraft Easter Bunny Mould
Small Rolling Pin
Palette Knife
Edibles
44m square cookies baked using our cookie recipe >> see here <<
Icing Sugar
Apricot Jam
Cornflour
Sugar Flair Spruce Green food colouring
Rainbow Dust Chestnut food colouring
Rainbow Dust Tangerine food colouring
Rainbow Dust powder colours – Autumn Green, Pumpkin Pie, Snow Drift, Pink Candy.
Edible Glue
1. First you will need to bake some delicious cookies using our cookie recipe! See the recipe here!
Make your dough, roll it out on to your work surface and cut cookies using a 44mm square cookie cutter. Place on a lined baking tray and bake!
2. Allow your cookies to cool on a cooling rack.
3. Colour some Karen Davies Sugarpaste pale green using Sugar Flair Spruce Green food colouring. Dust your work surface with icing sugar and roll your sugarpaste out thinly on your work surface. Use your cookie cutter to cut enough squares to cover all of your cookies.
4. Once your cookies have fully cooled, spread a thin layer of apricot jam on the top surface and attach a green square on each.
5. Colour some paste a darker Green colour using the Spruce Green food colouring.
6. Dust your Wild Meadow Mould with cornflour and tap out any excess.
7. Roll a sausage of paste wide enough to fill the top quarter of the grass on the mould and long enough to fill the width. Place on top of your mould a quarter of the way down from the top of the grass.
8. Use your fingers to press the bottom edge of your paste into the mould. This will help hold your paste in place whilst you roll the rest up to the top of the grass.
9. Use a small rolling pin to roll your paste up the top of the grass. You may need to dust the back of your paste with cornflour to stop it from sticking to your rolling pin.
10. Make sure your paste is rolled thinly and flat against the mould. Carefully cut away any excess using a palette knife. If you cut over the top of the grass you will see that your paste will remain in the grass strands and any excess will come away.
11. Turn your mould over and peel back to release your grass. You can now dust it with Autumn Green Powder colour.
12. Cut your grass into thirds. This will give you enough grass for three cookies. Repeat steps 7-11 until you have enough grass for all of your cookies.
13. Take a strip of moulded grass and bend it into a circle shape so that both ends meet. Attach the ends together with edible glue.
14. Attach the circles of grass to the centre of each cookie using edible glue. Don’t worry if there is a hole in the middle as your bunny bottom will hide it!
15. Colour different shades of pale Brown sugarpaste using Chestnut Brown food colouring.
16. Dust your Easter Bunny Mould with cornflour and tap out any excess.
17. Roll a small ball of sugarpaste and firmly press into the bunny bottom on your mould. Guide any excess paste to one edge and tear off with your thumb. Make sure your paste is flat at the back before turning your mould over peeling back to release.
18. Dust the pads on the bunnies feet using Rose powder colour.
19. Dust the tails with White powder colour.
20. Attach your bunny bottoms on top of the grass on your cookies using edible glue.
21. Colour some sugarpaste using Tangerine food colouring. Mould carrots from the Easter Bunny Mould. Dust the leaves with Autumn Green powder colour and the carrots with Pumpkin Pie powder colour before attaching to your cookies.
- Published in Blog
How Did They Make That?!
People often look at cakes and question ‘where did they get the idea from’? ‘where did they begin in making that’? and ‘I wonder how long that took them’? Here, Alice answers all of these probing questions and more..
What inspired you to make this cake?
I love Winter, it is my favourite time of year. I had recently made mini muffin bobble hats using our range of Knit & Crochet Moulds and they were so popular I just knew I had to make a large one.
What was your starting point?
I baked two deep 8″ round sponge cakes and stacked them. I dowelled the cakes and then carved them into the shape of a bobble hat.
How did you create the texture?
Once I had carved my cakes I then crumb coated them and used our Crochet Piece Mould to mould 5-6 pieces of crochet to attach to my cake. Disguising the joins is really easy with a Dresden Tool and I aimed to have my joins running down the cake in a straight line as I knew I would later be able to cover them with the Cable Knit.
What food colouring did you use?
I coloured Karen Davies Sugarcraft Sugarpaste using Rainbow Dust Grey gel colour.
How did you create the mitten?
I moulded two pieces of Crochet from the Crochet Piece Mould. I turned one piece over so as the crochet pattern was against my work surface and left one piece so as the pattern was facing up. I then gently placed my hand on top of each piece and cut around it using a Cutting Wheel. I kept my four fingers tight together and stuck my thumb out to one side to create the mitten shape. I then stuck the two gloves together using edible glue and used a Dresden tool to disguise the joins.
How did you create the cuff?
I moulded our Chunky Rib Mould and cut a long rectangle piece about 1/3 of the size. I brushed edible glue on the back of the piece and folded it over. I then cut away any excess so as it was the right size.
How did you create the fluffy bobble?
First, roll a ball of sugarpaste slightly smaller than you wish your bobble to be and attach it to the top of your cake. Brush the ball with edible glue. Next, you will need a metal sieve and some trex (white vegetable fat). Soften your sugarpaste by kneading in trex. You want it soft enough that it will push through the sieve easily but will keep its shape (stand on end). Take a ball of sugarpaste and press it through the back of your sieve with your fingers until the strands are your desired length. Remove the strands by carefully wriggling a palette knife at the base of the paste against the sieve and carry the strands over to your bobble. Use a Dresden Tool to help get the strands off your knife and into position.
How did you create the cables and accessories?
They’re all from our Rustic Cable Knit Mould! The cable is the largest cable on the mould and the little knitted heart on the hat and cog button on the glove are on there too.
How long did this cake take you from start to finish?
This cake was really quick to make! I’m usually very slow and fuss over every tiny detail but this surprised me and only took me 3 hours!
- Published in Blog
How Did They Make That?!
People often look at cakes and question ‘where did they get the idea from’? ‘where did they begin in making that’? and ‘I wonder how long that took them’? Here, Christina Ludlam answers all of these probing questions and more..
What inspired you to make this cake?
One of the classes I teach at my sugarcraft school is a watering can cake class and as soon as I saw the Succulent Mould, I knew they’d look perfect on a watering can. I thought the Hydrangeas from the Filler Flowers Mould would make a great embellishment for the front of the can.
What was your starting point?
I started with the stacked 7” round cakes. I dowelled the cakes and placed a thin cake card on top which I then decorated with succulents and moulded leaves before adding the spout, handle and decorative detail.
How did you shape your succulents?
I used scissors to separate the petals then pressed a Dresden tool beneath each petal to lift them. I also pinched the ends of the petals then placed the succulents into a foil-cup former which I made by wrapping foil around a foam ball.
What food colouring did you use to create the grey watering can?
Sugarflair Liquorice paste colour, dusted with a little Silver Lustre Dust.
How did you create the detailing on the watering can?
I used the Hydrangeas from the Karen Davies Filler Flowers Mould for the floral embellishments. The fine beading was created using a clay-gun (extruder) fitted with a 3mm round disc.
How did you create the spout and handle?
For the handle, I threaded a 20# floristry wire into a sausage of grey modelling paste before bending the wire to a curve and setting it aside to dry.
The spout was made by wrapping a strip of grey modelling paste around a thick, wooden skewer. I cut a series of grey modelling paste circles and stacked them together to create the watering ‘rose’ (sprinkler) attachment, then used a fine piping tube to indent tiny holes in the watering rose.
How did you create the stone flooring effect?
This is an effect I’ve been creating for many years now and I never tire of it. I covered the drum with marbled sugarpaste then textured the entire surface with a dish-brush and crumpled foil. I used two round cake cards as a guide and used a Dresden tool to indent the individual paving stones, adding a few additional cracks here and there. I then brushed a little powder colour into the cracks to highlight the texture.
What dust colours did you use for the succulents?
I coloured the succulents with Sugarflair Eucalyptus, Moss Green, Forest Green, Burgundy, Claret, Edable Art Dark Eucalyptus, Eau De Nil, Vine Green, Rainbow Dust Snow Drift and Pearl White lustre.
How long did this cake take you from start to finish?
This cake took me around 10 hours to make from start to finish as I spent quite a lot of time colouring the succulents to get the exact look I wanted.
How far in advance could I make the succulents?
The succulents can be made weeks, or even months, in advance and stored until required. I place my finished succulents into foil-cup formers then store inside an airtight container to keep them soft until required. I like to allow them to air-dry for a few hours before attaching to the cake.
- Published in Blog