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!