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 Karen answers all of these probing questions and more..

Where did you find the inspiration to make this figure?

I love cute knitted toys. I enjoy knitting and used to knit clothes and toys for my two daughters when they were babies. This is why I developed our range of knitted effect moulds. So I thought, how cute would it be to create cute knitted figures for cakes? I made a crochet unicorn and knitted elephant in the Summer and people loved them! So I thought ‘I must do Christmas versions’.  

How did you make the snowflake?

I used our Sugar Snowflakes Mould and then used a PME Snowflake Cookie Cutter to cut out a large snowflake. I then allowed it to dry before attaching it upright to my board with royal icing. How did you begin to make the reindeer’s body?

I began by rolling sugarpaste into a large tear drop shape the same height as the snowflake. You need to remember that you’ll be covering any body parts you make with the knitted effect so always make them slightly smaller than they would normally be. Roll out brown paste and place in the Knitted Piece Mould. Roll the paste into the mould. The paste can be made thinner by pressing with your fingers, or use a rolling pin smaller than the width of the mould. Turn the mould over and peel back. Brush the body with edible glue. Wrap the knitted paste around the body and trim to fit. Use a Dresden tool to push the paste against the body and underneath. Disguise any joins by gently dragging two edges together.

How did you attach it to the snowflake?

I used edible glue to attach the body to the back of the snowflake and the bottom onto the board. Make sure the neck is against the top of the snowflake.

What food colouring did you use?

I used Sugar Flair Dark Brown food colouring to colour our sugarpaste. You only need a tiny drop to achieve a soft Brown colour. Just add a drop more when you want to colour the antlers and hooves. For the snowflake, I used our sugarpaste straight from the packet. I dusted my Sugar Snowflakes Mould with Pearl White Lustre Dust before moulding my paste. This gives your paste a lovely pearly shimmer.

Who do you imagine this figure would be for/what occasion?

I think this would look cute on any Christmas cake for Christmas day, a party or event. I also think children would love it!  

How long did the cake take you from start to finish?

It took me 1 hour to create the snowflake and figure! Minus drying time for the snowflake which was over night. It is a quick, fun figure to make. Ideal for beginners.