Tutorial – Wild Meadow Wedding Cake

Wild Meadow Wedding Cake

Alice Kayley – Karen Davies Sugarcraft

A cake that oozes the sense of  Spring/Summer days. Botanical and bright, the perfect centerpiece for any wedding or celebration

 

Equipment

2 x 10” round cakes 4” deep

8” cake 3” deep

6” cake 4” deep

4” cake 4” deep

14” cake drum

8”, 6” and 4” cake cards

1kg Karen Davies sugarpaste or a modelling paste

Karen Davies Wild Meadow mould

Karen Davies Brush Embroidery Butterflies mould or Butterfly & insect mould

Dresden tool

Isopropyl alcohol

Paintbrushes and dusting brushes

Airbrush and colours (optional – powder colours and brushes can be used), green, pink, blue, purple

Powder colours, dark green, brown, lavender, yellow, pink, blue, black, white, orange, silver.

Sugarflair Spruce green paste colour

Cornflour dusting pouch

Angled palette knife

 

Instructions

Cake Preparation

Stack the 10” cakes.  Place the cakes on board and cards. Cover all cakes with sugarpaste. Dowel the cakes and trim level with each cake top. Roll out a long strip of sugarpaste and use to cover the edge of the cake board.

Use the airbrush to colour the cake and board. Build the green colour up gradually from the board and up the cake. Fade the green on the side of the cake. Add a little blue, pink and lilac further up the side of the bottom tier and to each of the other tiers.

 

 

If you do not have an airbrush – mix isopropyl alcohol with powder green colour. Paint the board dark green and the lower edge of the cake. Fade the colour out against the cake – do not have a sharp finish line. Brush powder colours into the dusting brushes on kitchen paper so there is no loose powder. Add patches of colour to every cake.

Mix brown powder colour with isopropyl alcohol and paint trees.

Paint leaves by just ‘dotting’ on the colour randomly over branches. Start with dark green, then a lighter green and finally a small touch of colour.

Colour some KD sugarpaste or a modeling paste green. Dust the wild meadow mould with cornflour. Mould the fern leaves and flower stems in green and white paste.

Curve slightly and leave to dry.

Brush powder colour onto leaves and flowers for a soft effect. Paint flowers for stronger colour. Small white highlights can be painted on also.

Mould butterflies and dragonflies in white and yellow paste. Allow some to dry flat on your work surface and others to dry folded against the mould.

Brush powder colours on to the butterlies and dragonflies for soft shading. Paint for the stronger colouring.

Dust the wild meadow mould with cornflour. Roll the green paste out a little before placing on to the grass so it is not too thick. Roll from the bottom of the grass to the top. Trim the excess paste at the top of the mould with an angled palette knife, your thumb, or remove from the mould and use scissors.

Trim the grass to approximately 1.5inches.

Brush powder green colour between the blades of grass then a little across the top. A touch of white can be added to highlight.

Repeat the moulded grass pieces trimming to approximately half an inch.

Colour royal icing green and place in a piping bag. Use the royal icing to attach the taller grass to the side of the 8inch tier and the short grass to the top edge of the 10inch. Add flowers and leaves.

Attach flowers around the bottom tier.

Attach the butterflies and dragonflies at random working their way up the cake. Small groups of flowers and grass can be added to the top two tiers.