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| A quarter of it left. |
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| You can see the gooey centre. |
It was baked in a 9 inch diameter round springform tin, and dusted with icing sugar on the top.
April 04, 2011
Un-iced chocolate cake - 4/4/11
Today I was meeting some friends for lunch, and they asked me to bring pudding. So I made chocolate cake. This was a new recipe which I had found in Good Food Magazine, available here. It is very gooey and lovely. It uses ground almonds instead of flour so it's even gluten free! The recipe says it takes twenty minutes to prepare but it took me more like 40 minutes. I forgot to take any pictures before we ate most of it but here are some of what is left.
It was baked in a 9 inch diameter round springform tin, and dusted with icing sugar on the top.
It was baked in a 9 inch diameter round springform tin, and dusted with icing sugar on the top.
April 01, 2011
Step by step: carnation - 1/4/11
Following from my freesia step by step, here's how I made a spray carnation. Again, it's based on the method in Sugarcraft Flowers by Claire Webb.
Carnation
You need:
Sugarpaste (fondant icing) or flower paste
Colouring - the colour you want the flowers to be, and green
Small blossom/flower cutter approx 2cm diameter
Cocktail stick or wooden kebab skewer
Edible glue
Artificial stamens or thin wire approx. 5cm long
Small knife (a craft knife would be good)
Small paintbrush
To attach the flower to a stem you will need:
Thicker wire for the stem
Florists tape or ribbon approx 7mm wide
You may also find pliers useful to bend the thick wire, and tweezers to move the petals into place.
Flower
1. Roll a piece of sugarpaste (either the colour of the flower or white to colour later) and cut out three flower shapes with a cutter. Fold a stamen in half and set aside. Cut slightly down between each petal to divide them more.
2. Using the cocktail stick, roll out one flower shape thinner and frill the edges if you like. Mark a hole in the centre. Apply edible glue to half of the centre leaving the petals free to be shaped later.
3. Slide the flower onto the stamen and fold in half. apply more glue and fold in half again. You may find tweezers useful to separate the small petals and shape the flower head slightly.
4. Roll out another flower shape as above and mark a hole in the centre. Apply edible glue to the centre for this flower and slide up to attach to the first.
5. Repeat step 4 for the final flower, making sure that the petals go between each other to give the right flower shape. Support it while it dries.
Assembly
Use the fold in the stamen to thread onto a piece of wire with a hook in the end. Twist this around to secure and wrap florists tape or ribbon around the wire to hold it firm. You could also add a calyx to the bottom of the flower before assembly to make it more realistic, or paint it on. Each flower should be on a separate small stem which combine to make the spray.
Carnation
You need:
Sugarpaste (fondant icing) or flower paste
Colouring - the colour you want the flowers to be, and green
Small blossom/flower cutter approx 2cm diameter
Cocktail stick or wooden kebab skewer
Edible glue
Artificial stamens or thin wire approx. 5cm long
Small knife (a craft knife would be good)
Small paintbrush
To attach the flower to a stem you will need:
Thicker wire for the stem
Florists tape or ribbon approx 7mm wide
You may also find pliers useful to bend the thick wire, and tweezers to move the petals into place.
Flower
1. Roll a piece of sugarpaste (either the colour of the flower or white to colour later) and cut out three flower shapes with a cutter. Fold a stamen in half and set aside. Cut slightly down between each petal to divide them more.
2. Using the cocktail stick, roll out one flower shape thinner and frill the edges if you like. Mark a hole in the centre. Apply edible glue to half of the centre leaving the petals free to be shaped later.
3. Slide the flower onto the stamen and fold in half. apply more glue and fold in half again. You may find tweezers useful to separate the small petals and shape the flower head slightly.
4. Roll out another flower shape as above and mark a hole in the centre. Apply edible glue to the centre for this flower and slide up to attach to the first.
5. Repeat step 4 for the final flower, making sure that the petals go between each other to give the right flower shape. Support it while it dries.
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| Step 1 |
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| Step 2 |
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| Step 3 |
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| Step 4 |
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| Step 5 |
Assembly
Use the fold in the stamen to thread onto a piece of wire with a hook in the end. Twist this around to secure and wrap florists tape or ribbon around the wire to hold it firm. You could also add a calyx to the bottom of the flower before assembly to make it more realistic, or paint it on. Each flower should be on a separate small stem which combine to make the spray.
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Step by step: freesia - 1/4/11
So today I was finishing my freesias, so I've done a little step by step for freesias. Mine aren't perfect yet but I thought I'd try to show how you don't always need to buy expensive cutters etc for each different flower.
This is adapted from the instructions in Sugarcraft Flowers by Claire Webb.
Freesia
You need:
Sugarpaste (fondant icing) or flower paste
Colouring - the colour you want the flowers to be, and green
Small leaf or petal cutter approx 3cm long, 2cm wide
Cocktail stick or wooden kebab skewer
Edible glue
Artificial stamens or thin wire approx. 5cm long
Small knife (a craft knife would be good)
Thicker wire for the stem
Florists tape or ribbon approx 7mm wide
You may also find pliers useful to bend the thick wire, and tweezers to move the petals into place.
Flowers
1. Roll a piece of sugarpaste (either the colour of the flower or white to colour later) and cut out two teardrop shapes with a leaf or petal cutter. Fold two stamens in half and set those aside. It may be easier to handle the flowers later if you add another wire to the folded end of the stamens at this point.
2. Mark on the petal shape to divide it into three smaller petals and cut into the required shape.
3. Using a cocktail stick or a kebab skewer, roll out each small petal more thinly and frill the edges.
4. Spread edible glue a quarter of the way up the petal and wrap the petal around the folded stamens, leaving the fold showing out of the bottom of the petal.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 with the second petal, making sure that the mini petals in the two layers go between each other (so you can see all six.)
6. Use the folded stamens to hang from a wire to dry. be careful handling these flowers as they are quite brittle and delicate.
7. Make as many as you need for one stem of freesia (about 3-4 flowers should be enough). Shape the calyxes from a small cone of green sugarpaste, the broad end hollowed out with a cocktail stick and two cuts in the sides of the cone. Slide these carefully onto the flowers. (Alternatively, you could paint the bottom end of the flowers green with food colouring.)
Buds
8. Cut a stamen in half (or cut a piece of wire about 1 inch long). Shape a small pea-sized piece of green paste into a teardrop shape and insert the wire into the thin end of the teardrop. You can fold the wire in half and insert both ends into the paste to make it easier to hang up the bud to dry.
9. Make as many buds as you need (2 or 3 for one stem of freesia) and leave to dry. Attach one bud to a thicker wire by making a hook in the end of the thick wire and hanging the bud at the very end. The other buds can be hung freely on the wire for now.
Assembly
10. Try out the spacing of the buds and flowers on your wire, then remove them all except the first bud at the far end.
11. Attach the florist tape or ribbon to the end of the wire and wrap along until you come to the place for the next bud. Slide the bud along the wire and continue wrapping. Add all the buds and flowers in this way. It may be easier if you have someone to help you hold the wire or ribbon to make sure the wrapping is neat and flat. Make sure the wrapping is taut so that the flowers don't shift about too much. You can dot edible glue along the wire to hold the ribbon/flowers in place if you want. When you have attached all the flowers, bend the stem wire at a right angle to imitate a freesia stem. Continue wrapping it or tie off the ribbon.
Next: carnations
This is adapted from the instructions in Sugarcraft Flowers by Claire Webb.
Freesia
You need:
Sugarpaste (fondant icing) or flower paste
Colouring - the colour you want the flowers to be, and green
Small leaf or petal cutter approx 3cm long, 2cm wide
Cocktail stick or wooden kebab skewer
Edible glue
Artificial stamens or thin wire approx. 5cm long
Small knife (a craft knife would be good)
Thicker wire for the stem
Florists tape or ribbon approx 7mm wide
You may also find pliers useful to bend the thick wire, and tweezers to move the petals into place.
Flowers
1. Roll a piece of sugarpaste (either the colour of the flower or white to colour later) and cut out two teardrop shapes with a leaf or petal cutter. Fold two stamens in half and set those aside. It may be easier to handle the flowers later if you add another wire to the folded end of the stamens at this point.
2. Mark on the petal shape to divide it into three smaller petals and cut into the required shape.
3. Using a cocktail stick or a kebab skewer, roll out each small petal more thinly and frill the edges.
4. Spread edible glue a quarter of the way up the petal and wrap the petal around the folded stamens, leaving the fold showing out of the bottom of the petal.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 with the second petal, making sure that the mini petals in the two layers go between each other (so you can see all six.)
6. Use the folded stamens to hang from a wire to dry. be careful handling these flowers as they are quite brittle and delicate.
7. Make as many as you need for one stem of freesia (about 3-4 flowers should be enough). Shape the calyxes from a small cone of green sugarpaste, the broad end hollowed out with a cocktail stick and two cuts in the sides of the cone. Slide these carefully onto the flowers. (Alternatively, you could paint the bottom end of the flowers green with food colouring.)
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| Step 1 |
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| Step 2 |
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| Step 3 |
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| Step 4 |
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| Step 5 |
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| Step 6 |
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| Step 7 |
Buds
8. Cut a stamen in half (or cut a piece of wire about 1 inch long). Shape a small pea-sized piece of green paste into a teardrop shape and insert the wire into the thin end of the teardrop. You can fold the wire in half and insert both ends into the paste to make it easier to hang up the bud to dry.
9. Make as many buds as you need (2 or 3 for one stem of freesia) and leave to dry. Attach one bud to a thicker wire by making a hook in the end of the thick wire and hanging the bud at the very end. The other buds can be hung freely on the wire for now.
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| Step 8 |
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| Step 9 |
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| Step 10 |
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| Step 11 |
10. Try out the spacing of the buds and flowers on your wire, then remove them all except the first bud at the far end.
11. Attach the florist tape or ribbon to the end of the wire and wrap along until you come to the place for the next bud. Slide the bud along the wire and continue wrapping. Add all the buds and flowers in this way. It may be easier if you have someone to help you hold the wire or ribbon to make sure the wrapping is neat and flat. Make sure the wrapping is taut so that the flowers don't shift about too much. You can dot edible glue along the wire to hold the ribbon/flowers in place if you want. When you have attached all the flowers, bend the stem wire at a right angle to imitate a freesia stem. Continue wrapping it or tie off the ribbon.
Next: carnations
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