COOKING COMPANION SWIRLS


Choose a star-shaped, reasonably large tube, about 1cm in diameter. It’s great to use a saucer to practise with, as you can use the indented circle in the centre. Rest the piping tube at the outside edge of the indented circle (or if using a plate, an imaginary circle about 6cm in diameter). At the same time, begin steadily squeezing the bag and moving the nozzle around the outside of the circle. Keep squeezing and moving until you get back to where you started, and continue on the inside of the buttercream circle. You are creating a spiral, which on a flat surface will remain quite flat, but on a domed cupcake will make a wonderful conical shape. Once you reach the centre, release the pressure on the decorating bag and pull it vertically upward to finish the swirl with a soſt peak.


Try twisting


the tube and bag slightly as you work for an even swirlier swirl!


Decorating with royal icing


Royal icing is great for adding details to cakes, biscuits and cupcakes. It is also very simple to mix with colouring gels so it can be used to add little splashes of colour to an otherwise plain treat.


LINES


To create lines, hold the icing bag in the same way as for dots, but angle the tip at about 45 degrees to the surface you are decorating. Touch the tip of the tube to the surface, then start squeezing the icing bag at the same time as you start moving the tube slowly across the surface. Ensure you keep the tube moving at the same rate as the flow of royal icing for a smooth line – too fast and you will break the line, too slow and you will get an uneven width. To finish a line neatly, touch the tip of the rube to the surface, release the pressure on the bag and bring the tube up and away from the surface, much the same as piping dots.


DOTS


Te consistency of your royal icing is crucial – too stiff and your dots will be awkward-shaped peaks, too runny and your lines will disappear into the background. Experiment until you get it just right, and only then make a start on your cakes. Hold the bag comfortably in your


Dots and lines can be used very effectively to create a wide variety of


writing hand, moving it around until you feel in control of the tube. Practise dots first on a plate of piece or card. Hold the decorating bag so the tube is just slightly above and perpendicular to the surface to be decorated. In one smooth movement, squeeze the bag so the icing pools around the tube, release the pressure on the bag and then pull the tube upwards and away from the dot. Te dot should settle to form a perfect dome. If it still has a peak aſter a couple of minutes, your royal icing is too stiff. For more information, see Cakes, Bakes and Biscuits, published by Pavilion


Dawn Pennington of Penningtons School of Cake Artistry in Bournemouth, Dorset, explain the


importance of consistency when piping royal icing onto cakes


When making royal icing, the strength and the consistency is the most important thing to the cake decorator. Pure egg white powder will ensure the strength and the consistency is correct every time you make up a batch of royal icing. Tis is because the protein (albumen) has been through a process creating a consistent protein strength. Terefore, royal icing made from egg white powder compared to that made with fresh egg will give a superior standard of royal icing, allowing the cake decorator to achieve far better piping results every time. We recommend 15g pure albumen powder to 85ml of cold water, which is added to 455g of sieved cane icing sugar, to create the perfect recipe for royal icing.


patterns. Simply picking out the points of a shape with dots can add interest to iced biscuits, as can varying the size of your dots.


FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 53


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72