How to make a pretty bow to go on a cake

A bow is a great way to finish off a cake, whether it’s for a birthday, Christening or anything else, and it is very easy to make. It helps to have a couple of specific pieces of equipment but you don’t need to buy them if you don’t want to.

 

  

A while ago I took a Saturday course at the Sutton College of Learning for Adults, which was described as a class in making sugarpaste figures. First we made this teddy bear which was good, though the skills involved were quite basic and I had done this sort of thing before. Then we moved onto making a bow – not a figure, in my book, but it was something I hadn’t done before – and then finally, very simple and easy roses, which I have done at least three times before. I was quite disappointed because several people who I asked agreed that sugarpaste figures should mean people, or possibly animals – but certainly not bows and roses!

 

Still, so that I got something out of the day I thought I would share with you the technique to make this pretty bow. We made it purely from sugarpaste (also called fondant, or roll-out icing) but you could also use flowerpaste for a thinner, stiffer bow.

 

I coloured my sugarpaste with a little lilac colouring, and kneaded it in. You can also buy ready made colours.

 

Knead until pliable, break off a large ball and roll out into a long rectangle. Using either a knife and something with a straight edge to follow, or a cutting wheel, cut out two long strips.

 

We used a stitching tool to mark a stitch pattern along both edges of each strip; you could also prick the fondant with a cocktail stick but this would take quite a while (or leave it plain).

 

Roll up two pieces of baking paper so you have tubes. Take one of your strips of fondant and lay it out in front of you horizontally. Take one end and bring it to the middle, leaving a large loop. Insert the rolled up paper so it keeps the shape of the loop supported. Do the same with the other side, and use a little edible glue to stick both pieces of ribbon in the middle.

 

 

Take the other fondant strip and cut in half, then cut a small triangle out of each end so you have two points. When the other part of the bow is dry, place it on top of the two tails and arrange at whatever angle you wish. When you are happy with it, stick together with edible glue.

 

 

Leave to harden and then place on top of your cake. I will show you what I did with mine soon!

 

Cake decorating class #2- parcel cake

My second cake decorating class - and the first time we actually made anything - resulted in this parcel cake, above. I think it turned out really well and it's definitely something I could make for someone's birthday!

We were told to bring a square cake to the class with us, so I used a Jamie Oliver recipe which I found here. Unfortunately the cake was quite flat - probably only 1.5 inches or so thick - so I ended up making two, and sandwiching them together with buttercream.

At the beginning of the class, I was told to spread a thin layer of buttercream around the sides of the cake. It hadn't occured to me to turn the cake upside down so the top was perfectly flat until Lorna told me to!

Some people in the class had already covered their cake with buttercream and fondant but I didn't see the point of doing that in advance when I wasn't entirely confident about doing it and would rather Lorna showed me how - I'd only ever done it once before, whereas I got the impression some of the other people had done it countless times.

I used Dr Oetker's roll-out icing in chocolate flavour as I thought it would go nicely with the chocolate cake.

Next we made the ribbon to go on the top. Below is Lorna's ribbon cutter which I borrowed, on a piece of green rolled-out fondant. You could just use a knife or a pizza cutter would work quite well.

A piece of 'ribbon'

Cut out two and lay them across the cake.

These are bow cutters - again I borrowed Lorna's. You could just cut the shapes out with a knife but this way made sure they were the same size and shape.

Take the bottom two pieces of the bow - which are angled at the end - and fold over the tops to make them look like a fan. Stick those ends onto the centre of the ribbon. Then fold over the top pieces so you have a loop. Stick the loop on the cake, standing up, to make the top part of the bow. Finally fold a small piece of fondant over the knot in the middle of the bow.

I think I will also enter this in We Should Cocoa as the challenge from Chele  this month is "something green".