I have a couple of cakes coming up and bought myself some gumpaste to make decorations like figurines and flowers with - the only problem is I haven't made figurines before, and I've only ever made roses as an experiment- and I certainly need a bit more practice.
I had some spare time today so I had another little practice session, here is my first ever sugar figurine, a fairy. She is mainly made out of fondant, but I made her wings out of gumpaste because I need them to set hard.
One thing I learnt is that I should leave painting the features on the face until last, because I smudged them putting her hair and wings on.I also had another go at making a sugar rose, I have some flower making tools now and I think it turned out a lot more rose-like than last time, but I still need a little practice.
The picture could be better but you get the idea. It is really humid again so I had to put them in the oven to dry out, I only had it on 50 degrees celsius but it worked really well, plus the wire rack was good for hanging the rose upside down, I just put a hook in it's wire stem. I'll remember that trick for next time.
I'm a bit obsessed with Cake Boss at the moment, it's a show on Pay TV but I just watch it on YouTube, someone has uploaded almost every episode and I can stream YouTube on my T-Box and watch it on the normal TV. The cakes they do are just massive and they have some really talented artists there. Visiting Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ is definitely going on my bucket list!
Last but not least I need your opinion. I'm thinking of starting to use local produce to make my cakes. Just to name a couple, I can get eggs from a friend, or Lake Hume eggs, and Myrtleford butter, and who knows what else there is available around here in the small grocers or at the markets. My question is, would locally sourced produce be a selling point for you, and why or why not? Let me know in the comments!
