Making edible lace and fabric...

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you will know that I have used an edible lace product called Sugarveil to make my lace pieces, and flags for my military cakes. Suguarveil is a fine product, but my biggest problem with it is the fact that it takes forever to set up and then it becomes brittle with time. You have a window of time that you need to work with it, or it is no longer flexible. Problem solved... I have found 2 new products that I like better because the lace stays flexible for a very long time after you have made it, and with my busy schedule, that's what I needed.

 Cake Lace by Claire Bowman... product is made is UK

Sugar Dress by Martellato... product is made in Italy

Both products are available here in the US. through Amazon, Global Sugar Art, and Etsy.

 Mixing it is a 2-part process. First, you combine a powder with a little water and beat according to directions, and then you add a small amount of a liquid and continue beating until peaks form. The liquid is what keeps the lace flexible. 

After you have finished whipping it up, you can spread it into a lace mat or spread it out on the back of a lace mat or onto a silicone baking mat and use it as a piece of fabric. The edible fabric is what I use to make my flags for my Air Force cakes. After you have made your lace pieces or have combined fabric pieces to make a flag, you can fold up your pieces and store them in a zip-lock bag until you're ready to use them. The pieces stay flexible and do not stick to each other... literally like working with fabric. 

Many different lace mats are available. They are quite pricey, but the finished product is incredible. Here are some of the lace mats that I have.

Here are a couple of great videos to show how the whole process works...

Sugar Dress

Cake Lace

Here are some of the cakes I have done with edible lace products...

Air Force Flag cakes...labor of love

I had another order for one of my Air Force flag cakes that went out this morning. These cakes are a little more pricey for my customers...just because there is allot of work involved. It is a several days project whenever I decorate one of these cakes. First, I cut out all of the emblem pieces from gumpaste on my Cricut Cake. After they are all dry, I airbrush them, and again let the pieces dry. Once they are dry, I assemble all of the pieces together...it's kinda like a puzzle. I try to get these done a few days ahead of time. Two days before the cake needs to be ready, I mix up the Sugarveil, because the mixture has to set awhile before you can spread it out. That same day, I bake the cakes, so they can set overnight. The day I decorate, I make the fillings and icing, and then fill, ice, assemble, and decorate the cake...everything except the flag and emblems. Several hours before I'm ready to lay the flag and emblems on the cake, I spread the different colors of Sugarveil onto my silicone mats. This is the tricky part. The amount of time it takes for the Sugarveil to set depends on the weather conditions...how hot it is and mainly the humidity. So, usually it takes several hours, anywhere from 3-4 hours to overnight. You have to keep checking it because it has to be at the stage where it is set, but still pliable so you can work with it. If you let it set too long, it becomes brittle. So because I want the flag to drape nicely on the cake like a real fabric flag, I watch the Sugarveil very closely to make sure I catch it at the correct stage to cut and assemble the pieces. I recently purchased a new mini star scrapbooking punch, which is the perfect size for the stars I need. I cut out all of the pieces, and then assemble the flag. The pieces just stick to each other without adding anything special. I then position the flag on the cake, and put the emblems on top with a bit of icing. Each flag cake that I have done thus far, has something a bit different. This latest order had an oak leaf emblem that was half in gold and half silver, signifying the promotion from major to Lt. Col. So yes, the price is extra for the customer, but the the final product is a real showstopper!

USAFA Bridal Faire...

After some mis-communications and not being able to participate last year, I was able to have a booth at this year's Bridal Faire at the Air Force Academy. I prepared most of the week (amid a house full of visiting grandchildren), and then set up on Friday morning. The event took place on Saturday between 10 and 3. I felt that it was successful and got some good contacts and leads, both prospective brides and vendors that will hopefully refer me. I was able to experiment some more with SugarVeil, which seemed to be very interesting to several visitors. Overall, a successful and hopefully profitable day...

My friend Nancy and I at our booth, getting ready for the Bridal Faire to begin.

Background display for booth, set up day before

Display cake

Display cake with SugarVeil lace over chocolate fondant. Lace made in SugarVeil silicone mat

3 out of 6 of sample cakes to taste...

SugarVeil heart piped on greased parchment over printed design...placed on chocolate fondant.

Cake was fudge marble with Bavarian Creme.

Chocolate mint with chocolate mint mousse and vanilla fondant.

Strawberry shortcake...yellow cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Tried new Chantilly whipped cream stabilizer which worked like a charm...whipped cream held up through entire show.

Simple Dessert Garnishes

I will be teaching some simple cake decorating techniques to the students in Sand Creek's catering classes next week. The teacher also asked me if I could teach some simple garnishes, as they will need to know that for an upcoming competition. So these are the ones I will be teaching them. 

Very simple, yet very effective and pretty on a plate. Everything on this plate is edible, including the small lace doily...it is made from SugarVeil, using my new lace mat (subject of another blog post coming soon). So, my class outline will include a cake demo and drawing (someone in the class will take the cake I decorate home), teaching the students 2 simple borders, and teach them these simple dessert garnishes. They will then ice a cupcake, put one of the borders around the cupcake and make one of the garnishes to decorate the top of their cupcake.

 Maraschino cherry flower on SugarVeil doily

 Strawberry fan

 Citrus butterflies and lemon peel rose

Sugar coated grapes

Experimenting with SugarVeil...

Today I delivered a wedding cake all done in chocolate fondant (which I love by the way), and SugarVeil ribbons and bows. I'm still learning allot about SugarVeil. I really like this product, but it can be a little tricky to use. Some things I learned this time around are...

1. Always make extra SugarVeil for your project...just in case you need it.

2. If you're making bows, make extra as a backup.

3. When SugarVeil dries completely, it is very, very fragile.

4. I need to get a larger air-tight container to store my set SugarVeil pieces, so I don't need to make so many seams in my ribbons.

5. I did not use wafer paper to make my bows; I will try using it next time to give the bows more stability. 

Two flags, two emblems...different materials

Last time I did my Air Force flag cake, it was before I was introduced to the amazing capabilities of SugarVeil . The first flag was made from fondant...looked nice, but was very heavy and hard to place on the cake. I needed to add extra support in the cake so the flag would not crush it. This time, the flag was made from SugarVeil and no extra support was needed. The flag resembled even more closely an actual fabric flag, complete with weight and texture. The colors were also more vivid. The only thing I would have done differently were the stars. I cut them out of gumpaste...they looked great, but had a difficult time sticking to the SugarVeil material. I will be looking for a star punch to cut the stars out of the SugarVeil next time. I'm still having a difficult time using SugarVeil in my Cricut Cake. The SugarVeil pieces just adhered to each other without much problem. I didn't even need to use water. And the flag draped very nicely on the cake...just like an actual fabric flag. 


I used to make all of my Air Force emblems out of royal icing...looked OK, but now even more exact when cut from gumpaste with the Cricut Cake. In the pictures, you can see the differences.

How Awesome Is This!

When I got my new Cricut Cake machine, what I was really hoping to accomplish is to cut out some of my own patterns. Well, now I can do that...I purchased Make the Cut software which lets you cut out anything you want. You just import any pictures from your computer onto a virtual cutting mat, plug your computer into the Cricut Cake with a USB printer cable, and let the machine do the rest. It is truly amazing! Instead of creating my Air Force emblems from royal icing, I can now cut all the pieces out of gumpaste with the Cricut, airbrush them, and stick the pieces together with a little water. It still takes some time, but the design is so much more exact. I'm still experimenting with what food materials I can cut well...so far gumpaste is the best.

Gumpaste pieces layered and cut out

More pieces...

Look at how detailed some of the pieces are...

It's amazing how well it cuts out the tiny letters

Completed seal after airbrushing

and wing emblems...

Finished product with SugarVeil flag...chocolate with chocolate mousse and vanilla with raspberry mousse

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Chocolate cake with fudge filling