Embossed Buttercream Class Cake

Yesterday I took a class at the Cake Art store entitled 'Embossed Buttercream.'  This was a very fun and useful class!

A lot of the ideas/ concepts for this class came from Earlene Moore, a retired cake artist from TX-- if you haven't seen her stuff, check out her website: www.earlenescakes.com.

First, we learned to make a gumpaste loopy bow, like you see on the top of the cake:

Gumpaste Loopy Bow

We made the loops at the beginning of class and let them set up, while we iced our cake dummies.  After icing and smoothing the dummies, we divided them into quarters so that we could try different patterns/ techniques in each of the four quadrants.

Quilted/ Pearled Quadrant

In this quadrant, we used a diamond impression mat to create the quilted look.  Later, I piped a shell border on the bottom and a fleur-de-lis border on the top.   We added the pearls last-- we also learned how to make these in class.  They are made from fondant and rolled in Super Pearl dust so they're fairly soft and totally edible.  You can find a similar set of instructions here: http://www.earlenescakes.com/prlinstruct.htm.  We simplified it a little bit in class, but I think they came out nice. :)

For this quadrant, we cut a vertical striped impression mat so that it would accommodate garland work above it.  We applied the impression, then piped ruffles above it with tip 104.  I added a little rosette border on the bottom and small shells on the top.  You can see here we made pearls in a  variety of sizes.

In this quadrant, we used a paper pattern to create the overall shape, then used a little teardrop cutter to create the outline you see in the center.  The whole section was piped with cornelli lace.  My lace looks a little too angular, in my opinion, but you get the idea!

This is my favorite quadrant, I think.  We used a paper pattern and then piped over it to create the scrolls. I really like the pearl arcs that complement the scrolls.   Above the scrolls is a sotas lace, and I added a reverse shell border:

So, normally I wouldn't decorate a cake in four quadrants, but this was a nice way to try some different techniques!

Finally, we assembled the bow using royal icing, and voila!