What is the main dish at any holiday? What is the one thing no birthday can do without? And what dessert are all guests looking forward to with pleasure? Of course it's a cake!
Today, probably the most popular are cakes made with mastic. They are beautiful, hold their shape perfectly, and the incomparable decorations made from this product can be safely eaten. Mastic cake for children is very popular, because parents can please their child by giving him a dessert decorated with figurines of their favorite cartoon characters.
But our article is intended for those who want to learn how to create delicious beauty themselves! A mastic cake made with your own hands is not a dream, it is a completely doable task! And our master class will help you with this.
The preparation of dessert takes place in several stages. The first is to determine the type of mastic from which you are going to make the cake.
What kind of mastic is there and where to buy it?
Before you start telling us how to decorate a cake with mastic, you need to be clear: what is it anyway? This is a viscous, plastic substance, very similar to plasticine. Thanks to these properties, confectioners began to do more than just make delicious desserts. In their ingenious hands real works of art are born! Often such cakes are not only eaten, it’s a shame to cut them!
There are different types of mastic, the most common of which are:
- For modeling. The name itself suggests its purpose. It is very suitable for creating jewelry and figurines. It has a consistency that is soft on the inside but hard on the outside. This quality is great, for example, for creating jewelry using silicone molds. You will find out what it is a little later.
- Floral. This mastic is ideal for creating delicate and complex decorations, such as small flowers. It contains more thickener, so it dries faster, but it rolls out thinner, is very plastic and holds its shape well. Decorating cakes with floral fondant is a very easy and enjoyable task.
- Sugar. This is what is mainly used to cover cakes (this process is also called covering).
Mastic also comes in marzipan, milk and honey.
You must understand that it is not at all necessary to have all three types of the most popular mastic in your arsenal; you can get by with regular sugar mastic. Its other types are used, rather, by professional kitchen masters for greater convenience and to save their time. Ordinary housewives who want to please their loved ones with their own sweet masterpiece can only get by with sugar mastic.
Buying it is not so easy; it is sold only in specialized confectionery stores. If there is one near your home, then you are incredibly lucky. The best option is to order delicious “plasticine” from the online store in your city. If you don’t find one, don’t despair, you can make mastic yourself. How? Read on!
Rules for working with mastic
The mastic layer is best applied to a leveled, dry surface of the biscuit. To prevent the layer from showing through, the cake decorated with sugar mastic should be stored at low humidity, in hermetically sealed boxes or plastic bags. It is better to roll out the mastic on a table sprinkled with starch or powdered sugar. The optimal thickness for covering that will not tear should be 2-3 mm. The size of the surface of the “blanket” must exceed the area of the cake, then the mastic under its own weight will lie flat, without folds.
To prevent the mastic sheet from tearing when applying it to the cakes, use the original method:
- Place the mastic between two large sheets of dense polyethylene, which are greased with vegetable oil.
- Roll out to 2-3 mm thick.
- Remove one sheet of polyethylene, carefully transfer it to the cake layer, place it evenly on the surface of the cake layer, then separate the second sheet of film.
To give the mastic a shiny look, after finishing the decoration, use a soft brush to cover it with a honey-vodka solution (1:1): the vodka will evaporate, and the figures and the covering will have a mirror-like varnished surface. You can store mastic prepared for future use in the refrigerator for a long time. The main requirement is that the container be hermetically sealed, without air access, which will prevent the mastic from drying out and not letting in moisture, which will cause the mastic to “float.”
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How to make homemade mastic from marshmallows?
It turns out that you can make mastic yourself. And it will cost you at least 2 times less. And this is not the only plus. Many confectionery masters claim that homemade cake mastic tastes much nicer than store-bought ones.
To prepare it (about 400–500 grams) you will need:
- marshmallow soufflé – 100 grams;
- soft butter – 1 tablespoon;
- lemon juice – 1 tablespoon;
- powdered sugar – 250–350 grams.
What is it - marshmallow? Not many people have heard such a mysterious name, but everyone has seen this soufflé! These are the same white and pink Bon Paris sweets in the form of delicious pillows or braids.
There are other manufacturing companies, but this one is perhaps the most popular in Russia. Many mothers deliberately prepare a children's mastic cake exclusively from marshmallows, since they have no doubt about the harmlessness of the composition of the finished product.
How to decorate cakes for a 1 year old boy: ideas with photos
Boys already at one year old are quite inquisitive. Therefore, we will prepare colorful, themed cakes for them. Decor in the form of characters from your favorite cartoons and fairy tales is ideal.
Drawings and figures of equipment will definitely attract the attention of the little one. Feel free to make cars, spaceships, planes, helicopters.
You can not only decorate a classic cake with figures, but also bake cakes in the shape of a cake, a soccer ball, or a car.
But simply beautiful cakes with a congratulatory inscription, the baby’s name, and a drawn one will also do.
An original idea is to make a sweet set consisting of one cake with a candle and many small cakes.
In this case, you can safely give the main component of the composition to the birthday person, without worrying that the guests will not get any treats.
Fantasize and make your dreams come true. And they will help you decide on the choice of photos of ready-made cakes for 1 year old boys.
How to cook?
- Place the soufflé in a bowl (not a metal one).
- Microwave it for 5-10 seconds. The mass should then become soft.
- Add 1 tbsp. l. soft butter at room temperature and 1 tbsp. l. natural lemon juice.
- Mix everything thoroughly. The mass should become soft and homogeneous.
- After this, add 1 tbsp to it. l. powdered sugar until the mixture reaches the consistency of a batter.
- Place the future mastic on the table and knead like dough, adding powdered sugar again and again until the mass becomes viscous and plastic, but elastic and does not stick to your hands, similar to plasticine.
Please note: marshmallow soufflé comes in a variety of colors. Candies can be white-pink or yellow-white-pink. If you want to get mastic of a certain color, for example pink, then you can safely melt whole white and pink pads. If you need white mastic, then the soufflé will need to be cut and only the white part melted. But marshmallows will not produce pure white. It's always a little grayish. Keep this in mind if you want to make a pure white fondant wedding cake. In this case, it is better to purchase a finished product.
DIY cake with a fluffy pink fondant skirt
This cake will be an excellent dessert for a children's birthday, wedding celebration or romantic dinner.
The finished cake is covered with a thinly rolled layer of white mastic, and a sweet fringe is made from different shades of pink.
Cooking instructions
- The chocolate must be cut into small pieces or grated.
- The product must be melted in a water bath, but please note that the water should not boil under any circumstances. Then the chocolate will overheat, change its structure, and the mastic will not work.
- After the mass becomes liquid, add 2 tablespoons of honey, slightly warmed but not hot. Mix everything with a spoon. The mass will immediately begin to thicken.
- The resulting product must be kneaded well, like dough, for 20–30 minutes. During the process, cocoa butter will be released, do not be afraid of this, place some plate and let it calmly flow there.
Decorating cakes with chocolate fondant is less popular due to its slow drying, but is also possible. It is good for tight fitting. Shokomastic can be stored in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic.
The most delicious decorations for a 1st birthday cake
The simplest, but at the same time the most delicious decorations will be your baby’s favorite foods.
Chocolate. You can make beautiful, unusual and very tasty cake decorations from ordinary chocolate. Chocolate can be used to prepare glaze, which is poured onto the surface and sides. You can make drawings, figures, and lace from chocolate of a different or the same color.
The easiest way to decorate the cake is with chocolate chips, which are sprinkled on the surface.
Fruits and berries. Cakes decorated with berries and fruits look exotic and fresh. Rich color and taste will add its own zest to the holiday treat.
They can be laid out whole, in plates, or as a fan. Create flower arrangements or fruit litter.
Candies, cookies. Children really like cakes that are decorated with their favorite bright candies. There can be many ideas here. Use chocolate and multi-colored dragees, glazed nuts, which are placed on the surface.
The sides can be lined with bars, long cookies, and wafer rolls. You can decorate cakes with toffee, marmalade pieces, and jelly candy figures.
Coloring mastic. What do you need to know?
Before you plan to make a mastic cake, you need to clearly imagine what exactly you want to see in the end result. What color will the dessert be, how will you decorate it, will there be inscriptions on it and much more.
After you decide on the type of mastic (it doesn’t matter whether it’s purchased or homemade), it’s time to think about the color.
There are several options for coloring mastic:
- If you make it yourself, you can color it during the cooking process. Dye (dry or gel) is added at the stage of mixing the still liquid marshmallow or white chocolate. This method is only good if the entire mastic cake is the same color - both the coating and the decorations.
- You buy or make white mastic, and add a few drops of dye to the finished one, kneading the mass until it acquires a uniform, even color. Dye is added using a toothpick. It is dipped into colored gel and lines are applied to the finished mastic. Knead. Evaluate the resulting color and, if necessary, repeat the procedure. This option is good because you can paint the mastic in different colors and do it with exactly the volume that you need.
- The disadvantage of the first two options is that the color of the mastic will not be very bright. It will always be more pastel than flashy. The third option is suitable for those who want a rich, eye-catching color. It is necessary to dilute the gel dye with a few drops of vodka, apply it to a sponge and use it to quickly blot the already covered mastic cake. The color is even and bright.
So, your mastic is already ready. You decided on a color and painted it. It's time to think about the filling: what will you hide under the mastic?
Option 3 – shortbread
Shortbread dough is used less often, because... it is quite high in calories. And at the same time, sometimes you want to treat yourself to a dessert with crumbly, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth cake layers.
Shortbread cakes
We start by beating 400 grams of butter with a glass of sugar (the amount of sugar can be adjusted according to your taste). Next, add 4 eggs and continue beating until smooth. Add half a teaspoon of salt, 14 grams of soda and an incomplete spoon of vanillin to the mixture - mix. Add the juice of one squeezed lemon (medium size). Mix.
You need to prepare about 1 kilogram of flour. While stirring the mixture, slowly add flour. The result of the kneading should be shortbread dough (not sticking to your hands and cup). If it still sticks, add flour. Form the dough into a sausage and leave to cool for half an hour.
Having taken out the dough, divide it into 10 parts. We leave the one we are working with, the rest goes back into the cold. Form a cake 2-3 millimeters thick and bake for 3-5 minutes on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour.
Grease the finished cakes with cream and let them soak for several hours. Afterwards we level the sides and cover them with mastic.
Shortbread with meringue
The first step is to prepare the shortcrust pastry. Grind 300 grams of margarine at room temperature with 6 egg yolks and 200 grams of sugar. Stir in 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, vanillin (to taste) and a teaspoon of soda, slaked with vinegar. Gradually add 50 grams of wheat flour into the mixture and knead well. Then we divide it into three equal parts and send it to cool.
Meanwhile, make the meringue by beating 6 egg whites with 200 grams of sugar. Roll out the first part of the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Top with half of the whipped egg whites and bake. Thus, we proceed with one more part of the dough and the protein mass. We bake the third part simply with shortbread.
What dough and filling is best to prepare for mastic?
Probably one of the most exciting questions for novice cooks is: “What kind of cake should I bake with mastic?” The most common version of the tight test is, of course, a sponge cake. It is delicate but holds its shape well. It can be cut into cakes and made into delicious dips and fillings.
The most suitable and delicious recipe for a sponge cake decorated with mastic is this:
- Beat 200 grams of soft butter at room temperature with 200 grams of powdered sugar.
- Add four eggs to the mixture and beat everything until the sugar dissolves.
- Add premium flour (300 grams), sifted through a sieve and mix everything well.
- Bake until done.
Both a sand cake with mastic and a honey cake are ideal.
But not everything is as simple as we would like. Sugar mastic is afraid of moisture. That is why biscuits intended to be covered with it should not be too generously soaked in syrups. The cream for layering the cakes should also not be very soft.
Mastic is a fairly heavy product, and such delicate cakes, such as “Bird's Milk” or “Broken Glass” with an airy and delicate soufflé inside, are not suitable for covering.
You should know that under no circumstances should mastic be placed on top of whipped cream, yogurt cream, or the like. In this case, it will simply melt and “flow”.
But don’t despair, you can still make your favorite layers from almost any cream inside the cake. Culinary experts have come up with a solution. In this case, the outside of your cake just needs to be coated with a special cream that is suitable for covering with mastic. That is, you will have 2 creams. Internal, to your taste (the most important thing is that the structure of the cake itself is strong and stable), and external, on which the mastic will be placed.
Thus, there can be a lot of taste variations. This means that your own mastic cake, made with your own hands, will undoubtedly become one and only.
What should a 1 year old birthday cake look like?
A hand-baked cake for a boy or girl’s 1st birthday will be a wonderful addition to holiday treats.
But recipes for cakes made from standard sponge or puff pastries, buttered with cream and decorated with roses and an inscription, are a thing of the past.
Today, experienced confectioners and caring mothers are trying to give a baby’s birthday cake not just a presentable look, but to come up with a real fairy tale story.
This approach is especially relevant when preparing sweets for an anniversary.
A child at this age is interested in everything bright and remarkable. Therefore, cake decoration should be memorable.
The sweet product is decorated with edible color pictures, figurines, and animals. Such a work of art will definitely attract the baby's attention.
But don’t forget about the preferences of the hero of the occasion. And this applies to both decoration and taste of the culinary product.
If your baby doesn’t particularly like cottage cheese or strawberries, you shouldn’t use such ingredients for the sake of a beautiful picture or strict adherence to the recipe you like.
Mom knows exactly what sweets, fillings, and fruits the birthday boy likes. Therefore, there should not be a problem with the choice of ingredients.
Immediately avoid allergenic foods and new foods unfamiliar to your child.
Birthdays are not the time for food experiments. Keep in mind that other little guests will also try the cake.
If you do not want to conduct a preliminary survey about your children’s intolerance to certain foods, immediately cross off honey, nuts, and citrus fruits from the list.
Separately, you need to dwell on the quality of the components used, both for baking the cake and for making decorations.
To create a beautiful picture, many people use synthetic dyes. This approach is not acceptable for preparing treats for small children.
There are many options for how to tint mastic with natural, natural dyes that are safe for children.
Use the juice of strawberries, beets, carrots, celery, and parsley for coloring.
If you order a cake from a professional chef, ask what dyes will be used.
And don’t forget about the freshness of the cake itself.
It is better to bake it immediately on the eve of the holiday or pick up the order on the day of the celebration.
Cake leveling cream recipes
What kind of magic creams are these? You probably already have this question. There are only two most popular types of leveling creams.
“Cream from boiled condensed milk with butter”
It is perhaps the most common, as it does not require much skill or time. It is necessary to mix well 200 grams of soft butter at room temperature and 150 grams of boiled condensed milk. The cream is ready!
"Chocolate ganache"
To prepare it you need:
- 2–3 tablespoons of powdered sugar;
- 30 grams of butter;
- 100 grams of chocolate;
- 110 ml cream (30–35% fat).
Let's start cooking:
- Chop the chocolate and place in a bowl.
- In a saucepan, thoroughly mix the cream with sugar, bring the mixture almost to a boil and turn off (do not boil!).
- Pour the hot mixture into the chocolate, wait a few minutes and mix thoroughly.
- Add butter and stir the mixture again. Ready!
And now, using any of these creams, the cake must be prepared for covering with mastic. It's not enough to just coat the cake. Its surface must be perfectly flat!
That’s why these creams are called leveling creams. With their help, the future mastic cake will turn out perfectly smooth and beautiful, because with any convexity of the cream, defects will be visible. To make the dessert look neat, we recommend leveling its surface in three stages.
- Spread a thin layer of cream over the top and sides of the cake; it will smooth out all the major irregularities. Cool in the refrigerator until the first layer of cream hardens.
- Cover the cake with a second, thicker layer of cream. Try to give the surface as even a finish as possible. Chill again in the refrigerator until firm.
- Heat the knife on the stove (not hot water, it should be dry). Using a hot knife, smooth the cream to an ideal, beautiful and even surface. Place the cake back in the refrigerator.
So, a huge, important stage has been passed! We already have a beautiful, leveled cake! The mastic for a birthday (or other holiday) is also ready, all that remains is to cover our gorgeous, delicious dessert.
Beautiful and safe DIY cake decorations for a 1 year old boy or girl
Let's leave the exquisite versions of 1-year-old cakes, decorated with mastic or complex cream, for experimentation by real masters. For caring mothers who decided to please their child with a homemade birthday cake, we offer several ideas for decorating your treat.
Fruit jelly
To prepare colorful jelly, you can use ready-made compositions. But if you're considering a safer option, make your own fruit jelly. Fortunately, the process of its preparation is simple and accessible to everyone.
For preparation you will need:
- seasonal berries – 300 – 400 gr.;
- water – 1 liter;
- gelatin or agar-agar.
You will need berries from which you can cook a concentrated compote or squeeze the juice. The resulting liquid is mixed with the jelly composition.
Regular food gelatin in granules, plates or vegetable agar-agar is suitable.
From these components we make a preparation according to the recipe on the pack. Mix the fruit and jelly parts.
To decorate the cake, you can pour the slightly cooled jelly directly into the mold on top of the cake. Pieces of fruit and citrus fruits will look original in such a jelly cake.
You can make several multi-colored layers of jelly or waves, stripes of different shades.
Another option: pour the jelly into a suitable sized mold and leave until completely hardened. The thin jelly cake must be carefully removed from the springform pan and transferred to the cake.
Meringue for cake decoration
Wet meringue or meringue are great for decorating children's cakes.
In addition, the protein cream perfectly holds its structure when prepared correctly, which allows you to create truly fabulous compositions.
For preparation you will need:
- egg whites – 4 pcs.;
- sugar – 1 glass;
- vanillin – 1 sachet;
- citric acid – ¼ tsp.
Beat well-chilled egg whites in a completely dry and clean container. Gradually add sugar, vanillin and citric acid.
There is no need to achieve the thickness of the protein cream. The main thing is to get a homogeneous mass.
Place the bowl with the mixture in a water bath and continue to beat it with a mixer. Heat the meringue, whisking constantly, for about 15 minutes. An indicator of the readiness of the cream will be persistent marks from the mixer.
Remove from the bath and beat the cream for another 3 – 5 minutes.
At this stage you can color the meringue. Natural dyes cannot be used, as they will disrupt the necessary structure of the cream.
It is better to use liquid food coloring. Dry ones will have to be diluted in vodka first.
Add the dye one drop at a time, without stopping stirring, until you achieve the desired shade.
Place the finished meringue in the refrigerator until it cools down. After which you can start creating using a culinary syringe or bag. You can make not only flowers and leaves from wet meringue. This cream is perfect for creating towers, butterflies, and inscriptions on a 1-year-old cake.
Meringue can also be used to decorate cupcakes and muffins.
Cakes with meringue baked after decoration look original. After baking, droplets appear on this cream, which is visually perceived as “tears of an angel.”
Whipped cream
To make buttercream at home, it is better to use raw materials of animal origin. Optimal fat content is 30 – 40%.
Vegetable cream is a mixture of fats and stabilizers.
Therefore, you should not use them to decorate a cake for a child’s first birthday.
Homemade cream will not work either, since after whipping it turns into butter, not cream.
To prepare we will need:
- store-bought cream – 0.5 liters;
- vanillin – 1 sachet;
- food colorings.
You will have to work with cream cream quickly, without being distracted by searching for the necessary equipment, tools, and ingredients. Therefore, we immediately prepare everything that will be useful for work.
Cool the cream in the refrigerator in advance. It is better to leave them in the cold overnight.
The temperature of the whipping cream should be within 5 - 10 degrees.
To maintain the required temperature when whipping, place the container with cream in a bowl with ice water or pieces of ice. First whip the cream at medium speed. Then we move to high. Now you can add vanillin and other flavorings, sweeteners in the form of sugar or powdered sugar if desired.
The readiness of the cream is indicated by the peaks and traces that remain on the cream from the mixer.
You can add liquid dyes to the finished buttercream. Transfer the resulting mass into a bag with a suitable attachment.
You should not store or freeze creamy foam. Such material quickly loses its shape and settles in heat.
Therefore, you can decorate cakes for a 1-year-old girl’s birthday with cream, if it is possible to serve it immediately to guests. Creamy peaks look great on fruit salads and cupcakes.
Cake painting with icing
Icing is a sugar glaze that can be used to decorate not only Christmas gingerbread cookies, but also any cakes in an original and colorful way. Three-dimensional figures created using this technique look very attractive and unusual.
From glaze you can create not only inscriptions and drawings, but also thematic compositions and lace coverings.
To prepare the icing you will need:
- egg white – 1 pc.;
- powdered sugar – 150 gr.;
- lemon juice – 1 tsp.
We first separate the white from the yolk and place it in a completely clean and dry container. Begin beating at medium speed until foam forms.
Now you can add powdered sugar in parts, increasing the whipping speed.
When the mixture acquires a sufficiently thick consistency, you can add lemon juice, which will give the glaze a special shine.
Icing is ready for use. But craftswomen need to know a few more secrets with this ingredient.
The mass can be divided into several parts, and each one can be colored with food coloring in the desired color.
To outline the outline, you will need a thicker glaze, which, after drying, will form a border.
To fill the surface with icing, the mixture will have to be diluted with water. The main thing is not to overdo it.
You can draw figures for decoration either on a dried glaze surface or on a silicone board. In the second case, after drying, the figures are carefully removed from the board and transferred to the surface of the cake.
To prevent the elements from falling apart and sticking to the board, it must first be lubricated with vegetable oil.
The elements are connected to create three-dimensional figures with each other using the same glaze. This glaze can be safely stored in the cold for 3 to 5 days in a closed container.
Therefore, at any time you can correct mistakes or correct the pattern on the cake.
By the way, you can decorate the cake in an original way with painted gingerbread cookies.
And also prepare beautiful gingerbread cookies with themed inscriptions as gifts for guests.
What tools are needed to cover a fondant cake?
For further work with mastic you will need the following:
- Rolling pin. It can be regular (wooden) or silicone. Professional confectioners choose silicone models with a rotating handle. This is the most convenient way to roll out the mastic.
- Silicone mat. But you can do without it if the table surface is smooth and without flaws.
- Pastry iron. This is a device with which the mastic on the cake is leveled. This is an extremely convenient thing. After all, you will never be able to press the mastic onto the cake with your fingers so smoothly.
- A regular knife or a round one (for pizza). The latter is more convenient to work with and is necessary for cutting mastic.
- Powdered sugar. Needed for rolling out mastic to prevent it from sticking to the table.
Icing for decorating a children's cake at home
Recently, decorating children's cakes with icing has become very popular. After complete hardening, this food material resembles in appearance the ice pattern that forms on windows in winter. The kids really like it, although without additional decoration with other confectionery products it looks quite boring. You cannot apply icing directly to the surface of the cake. First, the product must be filled with chocolate glaze or covered with mastic. And preparing the base for icing is very simple. For this you only need:
- chicken eggs (whites only) – 3 pcs.;
- powdered sugar – 500-600 g;
- lemon juice – 15 ml;
- glycerin – 1 teaspoon.
Separate the whites from the yolks, pour into a mixing bowl and put in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. Then beat them until white, add the rest of the ingredients and beat again. Cover the resulting mass with cling film and place in the refrigerator for an hour. During this time, air bubbles in the mass will burst. After this, the mass can be transferred to a pastry syringe and applied to the prepared surface of the cake.
By the way, there is no need to worry about glycerin. It is completely harmless for children and adults. Moreover, glycerin is used in almost all confectionery products sold in stores and is designated as E 422.
The wrapping process. Step by step photos
How to properly cover a mastic cake? Our master class will show you this in great detail! So:
- Sprinkle the table with powdered sugar.
- Roll out the mastic with a rolling pin so that its thickness ends up being 3-4 mm.
- Carefully take the fondant sheet from below with your hands and place it on the cake.
- Using a pastry iron and light pressure, smooth the sheet so that it fits snugly against the surface of the cake. Start from the top and then move to the sides. Make sure that no air bubbles form. To avoid this, the iron must be worked from the top of the cake to its bottom.
- Using a round or regular knife, cut off the excess mastic and put it aside. Please note that in the photo the cake is on a base, and the mastic is cut along the line of the base. If there is none, just cut off the fondant along the bottom edge of the cake.
- Admire the creation - what a beautiful dessert it turned out to be (and almost ready)!
How to decorate a cake with fondant? You will find out about this very soon!
Ready-made cake decorations for 1 year
If you don’t want to waste time on fancy decorations or experience working with labor-intensive technologies, a solution can be found by turning to professionals. And you don’t have to order expensive themed cakes.
Feel free to bake a treat according to your favorite recipe and choose decorations for cakes for a 1 year old boy or girl from the photo.
Today you can easily buy ready-made edible decorations for your masterpieces.
Consider these interesting options:
Marzipan figures. The network offers not only ready-made sugar flowers, leaves, bouquets, but also babies, babies in strollers, babies in petals, petals, fairy-tale and cartoon characters, princesses, castles, butterflies, cars, animals.
From such a variety it is easy to choose figures that correspond to the first birthday and the theme of the holiday. The main thing is to take into account the production and delivery time so as not to be left completely without sweet decorations.
Waffle pictures. Thanks to food printing technology, many interesting proposals for cake decorations have appeared. Most often this is a waffle base on which a thematic picture is applied.
When choosing, pay attention not only to the composition itself, but also to the size of the workpiece. The size of the future cake for the baby’s first birthday will depend on it.
Individual photo print of the baby. If you wish, you can order a print of not just a fairy-tale picture, but also a drawing based on your own sketches, and even a photo of the baby.
Just think a few times about whether it would be pleasant to cut a cake decorated with such a portrait.
What equipment do you need to have to decorate cakes with fondant?
You can decorate the cake with fondant without having anything at all except scissors and a knife. Or you can buy a couple of silicone molds - and then the process of creating flowers and various figures will be simplified to a minimum! What is a mold? This is a silicone mold for making various jewelry. How to use it? Nothing could be simpler. You need to put a piece of mastic into the hole of the mold and press it tightly so that you are completely sure that it has filled every millimeter of it. The form can be placed in the freezer for a couple of minutes, then carefully remove the resulting figure or flower.
For beginners working with mastic, this is simply an ideal option. Using molds you can decorate dessert not only quickly, but also very beautifully.
You can learn to sculpt flowers and figures from mastic with your own hands. There are a large number of video lessons of this kind. After practicing a couple of times, you will surely be able to create something beautiful.
Well, another option is possible: buy ready-made cake decorations in specialized stores.
Now you know the basic principles and nuances of making a cake covered with mastic. These main stages remain unshakable for a cake of any shape and design.
DIY zebra skin cake made from fondant
When rolling out a base of white mastic, scraps of black mastic are added, which seem to be rolled into the main layer. Thus, you can make not only zebra skin, but also leopard, tiger or giraffe skin - the main thing is to choose the right shades of food coloring.
Children's cakes made from mastic. Photo
For boys, the most desirable thing, of course, is a cake in the shape of a car. Making it is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. All stages of preparing sponge cake and cream remain the same. It's all just a matter of your imagination. The cake will only need to be shaped like a car body. After covering the entire dessert with mastic, you need to cut out the machine parts for decoration; this can be done with a knife or ordinary scissors, and glue them with ordinary water. Since mastic is sugar, water acts on it like glue.
A mastic cake for a girl is undoubtedly best designed in the form of a doll. It's much easier to make it than a machine. The cake needs to be shaped into a dome. This will be the doll's skirt. And all you need to do is stick the doll’s legs into this dome. Specialized stores sell a special top part of the doll for cakes like this. But it doesn't come cheap. Why spend money if there is practically no difference, and the doll can be washed later? After fixing, the cake can be covered with mastic in any way your heart desires. You can make folds, a train, glue bows and flowers. The upper part of the doll can also be decorated with individual pieces of mastic.
If your child is crazy about a popular cartoon character, you can make a figurine of him from mastic. Dare, create, try! And your children will say with pride and love: “Our mother is the best!”
How to decorate a cake for a girl’s 1st birthday: interesting ideas with photos
For little princesses, it is better to prepare a themed cake. It will complement the overall theme and emphasize the importance of the first holiday.
Decorate it in delicate colors using airy cream, chocolate or protein glaze, and sugar lace. Beads, flowers, and butterflies would be appropriate here.
If you choose jewelry from figurines, you can choose animals, princesses, bows, crowns, and angels.
But remember that for children aged 1 year you can also prepare cakes with neutral decorations. Therefore, any beautiful confectionery masterpieces in the form of cubes, a set of cupcakes, cakes with fruits or sweets are ideal for a child’s first birthday.
Wedding cakes made from mastic. Photo. Nuances in preparation
These mastic cakes are especially popular. They are very beautiful, and there are a lot of ideas for their design. But it’s not at all necessary to come up with grandiose bouquets of flowers. A simple design that even a beginner can handle is by no means the worst thing.
Perhaps the easiest, but no less beautiful decoration for a wedding cake can be ordinary mastic balls or confectionery sprinkles.
Bows of various sizes can also serve as a simple but elegant solution. You can play with colors, because no one said that wedding means it has to be white.
The most ordinary stripes on a cake can add real zest and elegance to a sweet dessert. A wedding cake made from mastic is actually not so much difficult to decorate as it is to “assemble”. The main difficulty in cooking is attaching its tiers if there are several of them. If there are two tiers, then usually the second is simply placed on the first. But in this case, the sponge cake should not be too soft or with a delicate filling, otherwise the lower tier threatens to be crushed under the weight of the first.
Everything becomes much more complicated when there are three or more tiers. Then a substrate of the required diameter is purchased for each of them, and each layer of the cake is placed on it. In addition, each tier is strengthened with special wooden sticks. They are used to pierce all layers (except for the very top) in several places and cut them so that their height exactly matches the height of the tier itself. Thus, the upper tier on the base will lie not just on the lower ones, but also on wooden sticks that will not bend and will firmly hold the weight of the entire cake, preventing the dessert from deforming.
Now you know how to make a mastic cake with your own hands. The master class revealed in detail all the stages of preparing this delicious dessert. And if before reading our article the task seemed impossible for you, now you are probably excited about this idea and will delight your loved ones with a wonderful, incomparable cake! We believe in you! Everything will definitely work out!
