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Christmas Cake Idea- A Birdcage Cake Tutorial

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In this tutorial I will be showing you how to make this birdcage Christmas cake, with a cute little robin, poinsettia flowers and Christmas roses. It is a really lovely Christmas cake idea, which is simple yet really effective. It would look beautiful as part of a Christmas celebration or even a Christmas wedding.

Christmas Cake Idea- A Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Christmas Cake Idea- A Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Christmas Cake Idea- A Birdcage Cake Tutorial

You will need

-A 6” round fruit cake
-6” semi sphere fruit cake
-8” iced cake drum
-Red, white, green and brown gum paste -Petunia cutter and veiner set (Petal craft) -Paintbrush
-Edible glue
-Small piping bag and nozzle
-Royal icing
-Circle cutter
-Holly plunge cutter and veiner
-Small blossom plunge cutter
-Foam flower former
-Beadmaker
-Sharp kinife
-Rose silicone mould
-gold edible paint
-gold dragees
-yellow nonpareils
-Rose leaf plunge cutter and veiner -Robin silicone mould
-Red orange and black edible food colouring dusts -gold sparkle edible shimmer dust

Preparation

Cover each of the cakes with marzipan and white sugarpaste. Stack the cakes on an 8” iced cake drum.

Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Roll out a thin sausage shape of gum paste and insert into the bead maker mould. Close the bead maker, pressing firmly.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Run a sharp knife along the edge of the bead maker, trimming any excess gum paste.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Open the bead maker and remove the string of beads from the mould.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Trim any excess gum paste from the edge of the beads using a circle cutter. Repeat to make several strings of beads.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Attach the beads to the cake, securing with royal icing. Arrange the beads to create 6 distinct sections of your bird cage cake.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Press a small piece of gum paste into the rose mould to create several roses.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Attach the roses to the cake along the join line with royal icing.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Create some additional strings of beads (steps 1-4) and attach to the cake above and below the roses to finish the edges of the rose border. Repeat this process to create a rose border along the bottom. of the cake.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
To create the top handle of the bird cage, roll a ball of gum paste attaching beads to the bottom and roses to the sides.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Create a small loop with a string of beads and allow to dry before attaching on top to create the handle. Secure the handle to the top of the cake using royal icing.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Paint each of the beads and roses on the cake with edible gold paint.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
To make the poinsettia flowers roll out some red gum paste and cut out 5 or 6 leaf shapes using the rose leaf cutter. Trim the edges of each of the leaves.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Arrange 5 or 6 petals together, joining in the centre and secure with edible glue.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Repeat step 12 to create another set of petals. This time pinching the bottom of each petal together.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Stick the pinched petals on top of the first set of petals with edible glue.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Allow to dry in the foam flower former and then pipe some royal icing into the centre of the poinsettia flower.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Place 3 gold dragees on the royal icing to create the centre of the poinsettia flower. Repeat steps 12-16 using white gum paste to create a white
poinsettia.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
TocreatetheChristmasrose,roll out some white gum paste and use the petunia cutter to cut out several shapes.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Then cut out several small blossom shapes.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Place the petunia shape inside the petunia veiner with the blossom shape on top and press securely. Repeat with each of the cut outs and allow to dry in a flower former.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Paintsomeedibleglueintothe centre of the flowers.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Sprinkle some yellow nonpareils into the centre of each of the flowers.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Next roll out some green gum paste and use the plunger to cut out and vein come holly leaf shapes.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Arrange the poinsettia flowers and Christmas roses on the cake securing with royal icing.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Arrange the holly leaves between the flowers, filling any gaps.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Push some brown gum paste into the top section of the robin mould and some white gum paste into the bottom section.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Remove the gumpaste robin from the mould and paint the breast of the robin using a combination of red and yellow edible dusts.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Paint the beak and eye of the robin with black edible dust.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Place the robin amongst the flowers on the cake, securing with royal icing.
Birdcage Cake Tutorial
Finally, using a large paintbrush, brush some gold sparkle dust over the white icing of the cake to create a subtle shimmer.
Christmas Cake Idea- A Birdcage Cake Tutorial

I hope you enjoyed this Christmas Cake Idea- A Birdcage Cake Tutorial. Check out some more of our tutorials below.

P.S I love seeing the cakes that you’re making, so if you use one of my tutorials please tag @sugarruffles in your Instagram photos and stories so I can take a look! 

Wisteria Sugar Flower Tutorial

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Today I am sharing one of my most popular tutorials. My wisteria sugar flower tutorial. Click on the link above to download your free copy now!

Are you looking for a new flower to add to your sugar flower skill set?

With my wisteria sugar flower tutorial you will learn something new and different that you can add to your sugar flower and wedding cake portfolio.

In this step by step tutorial you will learn how to create beautiful wisteria sugar flowers and how to use petal dusts to give a life-like look to your wisteria.

You will also learn how to create a lustre effect on your cake and use a mould to create pretty floral swags.

Wisteria sugar flower tutorial
Wisteria Wedding cake tutorial

Hanging flowers are a huge trend for weddings and wisteria adds a really elegant touch to a wedding cake.

Wisteria sugar flowers
Wisteria Wedding cake tutorial

Save this tutorial for later and pin it to Pinterest.

Wisteria sugar flower tutorial

More Wedding cake and sugar flower tutorials

Watercolour wedding cake tutorial

Wisteria wedding cake tutorial

Autumn wedding cake tutorial

Please let me know in the comments below any tutorials you would love to see on the Sugar Ruffles blog. I’d love to hear from you. 

P.S I love seeing the cakes that you’re making, so if you use one of my tutorials please tag @sugarruffles in your Instagram photos and stories so I can take a look! 

How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould

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Did you notice the pretty edible jewels on the wedding cake that I shared last week in my Sugar Sequin Tutorial? Well this week I am sharing exactly how I made them, and the best part is that they are made with white modelling chocolate so they are really delicious as well as looking pretty. I am going to take you through step by step, including how to make your own jewel cake decorating mould.

How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould

You will need:

–Silicone Plastique Putty Mould Making Kit

–Small jewels

–White modelling chocolate 

–Snowflake lustre dust

How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
Begin by measuring out equal parts of the blue and white silicone plastique clay.
How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
Knead together the two parts until completely combined and an even colour has been achieved.
How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
Select some small jewels. Roll out the clay to twice the thickness of the selected jewels.
How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
Press each of the jewels into the clay ensuring that the detail on each jewel is completely submerged.
How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
Leave to dry for one hour at room temperature with the jewels submerged in the mould.
How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
After 1 hour remove the jewels from the mould and wash the mould thoroughly.
How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
Press white modelling chocolate into each of the crevices of the mould.
How to make your own jewel cake decorating mould
Remove the white chocolate jewels from the mould and brush with lustre dust.

Check out some more of our tutorials below

P.S I love seeing the cakes that you’re making, so if you use one of my tutorials please tag @sugarruffles in your Instagram photos and stories so I can take a look! 

A Sugar Sequin Tutorial- How To Make Sugar Sequins

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Sugar Ruffles- sequins

Sugar sequins look so pretty on wedding cakes, they add such a lovely delicate sparkle.  I love to use sequins on wedding cakes to embellish sugar lace and to add some extra sparkle to designs. Today I’m going to show you how to make sugar sequins using cake lace. In this sugar sequin tutorial I used the sequins cake lace mat and white original cake lace by Claire Bowman. 

I have added a list of everything you will need to complete this sugar sequin tutorial on my amazon storefront here, so everything is in one place for you.

Please note that the link above is an affiliate link. If you click the link and purchase any item I will receive a small commission but this does NOT add any additional costs to you. Thank you so much for supporting Sugar Ruffles Blog.

Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Carefully measure out 50ml of water and pour into a stand mixer.
Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Add four tablespoons of part A powder from the Claire Bowman cake lace set. Mix on high for 2 minutes.
Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Add half a teaspoon of Part B liquid from the Claire Bowman cake lace set.
Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Mix on high for about 5 minutes until the cake lace looks smooth.
Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Pour a small amount of Cake Lace mixture onto the sequin mat and spread out with a knife.
Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Once the sequin mat is completely covered, bake in oven at 70°C – 80°C for 10-15 minutes.
Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Remove the mat from the oven and once cooled remove the individual sequins from mat.
Sugar Sequin Tutorial
Brush the large and small cake lace sequins with lustre dust.  I love to use squires kitchen snowflake for a really sparkly look.
Sugar Ruffles- sequins

Pin this sugar sequin tutorial to Pinterest for later.

step by step tutorial

More Wedding cake and sugar flower tutorials

Watercolour wedding cake tutorial

Wisteria wedding cake tutorial

Autumn wedding cake tutorial

Petal Ruffles Cake Tutorial

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petal ruffle cake tutorial

Today I am sharing a petal ruffles cake tutorial with step by step instructions. I have also included my cherry blossom sugar flower tutorial as a free download so that you can create our entire cherry blossom and petal ruffle wedding cake design.

petal ruffle cake tutorial

Petal ruffles are one of the most popular design elements amongst my brides. If you take a look at my Instagram you can see just how many brides choose to incorporate them into their wedding cake design. I can definitely see why, they are pretty and delicate and add such lovely texture to a cake. They also pair beautifully with sugar flowers.

But I will warn you, petal ruffles are very time consuming to make! So I have included a few tips which will help you to speed up the process. Keep reading to find out more.

petal ruffle cake tutorial

Petal Ruffles Cake Tutorial

petal ruffle cake tutorial
Thinly roll out white flower paste and cut out shapes using the hydrangea cutter.
petal ruffle cake tutorial
Place the hydrangea shapes onto a foam pad and use the ball tool to thin and frill the edges of each petal.
petal ruffle cake tutorial
Put one hydrangea shape on top of another and scrunch together to create a cluster of petals. Leave to dry for a few minutes. This can help them hold their shape.
petal ruffle cake tutorial
Apply a little edible glue to the bottom of each petal cluster.
petal ruffle cake tutorial
Attach each of the petal clusters to your cake, starting from the bottom and working upwards. Adjust the petals as necessary to ensure that all spaces are filled.

Tips

-My favourite tool to speed up any cake design is my electronic sheeter . It is the best investment I have made for my wedding cake business yet and you can find the same one I use here. I highly recommend it!

-Usually a little brush of edible glue is enough to to stick the soft ruffles to the cake, but if your ruffles have set a bit more and they will not stay attached to the cake you can use royal icing.

-Cut out lots of hydrangea shapes at once and store in a plastic zip lock bag until you are ready to thin and scrunch them.

-To create on ombre effect with your petal ruffles start by creating petals in your colour of choice e.g pink and then add a little white flower paste after every two layers of petals. This will gradually lighten the colour and create an ombre colour gradient.

Would you like to learn how to make our cherry blossom and petal ruffle wedding cake? 

petal ruffle cake tutorial

Click on the image above to sign up for our newsletter and download your FREE cherry blossom sugar flower tutorial. You can use this along with the petal ruffles cake tutorial to create one of our most popular designs.

Save this tutorial for later and pin it to Pinterest

petal ruffle cake tutorial

More Wedding cake and sugar flower tutorials

Watercolour wedding cake tutorial

Wisteria wedding cake tutorial

Autumn wedding cake tutorial

Please let me know in the comments below any tutorials you would love to see on the Sugar Ruffles blog. I’d love to hear from you. 

P.S I love seeing the cakes that you’re making, so if you use one of my tutorials please tag @sugarruffles in your Instagram photos and stories so I can take a look! 

petal ruffles wedding cake tutorial

Please note this post contains affiliate links. If you click the links and purchase any item I will receive a small commission but this does NOT add any additional costs to you. Thank you so much for supporting Sugar Ruffles Blog.

Sugar Pinecone Tutorial

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Sugar Pinecone Tutorial

Today I am sharing a tutorial showing how to make sugar pinecones. They look really effective on autumn and winter themed cakes. Download our full tutorial if you would like to see how we coloured our leaves with petal dusts to create a lovely autumnal effect and how to create our large sunflower sugar flowers.

I have added a list of everything you will need to complete this sugar pinecone tutorial on my amazon storefront here, so everything is in one place for you.

Please note that the link above is an affiliate link. If you click the link and purchase any item I will receive a small commission but this does NOT add any additional costs to you. Thank you so much for supporting Sugar Ruffles Blog.

First roll a small piece of brown flower paste into a cone shape and then flatten the top.
Next roll out some brown flower paste and cut out a scalloped circle shape using a pastry cutter
Cut out a smaller circle shape from the centre of the scalloped circle.
Cut through the scalloped circle using a wheel tool.
Use scissors to cut a deeper indent into each of the scalloped edges of the circle.
Roll the circle in a spiral formation, applying some edible glue to the base to secure. This will form the top part of the pinecone.
Apply edible glue to the top of the flattened cone shape and then attach the top part of the pinecone.
Repeat steps 2- 5 to create 3 additional scalloped circles. Attach to the cone underneath the top section.
Continue to attach all the way down to the bottom until you have completed your pinecone.

Would you like to learn how to make our entire Autumn inspired cake design?

Click on the image below to sign up for our newsletter and download your FREE tutorial. Our Autumn inspired cake tutorial includes step by step instructions for how to make and colour autumn leaves. In addition you will learn how to make a large sunflower sugar flower.

Save this tutorial for later and pin it to Pinterest.

Let me know in the comments below any tutorials you would love to see on the Sugar Ruffles blog. I’d love to hear from you. 

P.S I love seeing the cakes that you’re making, so if you use one of my tutorials please tag @sugarruffles in your Instagram photos and stories so I can take a look! 

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