Thursday, September 2, 2010
OVER the years, many changes have occurred to the taste, preference and style of Cakes and its Frosting (or icing). So with the type of cakes, there have been changes to suit the needs and likes of the palate.
Fondant Look Cakes
Boiled icing (made of sugar and egg whites) had been a favorite of so many because of its versatility in its usage and method of decorating in cakes. It can be used in almost all types of cakes, whether chiffon, butter, chocolate, pound or fruity types of cakes. It can look good from simple to the very intricate and elaborate designed cakes, provided one has the skills to do so.
One can apply colors directly to the icing, brush or spray it all over to create different and various designs and motif. It can be done to make simple and easy designs to the more difficult and intricate 3D cakes. For birthdays and weddings, this was and still the choice of many because it complements very well to any type of cake. And a lot cheaper compared to fondant cakes.
I always hear from my students and several cake enthusiasts complain about how hard it is to make a perfect boiled icing. And the very first question I always asked them is: "what kind of mixer are you using?" Almost always I get this answer, 'hand mixer!' It's not that the hand held mixer cannot do the job, but it needs more time and more patience in achieving a good icing. Besides, one can only do so much using this type of mixer. For a bigger cake, the mixer might overheat when one has to make a bigger or several batches.
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After using a 5 quarts heavy type mixer for so long, I thought the hand held mixer can't do the job anymore. But I was proven wrong when at one point I was asked to judge a regional cake decorating contest here in the city and was amazed to see the participants making perfectly boiled icing! But again, it was only a layer of cake that they have to decorate, so the mixer was okay.
Boiled Icing is rather messy and needed real hand dexterity and skills in creating beautiful designs. But it takes less time to make. Decorating is much faster. But very delicate because once the cake is done, it is hard to redo. Besides, they should not be touched or else one destroys the design. And mind you, this will not only upset the decorator, but make the decorator fuming mad! Believe me, been there, done that myself!
Sugar Paste Cakes (Fondant Cakes)
Compared to the exciting and pliable fondant icing (fondant by the way is the icing, not the cake), one can decorate and decorate and decorate! Fondant is made of powdered sugar, gelatine, shortening, glucose and glycerine). The designs one can create is endless. Be it a very elegant smooth cake with no frills to a lavishly hand-decorated cake with various themes and colours.
Fondant is like play dough. And I have seen and knew many well-known cake decorators playing with clay and are good at it before shifting to becoming excellent fondant cake artists. It is actually worth trying with this type of material and see how it works. However, unlike play dough, fondant can form 'crust' and eventually harden when exposed to air for sometime which can make it difficult to use.
For decorations, one uses gum paste (made with gelatine, water and powdered sugar). Another edible candy-like material when it hardens. These are usually used in making edible flowers (aside from royal icing which uses egg whites and powdered sugar to make). They can also be turned into realistic looking edible figures, plants, trees, animals, plaques, monograms, etc. It is wise to make extra decorations because gum paste decors are very delicate and break easily.
The correct way of decorating a cake with fondant is using a first coating of marzipan (made of almond paste, sugar and sometime egg whites) before the final coating of fondant. Almond paste is quite expensive and not readily available.
However, most decorators don't do this, instead, a second and final layer of fondant is applied to smoothen the entire cake and left to dry for a couple of hours or a day before applying the final touches and designs.
The most expensive cake that is used in fondant cakes is usually aged fruit cakes. Nevertheless, cakes that are firm and heavy like pound cakes, apple nut, carrot nut, etc. are good substitutes. But the problem lies in the fact that unlike aged fruit cakes, the other types of cakes can't last more than 3 days unrefrigerated and might spoil easily.
That is the main reason why most huge multi-tiered cakes are made of styrofoams.
First is because the entire 'fake' cake can be done way, way ahead of time. No fear of spoiling. 2nd, it is easy to decorate a very firm cake without showing any signs of imperfections, well unless you're a beginner.
At any rate, real cakes is then delegated to the smaller 'satellite' cakes and is a LOT easier to cover with fondant and decorate. Cakes are typically between 6-10 inches in diameter.
Fondant are normally made a day before. Or at least, made to rest for a few hours before use. And depending on the intricateness of the designs, it could take a day to even a couple of days to finish. Not to forget also, the other small details or decors that are made way ahead of time and are attached just before or right at the venue. And that is exactly why fondant cakes are expensive.
Nuptial Cakes
A time-consuming yet exciting cake to make. An inch to even as thick as 6 inches or more of Styrofoam is sometimes used plus 3'-5' of 'real' cake to make a cake look thicker. Besides, this is the fad now. We used to have only 3'-4' of cake for each layer but then again, who doesn't want a fantastic and wonderful towering cake for their wedding? This can be done for fondant or boiled icing cakes.
But for practical reasons, using Styrofoam cakes is acceptable now a day compared to let say, 10-20 years ago. It would be horrific for people to comment on your 'fake' cake before. Everything should be edible. That was then, when ingredients and labor was cheap.
For me, an acceptable and affordable wedding cake at this time should range between P8,000 to P15,000, although a P5,000 cake is fine. But then again, the price might vary depending on the type of cake used, the thickness and size and of course, the design. I can even say that among the major cities in the country, we have the lowest priced cake! Getting a cake in Manila from a well-known cake artist can cost as high as several hundred thousand!
So there you are. Which would you choose now? Something fancy and exquisitely decorated fondant cake that costs you a fortune or something simple, yet elegant but affordable boiled icing cake? It's your call!
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