FONDANT FACES

MARZIPAN
(base)

INGREDIENTS
750g icing sugar
200g ground almonds
2 egg yolks
2 tbles sweet sherry
2 teaspoons glycerine
1 tbls lemon juice
Few drops almond essence

METHOD
1) Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, then remove a cupful for use when kneading. Stir the fine almonds into the icing sugar and make a well in the centre. Mix together the egg yolks, sherry, glycerine, lemon juice and almond essence and pour into the well. Stir with a knife until stif.
2) Use the reserved icing sugar to dust a work surface and knead te marzipan for 3-5 minutes, adding more icing sugar as necessary to prevent sticking. Knead until the marzipan is smooth and pliable.
3) Use immediately or wrap in plastic and store in an airtight container in a cool place (not the fridge) for up to 3 days. Roll out on a surface dusted with icing sugar to use.

SOURCE: The essential guide to cake decorating by Murdoch books
PHOTO: Chatelaine

HIGH HUMIDITY BUTTERCREAM ICING
½ cup vegetable shortening (copha is white in colour)
½ cup butter softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups pure icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons cornflour
In a large bowl beat shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy
Add vanilla, mix well. Gradually add sugar, one a cup at a time,beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often.
When all sugar mixture has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. In a small bowl, combine milk and cornflour, stir until cornflour is dissolves. Add to icing mixture, beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
Keep icing covered with damp cloth until ready to use.
FOR BEST RESULTS KEEP ICING IN BOWL IN REFRIGERATOR WHEN NOT IN USE.
Refrigerated in an air tight container, this icing can be stored for 2 weeks re whip before using makes about 3 cups.

Posted by Adelaide Bear
Hierdie resep gebruik ek in Australia. En dit hou “shape” Letha Thomas is een vandie judges vir ” Queensland Cake Decorators”

SJOKOLADE CUPCAKES MET BUBBLEGUM VERSIERING
Apart – Klits 4 eiers, 1 kp suiker en 5 ml vanilla essence saam tot liggeel en romerig.
Apart – sif 375 ml koekmeel, knippie sout en 15 ml bakpoeier saam.
Apart – meng 125 ml olie, 125 ml kookwater en 30ml kakao saam.

Voeg dan om die beurt die olie mengsel en meel mengsel by die eier terwyl stadig klits.
Bak dan 25min teen 180ºC
Uit een beslag het ek 18 cupcakes gekry. Dan het ek die icing gemaak met witbotter en versiersuiker.  Klits die botter baie baie goed, dat dit lyk soos room, voeg nou die versiersuiker bietjies bietjie by en klits aanmekaar. Voeg nou blou kleursel en bubblegum essence by na smaak en versier met coco 1000’s op.

Resep en foto: Cariena Henrico

SUGAR GLASS

250g granulated sugars
130 ml water
130ml liquid glucose (liquid glucose can be bought from large supermarkets)
Enough drops of food colouring to your liking
Few drops of vanilla

Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment. Have handy a jug, a cup of cold water with a spoon in and a cup of cold water with a pastry brush in.

Put the sugar into the heavy-based pan together with the water and golden syrup or liquid glucose over a medium heat. Swirl the mixture a little rather than stir it, otherwise the glucose can stick to the spoon. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and let it boil away. If there is any sugar stuck to the side of the pan, brush it off with the wet pastry brush.

The sugar needs to be cooked for about 10–15 minutes, but check it every 5 minutes to see if it is ready. To check, take the teaspoon from the cup and dip it into the mixture, carefully scooping out some mixture, then put the spoon back into the cup and leave it there for a minute or so to cool down. Pick up the spoon and feel the sugar mixture on the end of the spoon. If it has disappeared, that shows that the mixture is in the very early stages of cooking. Let it boil again and test it using the same method; if the mixture is soft and a bit squidgy, it is still not ready. It will go through various stages until the hard crack stage – the sugar mixture will be rock hard on the end of the spoon when a bit is scooped out and plunged into the water and left there for a minute or two. The mixture in the pan will also start to go a very lightish brown colour.

Once the mixture reaches this stage, turn off the heat and add the colouring and flavouring. Stir as little as you can so it is just combined and then extremely carefully pour the sugar into the jug. Use oven gloves when handling the pan, as hot sugar can spit and burn you. Leave to cool for a minute or so, then drizzle a long band of graffiti squiggle shapes on the baking parchment. Use a hairdryer to keep the sugar syrup pliable if necessary. set the jug down and wait a few moments for the sugar to harden a little.

Recipe placed by Sonika Doogan

GUM PASTE RECIPE

If you’re into making dramatic decorations for cakes out of gum paste, you may want to consider making your own. This recipe requires a few special ingredients that are sold in specialty cake stores, as well as on the Internet.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
stand mixer
Ingredients
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, finely sifted (reserve 1 cup for later)
1 tablespoon gum tragacanth (or Gum Tex)
1 tablespoon liquid glucose
1 packet Knox powdered gelatin
4 tablespoons warm water
Procedure
1 Pour the water in a large, microwave safe bowl and add gelatin slowly. Stir until gelatin is dissolved in the water.
2 Stir in glucose slowly. Microwave 20-30 seconds to melt the glucose completely.
3 Whisk together 3 cups of sifted confectioners’ sugar and the gum tragacanth. Add gradually to the liquid mixture, stirring to integrate.
4 Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix on medium speed until a sticky, uniform dough comes together. Double wrap tightly in plastic, place in an airtight container, and allow it to sit overnight.
5 The following day, knead the remaining 1 cup of sifted confectioner’s sugar into the dough. Add additional powered sugar until the dough stops feeling sticky.
6 Store gum paste double wrapped tightly in plastic and sealed in an airtight container.

RECIPE AND PHOTO: Lauren Weisenthal

GUM PASTE

1/2 cup (125 g) fresh or pasteurized egg whites (about 4 eggs)
6 2/3 cups, divided (725 g + 100 g) confectioners’ (icing) sugar
3 tablespoons (30 g) tylose powder
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons (20 g) vegetable shortening
AN ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS LIST:
7 tablespoons (105 g) water
2 1/2 tablespoons (20 g) albumen powder (dried egg whites)
Soak the dried egg whites for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once dissolved, strain into mixing bowl and continue recipe.
Directions
Place the egg whites in a stand mixer bowl, fitted with the flat paddle or scraper paddle attachment.
Turn the mixer on high speed for 10 seconds to break up the egg whites.
Turn the mixer to the lowest speed; slowly add the 725 g of powdered sugar to make a soft consistency royal icing.
Turn up the speed to setting 3 or 4 for about two minutes.
Make sure the mixture is at the soft-peak stage. It should look shiny, like meringue, and the peaks should fall over. (If coloring the entire batch, add the paste, gel or liquid color at this stage, making it a shade darker than desired)
Turn the mixer to the slow setting and sprinkle in the tylose over a five-second time period. Turn the speed up to the high setting for a few seconds. This will thicken the mixture.
Scrape the mixture out of the bowl onto a work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved 100 g of powdered sugar. Place shortening on your hands and knead the paste, adding enough of the reserved powdered sugar to form a soft but not sticky dough. You can check by pinching with your fingers; they should come away clean. Place the finished paste in a resealable plastic bag, then place the bagged paste in a second bag and seal well.
Mature the gumpaste for 24 hours if possible before use, keeping in a cool environment.
When you are ready to use the paste, cut off a small amount and knead in a little vegetable shortening into the paste. If coloring at this stage, knead the color into the paste until the desired shade is achieved.
When not in use, the paste will need to be stored in the refrigerator. Before use, remove from refrigerator and allow the paste to come to room temperature. Knead a small amount of shortening into the paste.
Always store the paste vacuum-sealed with a food saver type system if available, or in resealable plastic bags with as much air removed as possible. The paste will keep under refrigeration for approximately six months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing it. Be sure to use zip-top freezer bags. If you will be freezing a batch of paste, allow it to mature for 24 hours before placing into the freezer. The paste can be kept in the freezer for several years with no problems and can be taken out of the freezer, thawed, used and refrozen without any problems or ill effect on the paste.
Less tylose can be used if you do not want the gum paste to dry as fast, or if you’re making dark colors that typically dry the gum paste out (e.g., black, dark green, purple).
Recipe: Nicholas Lodge
Post Nicolette Fick

GRANADILLA CURD
Foto: Wilna Dorfling
FOOD LOVERS RECIPES
250 ml suiker
125 ml botter gesmelt
3 jumbo eiers
¼ koppie vars suurlemoensap
¾ koppie granadilla sap/pulp (so 10 granadillas)

Voeg alles in glasbeker bymekaar en klits goed.
In mikrogolf by hoog vir 15 sekondes en klits goed.
Mikro vir 3 – 4 min en klits na elke 30 sekondes tot dik.
Dit word stywer as dit afkoel.
Tip : Giet pulp deur ‘n sif en forseer alles deur, krap onderkant af. Skep bietjie van die pitjies terug by die pulp vir die mooi.
Heerlik in flans met room, pavlova, pannekoek , cupcakes, koek en wortelkoek, was ‘n wenner by lemoenpoeding.
Ek maak myne in dubbelkoker op stoof, nie mikrogolf nie.

BAKKERSVLA-CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE
Genoeg vir 500 ml
40 g koekmeel
120 g suiker
300 ml melk
4 eiergele
5 ml vanieljegeursel
20 g botter
Sif die meel en suiker saam en hou eenkant.
Klits 60 ml van die melk en die eiergele saam. Gooi die meelmengsel by en klits tot glad.
Verhit die res van die melk oor lae hitte tot dit net begin kook.
Gooi ’n derde van die warm melk by die eiermengsel en meng goed. Gooi alles terug by die verhitte melk en roer goed.
Roer deurentyd tot die mengsel dik word. Kook vir 1 min. en roer steeds, want die vla kan maklik aanbrand.
Gooi die vanieljegeursel by en roer goed.
Skep uit en bedek die houer met kleefplastiek sodat die vla nie ’n vel maak nie.
Laat afkoel en hou in die yskas.

Hierdie vla werk wonderlik om klein tertdoppies mee te vul.
Word ook tuisgemaakte vla genoem.. heerlik

KONINKLIKE VERSIERSEL-Royal Icing
Om koekies aan karton te plak om dit te versier

1 eierwit
3 druppels suurlemoensap
175 g versiersuiker (330ml),gesif
Kleursel en geursel (opsioneel)

1. Meng die eierwit en suurlemoensap.
2. Voeg die gesifte versiersuiker lepelsgewys by en meng totdat dit puntjies vorm wat opstaan.
3. Kleur en/of geur indien verkies.
4. Maak die bakkie met versiersel dig toe, anders word dit hard en droog.

Nota:   Ek gebruik ‘n versiersak. Dit word nogal vinnig hard.

Resep en foto Ingestuur:  Hannetjie Snyman
2de foto van Frances Smith