Decorations

  • Express Gumpaste (fondant with cmc)

    How do we make our sugar flowers at Minh Cakes? For our large flowers on our wedding cake, we use traditional Sugar Florist Paste or gum paste.

    It dries very hard and the flowers can even be refrigerated… but the paste itself doesn’t taste good!

    For small flowers on cupcakes and pastries, I prefer using fondant, because of the yummy vanilla flavor. Unfortunately, fondant alone will usually be too soft and sticky to work with when making sugar flowers.

    Here’s a trick: You can use a thickening agent to harden the fondant.  I like to call it “express gumpaste”.

    One of my favorite hardeners is CMC  (Carboxymethylcellulose). It’s the same cellulose gum that’s also found in chewing gum.  It’s also sold by the name “Tylose” or “Tylo powder”.  It’s colorless, odourless and you can use it to thicken any food – you just need a very small quantity.

    minh-cakes-tutorial-xpress-gumpaste-fondant-cmc-tylose-02

    You need about 1/4 teaspoon for 100 grams of fondant.  Knead your fondant for a bit with a little bit of shortening, then place the gum in the middle.

    minh-cakes-tutorial-xpress-gumpaste-fondant-cmc-tylose-03

    minh-cakes-tutorial-xpress-gumpaste-fondant-cmc-tylose-04

    Fold your fondant in half and knead the CMC  well,.

    minh-cakes-tutorial-xpress-gumpaste-fondant-cmc-tylose-05

    From now on your fondant will dry much faster, so you’ll need to wrap it in plastic.

    minh-cakes-tutorial-xpress-gumpaste-fondant-cmc-tylose-06

    Let the CMC  develop its effect in the fondant for at least 24 hours, To prevent drying out, place it in a Ziploc Bag.

    minh-cakes-tutorial-xpress-gumpaste-fondant-cmc-tylose-07

    Done! After 24 hours, you can start using your express gumpaste: Color it, model with it, make flowers with it.

    Cupcake Kurs Bild 2

    Warning:

    Decorations made with this paste will only hold about 1 day in the fridge before softening and ultimately melting. They are best stored  in a cool and dry place, and placed on the cake 1 day before serving at the earliest.

    If you need your decorations to hold up longer in the fridge, I recommend using real sugar florist paste.

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  • How to tie a bow around a cake

    I’m back after a little hiatus! The past couple of months were super busy. We got our studio renovated and installed a brand new kitchen island. Also, I’ve been working on our brand new range of cake decorating classes in English. Check them out here – hope to see you soon in class!

    Minh Cakes How to tie a bow around a cake
    Today’s post ist about tying ribbons. If you’ve seen my cakes, you’ll have noticed that I almost always use satin ribbon trim to as a decoration element. The main advantages are: One, you can use amazing colors to complement and enhance the overall design; and two, the ribbon trim is a great way to hide any cracks and wrinkles in the edge of your cake.

    It’s a tricky thing to tie a bow with both loops ending on top. With most techniques, the loops end up on opposing sides, or even on the bottom! You’re not alone if you can’t manage this properly – most students in my classes ask me to tie their bows for them. Of course I’m happy to do it, but I wanted to show you how it’s done, so you can do it yourself next time. More power to you! 🙂

    So I made this little tutorial for you:

    Video tutorial: How to tie a bow on cake with the loops on top

    Now it’s time to practice! Do let me know in the comments, if you were able to successfully tie a ribbon on a cake. I’m waiting to hear from you!

    Happy decorating und all my love,
    Xuân-Minh signature

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  • Drip ganache recipe

    Last week we had our Drip Cake class here at the studio. This post is dedicated to this most wonderful of ingredients – liquid chocolate or drip ganache!

    Minh Cakes Drip Ganache recipe title image

    There are many different recipes for ganache. The proportions of chocolate to cream can vary, depending on the use. Some recipes use heavy cream or butter, or both!

    For drip ganache, you need equal amounts of semi sweet chocolate and cream (a ratio of 1:1). Optional: You can add a tablespoon of corn syrup or glucose for a nice shine!

    Minh Cakes Drip Ganache recipe ingredients

    The cream is heated until just below the boiling point, then poured over the chocolate and stirred, until the consistency is smooth. Then the syrup is added, if using.

    Minh Cakes Drip Ganache recipe nice shine

    The drip ganache mixture then has to rest for about 1-2 hours, until it has thickened slightly and flows from your spatula in broad ribbons:

    Drip Ganache GIF

    Then you can begin dripping! There are several techniques, but I like using a spoon best for maximum control for the sides – and then filling up the top of the cake with an angled spatula.

    Here’s a video for you:

    Very important: The cake should be chilled thoroughly underneath, so that the chocolate sets fast. Otherwise, your chocolate will just flow off the sides of the cake and make great puddles on the bottom.

    You can drip ganache on fondant, buttercream, hardened ganache, meringue – whatever you like, the main thing is that is must be cold!

    Here’s the recipe for you to print and use:

    Drip ganache (truffle ganache)

    • Servings: 500 g
    • Print

    Ingredients

    • 250g / 1 cup heavy cream
    • 250g semi sweet chocolate, chopped
    • 1 tablespoon glucose or light corn syrup

    Preparation

    Place the chocolate pieces in a large bowl.

    Pour the cream into a saucepan and heat it on medium-high. Careful of the overflow if you let it boil inadvertently! Just before it starts boiling, remove from the heat.

    Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it rest for 1 minute.

    Stir the mixture gently. A silicone spatula is best. We want to try incorporating as little air as possible into the chocolate. You can use a stick blender, leaving it at the bottom of the bowl, without going up and down.

    Stir in the syrup, if using.

    Leave the drip ganache to rest for about 1-2 hours, until it has thickened slightly and flows from your spatula in broad ribbons.

    Start dripping!


    You can drip cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, cake pops and more. If you leave the chocolate to harden even more, you can then use it to make truffles. Roll them into balls and dip them in cocoa powder. I’m sure you can come up with more uses!

    Drip Ganache Cupcakes by Minh Cakes

    Enjoy – please leave questions and comments below!
    Happy dripping!

    Love,
    Minh signature

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    P.S.
    Would you like to learn to bake a decorate a drip cake from scratch? We have a class just for that: Drip Cake Tageskurs ( in German for now): With baking, making meringue kisses, meringue filling, chocolate towers and more!
    drip cake class

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  • Cake tool of the month: Pasta roller

    It’s time for the Cake tool of the month again! Are you making lots of sugar flowers? (I am – it’s wedding season!) A pasta roller is indispensable for rolling out your flower paste (or gumpaste) thinly and evenly.

    Minh Cakes - Cake tool of the month - pasta roller

    Without this really helpful tool, I’d be lost as a sugar florist. It’s a huge help with rolling out large batches of flowerpaste in one go, and paper thin to boot. In my bakery, we use the Kitchenaid lasagna pasta roller accessory. Most stand mixers come with optional attachments like this one.

    But you can definitely also use the manual ones with a crank handle, they work just as well and are much cheaper.

    Instructions for the pasta roller

    First, roll your flower paste to about 3-4 mm thickness. To prevent the paste from sticking to the drums, grease it generously on both sides with some shortening.

    Minh Cakes - Cake tool of the month - pasta roller

    Set the roller to the most open (thickest) setting. Turn on your mixer and gently feed your paste through the drums. I like to go at a fairly high speed – I find the paste tends to stick less inside the machine.

    Minh Cakes - Cake tool of the month - pasta roller

    Between each pass, turn the dial and set it to one or two steps thinner. Go slowly, don’t go for superthin from the start – it’s best to feed the paste though the machine several times. As soon as you can see light shining through the paste, it’s thin enough for roses, peonies and other flowers.

    Minh Cakes - Cake tool of the month - pasta roller

    For these roses, I’ve rolled the pasted extremely thin (a number 7 on the Kitchenaid roller – but each roller is different):

    Minh Cakes - Cake tool of the month - pasta roller Result

    I hope this tip has helped you – have fun rolling out your paste. As always, please leave questions and comments below!

    Love and happy flowermaking,

     Minh signature

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  • How to make a sugar mini rose (tutorial)

    Hello and welcome to my new cake blog in English! (You can still see all my posts in German here). I will translate them bit by bit as I go along!

    Today I’ve got a great tutorial for you: A very cute  sugar mini rose that is incredibly easy to make.

    It’s a perfect decoration for small sweets like cupcakes, mini cakes, cake pops and cookies!

    Minh Cakes sugar mini rose

    Mini rose video

    I made a video explaining the mini rose step by step for you here:

    These are the tools you will need for this project:

    • Sugar paste  (today I’m working with a 50%-50% mix of fondant and florist paste. You can also use  fondant with CMC)
    • Gel food color for the flowers (Sugarflair Rose) and leaves (Sugarflair Gooseberry)
    • Toothpicks
    • Some shortening
    • A large decorating tip (I’m using a Wilton #2A here)
    • A workboard
    • A rolling pin
    • plastic sleeve

    Minh Cakes Mini-Rose aus Zucker Tools

    First, knead your paste with a little bit of shortening, then color it to your liking.

    Minh Cakes Mini-Rose Tutorial

    Roll out your paste to 0,5mm approximately. Using the large end of your tip, cut 6 circles.

    Minh Cakes Mini-Rose Tutorial

    Put the circles in your plastic sleeve and thin out the edges by smoothing them lightly with your finger.

    Minh Cakes Mini-Rose Tutorial

    Lay your circles in a straight line. They should overlap by about a third.

    Minh Cakes Mini Rose Tutorial

    Start with the bottom circle and roll it tightly (like a sleeping bag), but with very little pressure. You don’t want to squash it!

    Minh Cakes Mini Rose Tutorial

    Cut your roll in half – you’ll get two flowers!

    Minh Cakes Mini Rose Tutorial

    Squish the cut surface together a little bit.

    Minh Cakes Mini Rose Tutorial

    Roll back the outer petals to open then. You’ve just made a mini rose!

    Minh Cakes Mini Rose Tutorial

    For leaves, make green circles using the same technique as above. Use your decorating tip to cut two leaves from each circle.

    Minh Cakes Mini Rose Tutorial

    Pinch each leaf on the end to create a vein.

    Minh Cakes Mini Rose Tutorial

    Tada! Now you just need to bake some cupcakes to place your mini roses on.

    Minh Cakes Mini-Rose aus Zucker Resultat

    Have a beautiful Sunday!

    Happy rosemaking,
    Xuân-Minh signature

    Did you make these roses? Then please leave a comment below!

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