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Question for the cake mavens...


RuthWells

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I know that traditional brush embroidery is done with royal icing on rolled fondant. Royal icing gives me the icks, however, so I thought I'd try buttercream on rolled fondant. Other than being extra careful to not leave oily traces on the fondant, are there any pitfalls I should look out for?

TIA!

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Hmm, you're just gonna need to get a nice workable brushable consistency.

I almost think you'd do better just making a glaze out of powdered sugar & water.

You can paint with just food color too. Umm, depending on what you're doing you can get a water color effect with umm, air brush color. And fuller strokes with some of the squeeze bottle liquid colors that are out. Umm, some times you want to add some lemon extract (for it's high alcohol content) or alcohol like everclear or vodka so it dries quickly.

Hey, you can paint with some of the spoofle dusts too. Spoofle dust is a collective term, a k8ism, that encompasses all the dusts out there like luster dust, pearl dust, petal dust etc. I mean you can add lemon extract or the alcohol to the dust & paint with that too. Oh The Places You'll Go!!! :rolleyes:

I would ditch the buttercream idea though myself--I would just use a glaze.

Another thing, practice & refine your work on random fondant--don't practice on your cake. :biggrin:

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While I have never tried the technique myself, I am curious to know can you do the same on buttercream frosting once it crusts or is it just impossible to do. I don't work with fondant much but do a lot of other cakes with buttercream and with Spring here now I would love to use the technique for some upcoming cakes.

Believe, Laugh, Love

Lydia (aka celenes)

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Yes, you can do it on crusted buttercream. I definitely would use the everclear to speed drying and use a soft gentle touch on the buttercream. I would recommend you to practice on a small cake first--not on your target cake, y'know.

Edited by K8memphis (log)
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Traditionally it's done with royal - for a reason. The royal holds its shape while wet so you can brush at it and smudge it the way you like.... it's also easily removable off the fondant if you make mistakes so you can start over in spots. A fat based buttercream wouldn't allow for that, nor would it smudge in quite the right way; it would smear instead.

What is it about royal that gives you the icks, other than that it's just sugar? (ick right there!) Is it the egg whites, the taste, what? You can use meringue powder for safer royal, and you can add all kinds of flavourings too. For this application, it's ok to add oil based extracts such as almond or hazelnut, which really do wonders for the taste.

Other than that, the only thing I can suggest is to actually make a pipable icing out of your fondant.... some people use this for drop strings, etc. I've tried it and it's a pain in the butt to use for strings but you can pipe it nicely. It takes a LOT of trial and error to get it to the right consistency though.

Put a small amount of fondant into the food processor with just a dash of water and puree it.... you want it to appear the same consistency as floodable royal icing, if you know what that means to look for. Sorry I never measured the amounts when I did it to give you a guideline. (And I won't be doing it again either.... not worth the work for similar results to royal, really.) You may need to adjust more water or add more fondant and keep going..... But then after you've got it about right, you'll need to push it through a very fine mesh strainer to remove any particles or you won't be able to pipe it, and that straining is time consuming. After that's done, you can pipe it just like royal, provided you got it the right formula.

Personally, I'd stick with the royal for this because it'll be a lot less work, and really, royal and fondant have the same primary ingredient so have the same taste. And royal by its very nature is just easier to pipe, and easier to smudge with water after. But brush embroidery is FUN!!!..... you'll be hooked on it in no time. I wish more customers would order it from me. :smile:

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Traditionally it's done with royal - for a reason. The royal holds its shape while wet so you can brush at it and smudge it the way you like.... it's also easily removable off the fondant if you make mistakes so you can start over in spots. A fat based buttercream wouldn't allow for that, nor would it smudge in quite the right way; it would smear instead.

What is it about royal that gives you the icks, other than that it's just sugar? (ick right there!) Is it the egg whites, the taste, what? You can use meringue powder for safer royal, and you can add all kinds of flavourings too. For this application, it's ok to add oil based extracts such as almond or hazelnut, which really do wonders for the taste.

Other than that, the only thing I can suggest is to actually make a pipable icing out of your fondant.... some people use this for drop strings, etc. I've tried it and it's a pain in the butt to use for strings but you can pipe it nicely. It takes a LOT of trial and error to get it to the right consistency though.

Put a small amount of fondant into the food processor with just a dash of water and puree it.... you want it to appear the same consistency as floodable royal icing, if you know what that means to look for.  Sorry I never measured the amounts when I did it to give you a guideline. (And I won't be doing it again either.... not worth the work for similar results to royal, really.) You may need to adjust more water or add more fondant and keep going..... But then after you've got it about right, you'll need to push it through a very fine mesh strainer to remove any particles or you won't be able to pipe it, and that straining is time consuming. After that's done, you can pipe it just like royal, provided you got it the right formula.

Personally, I'd stick with the royal for this because it'll be a lot less work, and really, royal and fondant have the same primary ingredient so have the same taste. And royal by its very nature is just easier to pipe, and easier to smudge with water after. But  brush embroidery is FUN!!!..... you'll be hooked on it in no time.  I wish more customers would order it from me. :smile:

Ah, you've given me pause (in a good way -- this is why I posted, after all!). My main objection to royal is the texture/consistency once dried. Flooded royal, on sugar cookies, doesn't bother me *too* much, but sculpted/rock hard royal (such as for piped flowers) gives me the heebie-jeebies. Hmm. Must think this one through a bit more. Thanks for the input!

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Flooded royal, on sugar cookies, doesn't bother me *too* much, but sculpted/rock hard royal (such as for piped flowers) gives me the heebie-jeebies.  Hmm.  Must think this one through a bit more.  Thanks for the input!

Oh....well in that case then just add about 3 or 4 Tbsp. of an oiled extract to a royal recipe....one calling for about 2 lbs of sugar.... it won't dry as rock hard because of the oil (but will solidify) and you can flavour it any way you like.

And don't forget this won't be at all like royal icing flowers because the pipework on the cake will be so thin to begin with, then you'll be diluting it slightly with water for the embroidery effect as well. It'll be paper thin by the time you're done.

Edited by Sugarella (log)
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quote=celenes,Mar 22 2006, 04:07 PM]While I have never tried the technique myself, I am curious to know can you do the same on buttercream frosting once it crusts or is it just impossible to do.  I don't work with fondant much but do a lot of other cakes with buttercream and with Spring here now I would love to use the technique for some upcoming cakes.

Edited by sewsweet2 (log)

sewsweet2

http://community.webshots.com/user/sewsweet2

-You can respect & learn from people, even if you don’t like them. Be aware that you can learn something from everyone, because every person in the world knows something you don’t know-

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clcik here for white on white brush embroidery
While I have never tried the technique myself, I am curious to know can you do the same on buttercream frosting once it crusts or is it just impossible to do.  I don't work with fondant much but do a lot of other cakes with buttercream and with Spring here now I would love to use the technique for some upcoming cakes.

I do brush embroidery on my crusting buttercream cakes. I use my crusting buttercream thinned down with water to do the brush embroidery.

clciky here for colored brush embroidery

clicky here for lite brown on chocolate buttercream embroidery

click here for white on white embroider

All three of these cakes were done using buttercream on buttercream.

You genius you! Welcome to egullett, my creative friend.

Beautiful work.

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Flooded royal, on sugar cookies, doesn't bother me *too* much, but sculpted/rock hard royal (such as for piped flowers) gives me the heebie-jeebies.  Hmm.  Must think this one through a bit more.  Thanks for the input!

Oh....well in that case then just add about 3 or 4 Tbsp. of an oiled extract to a royal recipe....one calling for about 2 lbs of sugar.... it won't dry as rock hard because of the oil (but will solidify) and you can flavour it any way you like.

And don't forget this won't be at all like royal icing flowers because the pipework on the cake will be so thin to begin with, then you'll be diluting it slightly with water for the embroidery effect as well. It'll be paper thin by the time you're done.

Aha! The lightbulb went off. I'll try this; thanks so much!

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I do brush embroidery on my crusting buttercream cakes. I use my crusting buttercream thinned down with water to do the brush embroidery.

clciky here for colored brush embroidery

clicky here for lite brown on chocolate buttercream embroidery

click here for white on white embroider

All three of these cakes were done using buttercream on buttercream.

What beautiful cakes -- thanks for sharing! This is a long shot, but have you ever used non-crusting buttercream (such as Italian meringue buttercream) as your base for brush embroidery? Or non-crusting buttercream for the embroidery itself?

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I do brush embroidery on my crusting buttercream cakes. I use my crusting buttercream thinned down with water to do the brush embroidery.

clciky here for colored brush embroidery

clicky here for lite brown on chocolate buttercream embroidery

click here for white on white embroider

All three of these cakes were done using buttercream on buttercream.

What beautiful cakes -- thanks for sharing! This is a long shot, but have you ever used non-crusting buttercream (such as Italian meringue buttercream) as your base for brush embroidery? Or non-crusting buttercream for the embroidery itself?

The only non crusting icing I use is cream cheese and I don't decorate with it. I would think it would be nearly impossible but there's always a possibility someone figured out a way to do it.

sewsweet2

http://community.webshots.com/user/sewsweet2

-You can respect & learn from people, even if you don’t like them. Be aware that you can learn something from everyone, because every person in the world knows something you don’t know-

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You could do it on non-crusting with Sugar Veil

That is a cool product. If I were making any money on my cakes I might be tempted to make the investment, but as an amateur, I can't see it. :sad:

You can purchase the product without the machine--I mean the product alone is pricey too but just wanted you to be aware.

Whole lot easier to do the best you can with what you have huh. That's what I like to do too.

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You could do it on non-crusting with Sugar Veil

That is a cool product. If I were making any money on my cakes I might be tempted to make the investment, but as an amateur, I can't see it. :sad:

Sugarveil confectionery mix.... all it is is royal icing with a wee bit of maltodextrin and xantham gum mixed in for the added rubberiness. Not worh the money in my opinion.

A friend in the US sent me some because it would've cost me upwards of $46 to import a bag of the stuff up here. I like it a lot, but it's not worth buying all the time, I think.

I'm still trying to come up with the right proportions they used so I can use something similar ... but I can't post it anyways because the formula has a patent pending.

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You could do it on non-crusting with Sugar Veil

That is a cool product. If I were making any money on my cakes I might be tempted to make the investment, but as an amateur, I can't see it. :sad:

Sugarveil confectionery mix.... all it is is royal icing with a wee bit of maltodextrin and xantham gum mixed in for the added rubberiness. Not worh the money in my opinion.

A friend in the US sent me some because it would've cost me upwards of $46 to import a bag of the stuff up here. I like it a lot, but it's not worth buying all the time, I think.

I'm still trying to come up with the right proportions they used so I can use something similar ... but I can't post it anyways because the formula has a patent pending.

It's only twelve dollars US. I mean I just bought a (cake deco) mold for fifty. I'll grant you getting anything over the border either way is pricey. But twelve dollars is a very inexpensive cake product that performs like this stuff does. And the customer service is priceless with this company. They are awesome.

Edited by K8memphis (log)
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It's only twelve dollars US. I mean I just bought a (cake deco) mold for fifty. I'll grant you getting anything over the border either way is pricey. But twelve dollars is a very inexpensive cake product that performs like this stuff does. And the customer service is priceless with this company. They are awesome.

I know it's $12 there but once you add in the (usually incorrectly calculated by most stores - ie:inflated) exchange rate, then once you add on the (usually incorrectly calculated by most stores - ie:inflated) shipping charges, then you add on the "special" shipping charges by the shipping company to "present your order to customs" (ie: drop it off same as they'd drop the package off anywhere else) , then you add on the Canadian duty tax because you didn't buy the product domestically even though it's not even available domestically ("duty", incidentally, also being a euphemism for "shit") ...then it winds up being $46, which, in my opinion, is just too much to pay for a pound of powdered sugar, no matter how nice and rubbery it is. :laugh:

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It's only twelve dollars US. I mean I just bought a (cake deco) mold for fifty. I'll grant you getting anything over the border either way is pricey. But twelve dollars is a very inexpensive cake product that performs like this stuff does. And the customer service is priceless with this company. They are awesome.

I'm not nearly as good as anyone -- not the same planet even -- at doing cake decorating of the artistry sort, and this looks like something I would like to play with at least once. Hey -- I can trace real good...

Can I use this with just a regular piping bag and fine tip like a #1 or #2 cake deocorating tip?

For $12, that's not a bad toy. For $46, no way!

Cheryl, The Sweet Side
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Can I use this with just a regular piping bag and fine tip like a #1 or #2 cake deocorating tip?

Absolutely.

Thanks! I think I just found a cool new toy to check out. Until I can get experience...

Oh, one more thing... Can I color the stuff? With what -- gel base, oil base?

I wanted to do a Dragon drawing on a cake for my daughter for her swim team, and this way, I can just blow up the logo and trace it rather than try to freehand the thing.

Cheryl, The Sweet Side
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I wanted to do a Dragon drawing on a cake for my daughter for her swim team, and this way, I can just blow up the logo and trace it rather than try to freehand the thing.

Wow I never thought to use sugar veil like that--great idea. That way you could do edible artwork in advance of baking. Great great idea. I mean because otherwise you are doing the art last minute hurry hurry rush rush.

>>clapping hands smilie face<<

Hmm, wonder how that stuff cuts (slices/serves)??? Doesn't it meld into the cake icing??? No it probably stays firm or else the webs & stuff would break hmmm...

I haven't used it in forever--mine is so old it's a solid mass in the bag. How does it slice????

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