A Scuba Diver's Kitchenette II: MY JOURNEY AS A CAKE DECORATOR (part 11: Royal Icing)

Recently I’ve discovered a technique using Royal Icing as a cake decor. Tried it on a cake I made for my staff. His wife just gave birth to a baby boy. So as I was cracking my brain thinking of ideas for this cake I suddenly found myself back in time when I was living in London. I still remember the Tatty Teddy phenomena. I assure you I was sucked into d craziness of Tatty Teddy. The bear is just truly, ultimately, maximum cuteness! You get the idea? Yeah, Tatty Teddy cake.

Now, this is seriously a trial and error process. I wasn't sure what the outcome will be. I’ve never tried using royal icing as a decor. It’s a bit complicated and tedious I should say. After I piped the royal icing on a plastic with a printed paper of the bear underneath as a guide, I had to leave it overnight so the icing will harden. I was so anxious to see the result. During this time, MUST NOT touch the icing, it’s very fragile.

The next morning, I checked the icing and it looked really nice! I was happy until I tried to transfer it on the cake. It cracked!!!!! *sigh*.... but I manage to piece it together and just gently placed it on the cake. It wasn’t that obvious.... seriously! What I’ve discovered is that to use this method, the icing has to be thick. And the safest way is to draw and fill the design with black and white icing; colour it on top like a colouring book. I dunno, I have to try making this again.

Round 2 coming soon!

My cute little helper

Before I started making the cake, I whipped up some Jamie Oliver pancakes and homemade caramel syrup for breakfast.. yummy!

Jamie Oliver Pancakes:

3 large eggs
115g/4oz plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
140ml/5fl oz milk
a pinch of salt and Cinnamon or vanilla (option)

First separate the eggs, putting the whites into one bowl and the yolks into another. Add the flour, baking powder and milk to the yolks and mix to a smooth thick batter. Whisk the whites with the salt until they form stiff peaks. Fold into the batter – it is now ready to use.

Heat a good non-stick pan on a medium heat. Pour some of your batter into the pan and fry for a couple of minutes until it starts to look golden and firm. At this point sprinkle your chosen flavouring (see below) on to the uncooked side before loosening with a spatula and flipping the pancake over. Continue frying until both sides are golden.

Caramel syrup:

1/2cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2cup buttermilk or 1cup milk + 1tbsp vinegar

1tbsp syrup

1tsp baking soda and vanilla

In a large pot, combine butter, sugar, buttermilk and syrup; bring to a boil for about 2 – 3 min. Add baking soda and vanilla. Mixture will fizz to twice the size or more, so make sure use a good-sized pot! Set it aside to thicken while stirring occasionally. Pour over pancakes or French toast. Super YUMMY!)