Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network May 2014 | Page 118

You’re an amazing cake decorator, but
is there any area of cake decorating
you secretly wish you could improve
in?
Decoration styles have changed over
the last decade, and techniques
are becoming more eclectic, with
increased use of colour to create
impact. I like to have a challenge and
try different effects, and am always
trying to improve on different styles
and effects.
Do I think that international decorators
have a different approach to execution
when making cakes?
There was quite an influence on the
use of lace effects and the pastel
colours, but I think now with the many
different social media sites, and with
people traveling it’s difficult to say one
particular technique. I did notice that
in Australia they use cleats under the
base cake board, which I think is an
excellent idea, as it’s always difficult to
maneuver a heavy cake.

Are there any cake decorators you
secretly idolise?
Are there any cake decorators that I
secretly idolize? Piping skills and the
touch of classic training must be my
good friend Eddie Spence- a master of
Royal icing!
There are lots of very creative sugar
artists I have met in my travels, who
all have an art at their finger tips, and
when discussing skills and techniques
we all share the same passion, a love
of what we do and expressing our
skills in the mediums we use.
What can the world expect from
Stephen Benison Sugar Artistry in
2014?
What can we expect from Stephen
Benison, sugar artistry in 2014?
I have been experimenting with
stencils, in a rather different way,
not only to use with royal icing, or
an air brush, but using them in a 3
D, dimension, and cutting out the
design. Some of the ideas include,
wine bottles, scallop lace and fabric
flowers.

Learn some of
the tricks of the
trade with Stephen
Benison here:
www.sugar-artistry.co.uk/
Cake decorating equipment
by Stephen Benison

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4YlVBObXE 
Fabric flowers by Stephen Benison

www.youtube.com/
watch?v=T0GHWTO4-nQ
shoes and hand bags

Quick F lo werpaste
By Stephen Benison
Ingredients:

250g Royal icing
2 x 5ml tsp Gum Tragacanth
1 x 5 ml tsp Tylose powder
1 x 5ml tsp Trex ( vegetable sh
or tening )

Instructions:

• Weigh the royal icing a
ccurately into a bowl.
• Add the gum tragacan
th and tylose powder
(measure accurately).
• Mix well adding a little
icing sugar if the mixture
is too soft.
• Turn out and knead the
paste on the work
surface incorporate the Tr
ex.
• Form the paste into two
balls.
• Smear very lightly with
trex and store in an air
tight bag in the fridge.
• Allow to rest for 24 hou
rs before use.
This recipe is a good wa
y to use up leftover royal
icing and is a durable pa
ste which produces fine
petals and does not dry
out too quickly.