Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network May 2015 | Page 66

What are the important points of
preparation, prior to painting on a
cake?
Actually it is really easy to rectify a
mistake when painting so once you
have painted your design it isn’t
necessarily permanent. It helps to
have a sketch of your design and
even a practise sheet, so that you
are not making it up as you go along.
If you are a beginner then trace the
outline of your design onto the fondant
with normal craft tracing paper or
greaseproof paper and a HB pencil.
The pencil marks will wash away as
you paint over them. This takes away
any fear of painting onto a blank
canvas.
And always start on the back of the
cake, as the first marks you make are
usually going to be the less successful
element of the design. Once you have
started you will warm up and find your
own rhythm.
Are there designs people should steer
away from when painting on cakes?
The type of design you create will
really depend on your own style and
hand. However I would advise steering
clear of a design with too much
black paint as this not only can look
harsh but can leave an unpleasant
stain around the mouth after eating
(I learnt this after dishing out 30 black
outline biscuits to my daughters class,
especially as most of the kids started
eating them by licking off the icing
first!)
Designs that are very detailed, for
example some geometric or paisley
patterns that have a lot of tiny
elements included are best avoided.
This is more for practical reasons, as
painting a whole design like this would
take too long and the cake would be
off by the time you had finished!

is a synthetic round head brush. I only
ever need three sizes, 0 for fine lines
and details, 4 for ditsy designs and
an 8 for everything else. Don’t go and
splash out on a full range of brushes,
these three sizes will be all you need
Do you have any tips for achieving
different colours?
Colours in a palette can look very
different once they are on the cake.
So I would have a piece of rolled
out fondant next to the cake to test
colours on first to make sure it is what
you want. Most brands have a big

range of colours so you don’t need to
worry too much about having to mix
colours yourself. However the trick
to creating a great design is to use
different tones. For example if you
are painting a red rose you should
use around four or five tones of red
to create depth and movement in
the flower. This is something a lot of
my students find difficult, especially
creating a light enough tone for the
base colour. I always use water when
mixing tones rather than white paint
as this can deaden a design. You put
a tiny amount of the paint onto your
palette, then wash your brush so that it
is totally clean. Create a separate pool
of water in the palette then add small
amounts of the colour to the water until
you have achieved the desired tone. If
you do it the other way - adding water
to the colour in the palette you will
find it too difficult to create a very light
tone.
What are your top three tips for
painting on cakes?
The most important thing to remember
is that everybody paints in an
individual way. Even if you are using
the same reference as somebody
else your finished products will look
different. So don’t let yourself be
intimidated by other painters, \