26 DHMS October 2013

Weekend project - cakes

PerfectPatisserie

Making cakes…

Catherine Davies shows us some of the great uses she has discovered for Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty.

Perfect Plastic PuttyPerfect Plastic Putty is a great product from Deluxe Materials. It’s pure white, water soluble, dries quickly in the air and fills the finest of gaps. I have also found that it’s perfect for making piped icing, buttercream and meringue, as you can colour it easily and add texturing agents for different effects.

Step 1Perfect Plastic Putty on its own is quite soft and wet when fresh, flowing freely when extruded through a syringe for the icing. Apply with a gentle touch and remember it will spread slightly before stiffening and drying out, so allow a little extra space when piping your iced design.

Step 2You can apply Perfect Plastic Putty using a finger, as with this buttercream I’m spreading over a Fimo carrot cake base. As it’s quite sticky it’s not necessary to use glue on large surface areas, but use PVA if extra adhesion is required especially when decorating with small items.

Step 3Apply Perfect Plastic Putty with a cocktail stick, especially on smaller surfaces, such as for the buttercream on top of these cupcakes.

Finish with a light coat of matt acrylic varnish to add a little sheen to the finished buttercream when it’s hardened.

Step 4To make a meringue nest, swirl the meringue mixture (slightly coloured) around in a circle with a cocktail stick on a piece of baking/parchment paper, forming a well as the mixture starts to dry. This paper is non-stick so the meringue can be slipped off when dry.

Step 5When dry, but before it’s hardened, Perfect Plastic Putty is quite brittle. For the meringue, I deliberately break it up into several large pieces at this stage. Stick these roughly together with Perfect Plastic Putty (no colouring/additives). This mimics the natural cracking that occurs with meringue and gives the impression of fluffy white meringue spilling out from inside a golden crust.

Step 6You can fill any fine cracks in the meringue by extruding Perfect Plastic Putty (no colouring/additives) from a syringe/tip.Allow to dry and set hard before adding your choice of filling. For mine, I filled with cream made from coloured Deluxe Materials Making Waves and topped with Fimo raspberries. Finish with a light coating of acrylic matt varnish.

Top TipFor precise application such as icing on a cake, you can apply Perfect Plastic Putty using a syringe and tip. For icing that is to be pure white, filling the syringe is easy. Simply squeeze the Putty direct from the tube into the syringe, then attach the tip.

Perfect Plastic Putty is air dried, so if you want to store some left in a syringe for later application, just leave the tip of the syringe immersed in water.

When you’ve finished using the syringe and tip, flush through and rinse thoroughly with water to prevent clogging.

Adding colour is easy. Add scrapings of pastel chalk little by little, mixing thoroughly until you get your choice of colour. Remember you can mix different pastel chalks together until you get your perfect shade.

As Perfect Plastic Putty is smooth, to make perfect buttercream, I mix in Micro Balloons to add texture. I add both Micro Balloons and Icey Sparkles to make meringue. Note that when you add colour and/or texture, the Putty immediately thickens slightly and can’t then be extruded through a fine tip.

icing on a cake, you

Plastic Putty using a syringe

is air dried, so if you

in Micro Balloons to

both Micro Balloons