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Buttercream: The traditional icing served
on store-bought cakes. The rich and creamy frosting is easily colored
or flavored and is frequently used for flourishes such as shells,
swags, basketweaves, icing flowers, and so on. It's made almost
entirely from butter, so it's apt to melt in extreme heat. Therefore,
it's not recommended for outdoor weddings.
Dragees: Hard little sugar balls painted with edible gold or silver
paint that make a stunning touch on wedding cakes.
Fondant: A smooth and stiff icing made with gelatin and corn-syrup.
It's best decorated with marzipan fruits, gum paste flowers or simple
ribbon. Fondant isn't as tasty as buttercream or ganache, but it
doesn't need refrigeration, making it the perfect icing for a seaside
reception.
Ganache: A chocolate and heavy cream combo with the consistency
of store-bought chocolate icing. It's intensely dark and can be
poured over cakes for a glass-like chocolate finish or used as filling.
Caution: Heat or humid weather can cause this icing to slide right
off the cake.
Gum Paste: A gelatin, corn starch and sugar concoction that produces
the most realistic edible fruit and floral decorations.
Marzipan: Italian paste made of almonds, sugar and egg whites, and
then molded into flowers and fruits to decorate. Marzipan is typically
brightly colored and super sugary. It can also be used as icing.
Piping: Icing decorations like dotted swiss, basketweave, latticework
and shells. The icing is pushed out of a pastry bag fitted with
appropriate tips to create these different looks.
Pulled Sugar: Boiled sugar, water and corn syrup create this malleable
mix that can be used to make roses and bows so smooth and shiny
they look like silk or satin.
Royal Icing: Frequently found on the faces of gingerbread men, this
mix of confectioner's sugar and milk or egg whites does not need
to be refrigerated. It's typically used for decorations like dots
and latticework.
Whipped Cream: Delicious, but volatile since it can't remain outside
of refrigeration for long. As a rule, it's not recommended for wedding
cakes. However, this icing is a dreamy background for fresh flowers,
so if you must have it, just keep it cool until the last possible
moment.
Far Out Cake
For an out-of-this-world cake visit www.recipesource.com/misc/weird/tufeen-hushani1.html
and download the Vulcan Wedding Cake recipe.
By Catherine Parmelee
For the Juneau Empire
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