Rocío Cuenca is a professional art director, photographer and illustrator, although she’s better known for the edible works of art that she shares on her blog. Her interest in creative baking started in 2012 when by chance, and thanks to social media, she saw some spectacular wedding cakes decorated with fondant. Her passion for this new discovery drove her to teach herself how to make all sorts of baked goodies, from cupcakes to cakes, macarons and decorated cookies. In 2013, Rocío was awarded the first prize in the cookies category at the most prestigious show of the time in Spain, Expotarta. Two years later, she published her first eBook, El arte de las galletas decoradas. Currently, Rocío combines her work at her creative studio with cookie decoration courses and her blog posts, where she regularly shares recipes and tutorials.
Equipment Required:
- 8” cake
- 6” cake
- 8” cake drum
- 3 x 6” cake boards
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Turntable
- Large serrated knife
- Buttercream or ganache
- Spatula
- Rice Krispies Treats (RKT)
- Non-stick base
- Cutting board
- Red fondant, 2.5kg
- White flower paste, 100g
- Large rolling pin
- Small rolling pin
- Fondant smoothers
- Dowels
- Piping bag with red royal icing
- Toothpicks
- Cutting knife
- Foam pad
- Metal ball tool
- Paintbrushes
- Snowflake paper punch
- Edible pearls
- Edible glue
- White edible glitter
Step 1
Place the 8” cake on the drum and the 6” cake on a cake board. The height of each cake should be around 4”.
Step 2
Measure the exact height of both cakes and draw them on a piece of paper, one on top of the other. On top, draw a triangle 8” wide and 12” high. This will give you the size at which you have to trim the two spare cake boards (as shown).
Step 3
Place the 8” cake on a turntable and put the largest of the cake boards you have just trimmed on top. Stick a toothpick in the centre to stop it moving around. Use a serrated knife to trim the cake so it goes diagonally out from the size of the cake board on top to the drum at the bottom.
Step 4
Use the same method to trim the 6” cake. Use the larger cake board that will sit at its base first, then turn the cake and use the smaller cake board.
Step 5
Crumb coat both cakes with buttercream or ganache and then cover with red fondant.
Step 6
Cut and push three dowels into the larger cake. Using some royal icing to attach it, place the smaller cake on top.
Step 7
Model a cone with RKT, making the base the same width as the small cake board and the height enough to make the entire cake 12” tall (use your drawing from Step 2 to work out the height).
Step 8
Cover the cone with buttercream or ganache and then with red fondant. Apply some royal icing to the top of the cake to attach the cone.
Step 9
Roll out some red fondant and cut 1” wide strips.
Step 10
Place the strips on a foam pad and roll a ball tool along the edges to create ruffles.
Step 11
Fold the width of the strip to create a 90º angle which will be used to stick the rose to the cake. Start gently rolling up the strip, with the folds sitting outwards.
Step 12
Stick the folded end on the cake by brushing its surface with a little water. Use a brush handle to add some pressure to make the folded part stick. Continue to roll up the strip, sticking it onto the cake as you go.
Step 13
When the strip is finished, continue the spiral with another strip. Keep building up the rose with these strips until it has reached the desired size.
Step 14
Make more roses of different sizes to fill the empty spaces. Make sure you build up from the base of the cake so the roses can rest on each other slightly.
Step 15
Roll out the white flower paste so it is fairly thick and cut out a star shape. If you want it to come out perfectly, you can first make a stencil on a piece of paper. When done, push a toothpick into its base.
Step 16
Score some lines from between the points to the centre of the star using a the knife tool.
Step 17
Roll out some more flower paste until it’s thin enough for the snowflake paper punch. Cut it into strips and leave it to dry for five minutes.
Step 18
Cut out snowflakes with the paper punch.
Step 19
Brush one side of each snowflake with edible glue and dip it into a dish of edible glitter. Do the same with the star, but in this case, covering both sides. Leave to dry.
Step 20
Attach the snowflakes to the cake with a little royal icing and push the star topper into the top of the cake.
Step 21
Finally, attach some sugar pearls dotted around the cake. Once the icing has dried, brush them with edible glue and apply some edible glitter with a clean brush.
