Cake makers - any ideas on how best to do a treble clef cake?

[Pennies]

I thought i'd just do a rectangle cake and either paint a treble clef on it, or I'd make one out of sugar paste / flower paste. I'm planning a cake that is A4 sized with the TC covering the cake top to bottom (approx 30cm).

The thing is painting doesn't always look great, esp for large block colours and I'm really stuck for how I'd make one out of sugar / flower paste. For the latter I'm concerned about the following problems:

1. how do I get it from the work surface onto the cake without it breaking?
   
   
2. if I do it in bits how best to hide the joins?
   
   
3. how best to soften the edges so they don't look too blunt and it doesn't just looked plonked on top of the cake IYKWIM.
   
   All ideas and suggestions very welcome!

[debka]

I did a bass clef cake and I used liquorice for the stave and bass clef and some notes. It looked really elegant.

[Scootergrrrl]

Can you make a thin sausage out of black fondant icing and loop your own treble clef?

[purpleturtle]

I think I would try cutting one out of sugar-paste on a sheet of greaseproof paper, and then sliding it off the paper on to the top of the cake.

[GlynistheMenace]

I would roll out fondant icing onto extremely well sugared board and cut out treble clef shape and lay this on top of covered cake, then pipe aound the edges of the treble clef in contrasting colour.

Fondant icing is very flexible and can even be coloured if you wished.

HTH

[Ponders]

\link{http://www.thecakestore.co.uk/acatalog/trebleclef.jpg\a model for you?}

2 small circles & one big one?

[purpleturtle]

I like that, Ponders.

[Ponders]

it's cute, isn't it?

& you can see how they made the shape of the clef with strips of icing

[Pennies]

Ponders - I saw that one and so did the lady who's commissioned the cake and she didn't like it. She wants something more like this and I was going to add staves around the outside with the music to Happy Birthday on it. I might see if I can get those staves cutters - they look ideal!

It's for a 50th birthday for a bloke who's in the music industry so I want it to look as professional as possible.

[Pennies]

purpleturtle - I was wondering if rolling it out on paper would be better than doing it on a board. It will be in black icing so I need to keep icing sugar to a minimum.

Glynis - like the piping round the edges idea. Will def do that. Small balls of icing rather than stars methinks.

[purpleturtle]

I can imagine that actually rolling on paper might be a bit tricky - wouldn't the paper just move about? I think I would roll out on my work surface, as usual, using Trex rather than icing sugar. Then transfer the rolled out paste to paper to cut out the clef.

Although... the trex might make it stick to the paper then...

[Ponders]

oh, it's a commission??? Oh, sorry - yes, the one in your link is much more professional!

Good luck

[stealthsquiggle]

If you use baking paper it won't stick, even with trex.

If you were really brave you could cut the shape as a hole and sink the black into it?

Top tip for softening edge - steam it (the whole, finished cake). I learned this (tragically) by watching "Cake Boss" on some obscure channel, but it really works (just make sure the steam is flowing well before you go near the cake so that you don't get 'splutter' marks on the cake.

then spray the whole thing with pearl lustre spray?

[Pennies]

stealth - I'm confuzzed. When you say sink the black into it what do you mean?

Also I've never heard of steaming. How do you steam it on the top? With an iron?

Ponders - thanks. I think i'm going to need it!

[stealthsquiggle]

I mean cut out a hole the same shape in the white, so that the black shape ends up flush with the surface - that's what that Planet Cake one looks like to me.

Steaming - with a steam cleaner like this

[Pennies]

Aha. Yes I see what you mean about being brave. Not sure i can face that!

That steamer's a mean piece of kit if I ever saw one.

[stealthsquiggle]

it does have other (cleaning-related) uses

I have done the sinking shapes in, and it works really well, but never with anything as complicated (or large) as your treble clef.

[purpleturtle]

I was wondering whether sinking it in would be possible - and now I know that it would be possible, but I don't know whether I could tackle it!

[stealthsquiggle]

I think if you were to try it, the way to go would be to make a cardboard stencil to cut both shape and hole.

[SoMuchToBits]

I would also do that stealth - e.g. cover the cake in white icicng, make template of treble clef, cut it out in black icing, trace round it on cake and cut out "insert" then put black treble clef into insert. Is this right? I hope so!

[Pennies]

OK are you saying that you cut out a hole that matches the outer edge of the treble clef, make a black insert to fit in that and then cut out the holes in the black insert and put white bits to fill in the holes?

[purpleturtle]

I would be very scared of the icing stretching while I was moving it over and the gap not matching the insert. But perhaps a bit of practice would make a difference.

On the other hand, I do like the piping round the edge idea too.

[Pennies]

Oh I wish I had the time to practice. She wants it this Saturday. Just tried a new cake recipe as well and annoyingly it's too cooked on the outside and still runny inside even though I followed the instructions to the bloody letter.

[SoMuchToBits]

Yes. I think even if it stretched a bit while moving you could manouevre it a bit to fit.

[melodyangel]

Just a thought and I don't know if it would work but you could try cutting out the shape of the treble clef as others have described above and then filling with very dark melted chocolate. If the icing was an ivory, think parchment, instead of pure white it might look rather nice.

Good luck.