Fourth Anniversary Cake Decorating and Baking Tutorial

Struggling for time? Why not watch the whole tutorial in under 16 mins with our highlights video?

Emma starts off by showing us how to create a standing wire armature for the top of the cake that will then be covered in sugarpaste to form the wonderful Paul Bradford! Emma suggests creating the frame separate from the cake as you can damage the cake otherwise and she uses 18 and 16 gauge wire.

In this lesson Emma now shows us how to make a sitting wire armature. Different wires are used for this one as well as different ways of taping it all together so it’s definitely worth watching this lesson.

Emma makes it look so easy as she rolls out sausages of sugarpaste and simply wraps them around the wire frame while shaping it into limbs and a torso. We have seen other techniques including cutting into the sugarpaste and applying edible glue before wrapping it but Emma’s technique is certainly the quickest. As there is no CMC or Tylo added to it she is able to shape it with ease.

Some similar techniques here but in this lesson we are shown how to make a cute tutu using as well as cute little shoes. Emma recommends using corn flour if you have naturally warm hands as the sugarpaste can get very sticky when you are working with small amounts. A dresden tool might be handy for creating the crease marks in the clothes.

In this lesson Emma shows us how to make cute little champagne bottles that only take minutes to make. She will finish them later in the tutorial but will let them dry first of all. She then shows us how to make hands for all the models and again it’s probably a lot easier than you might think. Just a little ball of sugarpaste and a knife is all you need!

Emma shows us how to makes the head and faces for the male models using only a cell stick and a dresden tool! No moulds required and Emma encourages us not to use them as it allows you to personalise them and get creative.

In this lesson Emma shows us how to make the heads and faces for the female models using slightly different techniques for the eyes and lips. If you find the eyes a little too fiddly you can always use paint as opposed to tiny balls of sugarpaste and get much the same result. Later on she will come back to them and finish them off with hair.

Emma shows us how to add finishing detail to the faces using edible black paint and a very small paintbrush, a size 00 to be precise. It might be an idea to have a picture of the person you are making in front of you or even just pictures of eyes and so on to help you.

It’s amazing how many different colours and shades you can create by mixing just a few colours of sugarpaste. Emma shows us how to do just that to create lovely natural shades and then goes on to show us how to create different hair styles and textures using a single modelling tool and your hands.

In this lesson Emma shows us how to make cute little extras that really personalise and finish off the models. She shows us how to make glasses and a tiara using 26 gauge wire and then shows us how to paint cute logos.

In this final lesson Emma shows us how to make adorable little dogs that are simple, take very little time and can be adapted to look like a completely different breed by just changing the ears. Definitely something you will end up doing a lot once you see how it’s done.

Emma shares some ideas that you can implement when making this cake to make it unique to you. We would love to see your versions of this cake so please share your pictures with us on our Facebook Page!

Paul discusses some insider information including the cost of making the models as well as what he charges for making them and so on. Vital information for any professional cake designer.