Santa’s Sleigh Ride Cake Decorating and Baking Tutorial

Steve will explain how to use the cake bases for the tutorial design, with minimum cutting and cake wastage. He will also give you ideas on how to create height, to, a display cake without structure supports.

Italian meringue buttercream, indulgent, delicious and velvety smooth. The stages of preparing and cooking the sugar which is then added to the meringue, creating a base to add the butter and white chocolate. You will love this icing as it sets firm when cool and gives a good base to apply your sugarpaste coating. It can also be used as a coating in itself for all special occasion cakes.

Mexican paste making for the cake top decorations. Steve will show you how to make the easy to make icing which is then used for the decorations. It’s cost-efficient to make, doesn’t need freezing although you can make it and store in smaller batches for later use.

Creating the formation of the cake structure, showing how the three cakes are layered, filled with lemon curd, and Italian meringue buttercream. Steve will then show you how to section the cakes, and assemble them ready to apply the base coating to the whole cake, in preparation for the sugarpaste covering.

Preparing the sleigh sections from Mexican paste. Embossing and texturing the paste with a stencil and how to apply lustre colour to highlight the texture. Cutting out the different tree sizes with, tips on how to cut them out without getting fuzzy edges.

The importance of preparing the sugarpaste covering and applying this to the contoured cake is crucial in getting the finish smooth to build the scene of the cake design. Using a pad of sugarpaste, Steve will show you how to use this to create a smooth and contoured finish, without creases or cracking to the covering. The sky shading colour is applied using an airbrush, in preparation for the skyline to be added.

As the decorative pieces dry, the addition of the painted detail and assembly begins. The Christmas trees are secured to their trunks, painted with snowy branches. Colour shading and leg support applied to the reindeer to allow them to appear jumping from the cake!

The scene is taking shape in this lesson, and Steve will show you the process to cut a template and apply the sugarpaste scenery, creating the distant hills, as part of the background to the festive scene.

Create a fun-sized Santa to sit in the sleigh, using modelling skills, with proportions to complete a fully clad Santa, with boots, beard and a snowy bobble hat.

Continuing with the foreground details. Create the picket fencing, adding texture to give a wood grain effect, then painting with a snow effect. Creating presents from modelling paste, and painting the details with gold lustre, adds that magical touch.

Securing Santa into the sleigh, ready for the enchanting sleigh ride. Adding those extra details and facial expression to the reindeer, and of course the red noses! 

Building the scene composition by securing the sleigh and reindeer to the cake. Adding the detailed trees, and piping royal icing snow around each. 

Finally linking the reindeer and sleigh together with edible reins, adding the festive message, and presents, as Santa and his reindeer bound across the snowy hills on this festive Christmas Scene.

In this lesson, Stephen goes over some other ideas to use on your own cakes.

Some useful hints and tips for those selling their cakes.