Sugar Brooches

To embellish, or not to embellish? My other half has very strong opinions on the matter. He feels if it can't be eaten, it has no business on a cake. 

It's not that they can't be eaten, they are 'edible' after all. Palatable? Well, there is where my argument fizzles. For all the visual impact 'edible' embellishments provide, edible, does not necessarily translate to palatable. 

I have yet to find a commercial fondant that I truly enjoy, add gum paste to the mix and it becomes even less palatable. I have heard good things about Marshmallow fondant, but I have yet to try it (#12 on my ever growing list).

Still, my view is, if it adds visual impact, embellish away - as long as it does not compromise food safety.

I like brooches. My grandma wears them to church, sometimes on her clothing, sometimes a hat. I own a few - purchased from the weekend vendors at St. Lawrence market, thrift shops along Queen street and Kensington market - I especially like Butterflies. I am fascinated by brooches, but have only worn them a handful of times - when I went through my shabby-chic, retro fashion phase.  

I came across this video a couple months ago - it features Ron Ben Israel's recreation of a brooch for a bride's wedding cake. He uses the brooch to create a mould, which was then used to create the sugar replica for the wedding cake. The end result is stunning!

Hey, the little voice in my head screamed, you can do that! So off to Michael's I went to get myself some Easy Mold Silicone Putty. Sadly, things didn't play out to the tune of that little voice. Next time I'll try this one. I hear it yields better results.

I'll revisit my custom mould endeavours when time allows. For now, I am sticking with the pre-made moulds - there are some wonderful shapes/styles that already exist. Which brings me, the long way around, to this post.

I used the Karen Davies brooch mould for the smaller brooches and the Baroque for the larger, featured piece. I just love the way these turned out and can't wait to make more for a future cake or cupcakes. I'll use modelling chocolate - edible and palatable!

For today's post, I am treating them as jewellery and have used a 50/50 fondant/gum paste mix. I played around with a few finishes and colours and chose to feature this lot.

See how I made them here. 

If you like what you see, I hope you'll take a few seconds to leave a comment and share this post. To receive new posts directly to your Inbox, enter your email address in the space under 'Sweeten Your Inbox' on the right.

For more photos, visit my Facebook page.