J's {not Oprah} Favourite Things & Giveaway! Part 1 {Winner Announced}

Thanks to all who entered and shared my giveaway. This Sweepstake is now CLOSED. See below.

Ice-cream on brownies and frosting on cupcakes

Bright coloured fondant and cake stands that coordinate
Starbursts and gold dust to give it some bling
These are a few of my favorite things...

Does the cake above look familiar to you? Think hard...well, not too hard. You need only click back to my last post to see my Ranunculus flowers perched atop this little beauty. And under all the green and glitter is a moist, mouthwatering, lemon-curd filled, citrus cake.

We'll get to the recipe in a different post, for now, let's talk about the cake's exterior and how those fantastic starbursts came to be.

Back in January, I had an idea for a cake (one that I have yet to make) that would require piping skills, for which I just did not have the patience. So I thought I could try to achieve a similar look with a stencil. I looked, but could not find a culinary stencil in the pattern I'd envisioned. I contacted Designer Stencils and shared with them, a photo of what I had in mind and about a week later they created this, fashioned from one of their wallpaper designs. I thought I would give it a test run... eight months later.

Stencils are a favourite decorating tool of mine and I have a collection to back that up! They are a great alternative to piping and offer so many design options for amateur pipers, like myself (I so desperately need to work on my piping skills). That said, like anything else one wants to be good at, this too requires a little practice. When done well, stencils can yield stunning results - like this, for instance. Here is my first attempt at stencilling. I have since improved, but there is always room.

Stencilling does not always have to be done on fondant, or with royal icing. My giraffe cake is a good example - it's cocoa stenciled on buttercream. This time around I thought I would bring a little bling to the design with the use of edible lustre dusts - another favourite.

Unless I absolutely have to, I avoid cutting my stencils to accommodate any one particular cake size. Instead, I find if you place the cake on a raised surface with a base smaller than the cake, you can better manipulate the placement of the stencil.

I placed the cake on a cake board the same circumference as the cake, covered the top of the cup with a piece of anti-slip cupboard lining (you know the stuff you buy in rolls at the dollar store), and placed the cake board on top. Danger of tipping, so work carefully!

Of course, keeping the stencil in place is also crucial to the process. This is where I find the Cake Wrap Kit comes in handy.

Once I had the stencil positioned to my liking, I used three large brushes, like the one shown in the photo above, to apply the various colours of edible dusts. I carefully removed the stencil and let set a little before attaching the stencil again to do the other side of the cake. I layered some of the colours and BAM, we've got ourselves some blinged-out starbursts!!

Fondant coloured with Avocado food gel. Lustre dusts in Gold Shimmer, Metallic Ginger Glow and Electric Orange mixed with a little Gold Shimmer.

Speaking of starbursts... Did you know the Milky Way will see a starburst in approximately 200 000 000 years? Well, I couldn't wait that long and you don't have to either!

I Sugar Coat It! is celebrating its first birthday this month, and what better way to get the celebration started than with a little fireworks - in the form of starbursts! One lucky reader will have the opportunity to create their own starbursts using some of my favourite cake design tools.

Starburst Cake Side Stencil

Cake Wrap Kit

Small Scraper

It's easy to enter!

Login to the PunchTab Giveaway Widget below using your email address or Facebook account.
You will be prompted to:

Leave a comment telling me, "What is your favourite cake design tool?" You must leave a comment in order to be entered.
For extra entries, perform any of the additional actions listed in the widget - Tweet, Google+1, Become a Fan.

Contest ends Monday, August 20th, 2012 at 12:00PM (EST)

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

We Have A Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS, JUDY ROBINSON!!

~chosen by random draw via PunchTab Plugin~

38		Judy Robinson	comment	2 days ago
You have been selected as a winner in Isugarcoatit's giveaway. Judy Robinson My favorite tool is Stephanie (my niece and business partner) I do all the baking and she does all the decorating.

The winner will be selected using PunchTab's Giveaway Widget random picker and announced in this post and notified by email. (You must leave a valid email address - it will not be displayed). Please note that your comment may not appear immediately; it does not mean it was not received.

This giveaway is open to Canadian (excluding Quebec) and continental U.S residents only. Apologies to my international readers - due to high shipping rates, I am unable to extend this giveaway to you. However, future contests that do not require shipping will be available to those outside North America.

Official contest rules are here.

A special thanks to Designer Stencils for donating the stencil for this giveaway. The other two items and shipping are from I Sugar Coat It!.

This is the first of two birthday giveaways - STAY TUNED!!

Designer Stencils has kindly donated the stencil included in the prize pack. I did not receive compensation, monetary, or otherwise, for this post.

Comments

sandy says

August 17, 2012 at 9:02 pm

My favorite cake design tool is the gum paste to make flowers! It's so nice to be able to make them with a medium that looks so real.

Erin Brankowitz says

August 17, 2012 at 9:08 pm

My favorite cake design tool is my clay extruder I use for extruding fondant and gumpaste. That thing has saved me a million times!

Melissa Barbakoff says

August 17, 2012 at 9:10 pm

My favorite cake tool.....hmmmm I think it is my leveler.

Melissa Barbakoff says

August 17, 2012 at 9:11 pm

By the way, HAPPY BLOGGY BIRTHDAY!

Claire Tyrell says

August 17, 2012 at 10:32 pm

I absolutely love my embossing folders, so smple yet stunning results.xx

Tracy Alexander says

August 17, 2012 at 9:11 pm

I am still learning and loving it....l would say at the moment sugar paste, you can make so much with it to give a dramatic effects be it flowers, bows, butterflies etc......no doubt next week it will be something else lol.....but am looking forward to learning so much more

Elizabeth says

August 17, 2012 at 9:51 pm

I haven't made too many cakes in my day so I'm still learning. But, the one tool I do love it my Pampered Chef icing spatula. Makes icing the cakes so much easier and smoother.

Anet Gallos says

August 17, 2012 at 10:03 pm

i love all my cake decorating tools as they make decorating a breeze but the things i can not do without are my leveler and turn table 🙂

Sarah Fallon says

August 18, 2012 at 12:58 am

My favorite tool is the ball tool, I love using it to make pretty ruffled edges!

Goreti Pavao says

August 18, 2012 at 2:06 am

Hmm so tough to pick just one. Since I love to make gum paste flowers, I would say the ball tool.

Art Et Délices ByMeriem says

August 18, 2012 at 2:19 am

My favourite tool is the ball tool. It creates beautifully shaped petals, ruffles and curves!

Chaitra Makam says

August 18, 2012 at 2:15 pm

Bench Scraper 🙂

Anonymous says

August 18, 2012 at 2:35 pm

My favorite tool and discovered it this past summer was stenciling. Love it

Anna
AnnieCakes0910@aim.com

mssherry56 says

August 18, 2012 at 3:53 pm

I am new to cake decorating but my favorite tool right now is my pizza cutter that I use to cut my fondant with. Love your work.

Angie F says

August 18, 2012 at 5:30 pm

My Agbay cake leveling tool - it cuts perfect levels every time! Great giveaway!

judy robinson says

August 18, 2012 at 5:35 pm

My favorite tool is Stephanie (my niece and business partner) I do all the baking and she does all the decorating.

AlisaT says

August 18, 2012 at 5:59 pm

My favorite tool is any kind of fondant punch....and my mixer. I couldn't do anything without them!

Connie Whitley Gailley says

August 18, 2012 at 2:09 pm

My fave tool is my cake leveler and bench scraper! If I didn't have my Kitchen Aid mixer I might just die. 😉

Haniela says

August 18, 2012 at 3:39 pm

That cake is so beautiful. I love it. I think my favorite cake tool is bench scraper oh an let's not forget my kitchen aid mixer. What a fantastic giveaway

amanda says

August 18, 2012 at 9:05 pm

my favorite cake tool is luster dust if i can count that as a tool

Nichole Renwick says

August 18, 2012 at 10:28 pm

I love my fondant/gumpaste tool set! Until I bought it, I was using odds and ends around the kitchen for detailing...so much easier now!

You'reNot TheBoss OfMe says

August 18, 2012 at 6:46 pm

My favorite tool is my Cricut Cake.

Kristin Brown says

August 19, 2012 at 12:26 am

I like my stencils, I am just not very good with them yet! Lol:)

Annabel Cutland Van Noord says

August 19, 2012 at 12:46 am

Hmmm, probably my ball tool for thinning petals and ruffles. But so far I have not tried stencils yet, although the moment I first saw the starburst stencil (a few months ago) I put it on my wish list! I would love to try it, your lustered cake is so beautiful!

5monkeys says

August 19, 2012 at 9:12 am

Hmmmmm............ I haven't had much play with any of my tools as most of my designs are done free hand but if I had to choose one I think it would have to say my KA mixer I haven't really tried many tools but the stenciling sounds like a fun way to add beauty to cakes.... by the way beautiful stenciling...

I Sugar Coat It! says

August 19, 2012 at 1:01 pm

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

TheFrostedCakeBoutique says

August 20, 2012 at 2:21 pm

Favourite Cake design tool are my impression mats! I love the effect they leave on my cakes!

Related

Reader Interactions

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply