Santa’s Sleigh Ride Cake Decorating and Baking Tutorial

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Santa’s Sleigh Ride
with Stephen Benison
Skill level: Easy
HD Lessons: 17
Decorating time: 2 days
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00:59

Bite Sized

Watch Stephen make his Santa’s Sleigh cake in just one minute!

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25:46

Highlights

Hand-picked best bits from the whole course.

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1. The design

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.

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14:12

2. Italian Meringue Buttercream

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.

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07:33

3. Mexican Paste

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.

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24:57

4. Cake Structure

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.

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5. Preparing the Sleigh

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.

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6. Applying the Sugarpaste

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.

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7. Making the Decorations

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!

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8. Creating the Background

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.

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9. Making Santa

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.

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10. Making the Foreground

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.

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11. Adding Santa to the Sleigh

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! 

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12. Bringing it Together

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

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13. Finishing Touches

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.

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14. Other Ideas

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

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15. PRO Lesson

Some useful hints and tips for those selling their cakes.

Santa’s Sleigh Ride Cake

In this course you will learn how to maximize the use of cakes to form tiered structure to build a winter scene, without having to carve the cake or have wasted off pieces. Making of Mexican paste to use for the decorative Christmas trees, Santa’s sleigh and reindeer. Italian white chocolate meringue buttercream to use as a coating and contouring of sugarpaste covering to achieve that perfectly smooth finish. You will then see how to construct the sleigh, model Santa and presents and then secure them into the winter wonderland as Santa dashes across the snow covered landscape. The magic of Christmas awaits you!

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to…

  • Make Mexican paste
  • Make white Chocolate Italian meringue buttercream
  • Model detailed characters
  • Make flat structure construction into 3D display
  • and much, much more

Don’t forget to share your interpretations of this wonderful cake with Paul and the rest of the CakeFlix community on our Facebook group.

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Stephen Benison

Stephen Benison

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