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Help! I have just iced a 5inch tall x 9 inch diameter round cake. The icing was a mix 1/3rd satin ice and 2/3 Culpit sugar paste. The paste didn’t mix very well and I noticed there were cracks underneath the circle of paste whilst turning the circle to roll it to the correct size. I re-kneaded it and finally transfered it to the cake there were still crack in it but I didn’t feel that re-kneading again would help. However in the process of transfering the icing to the cake I ended with a 3 & a half inch rip on the icing from the outer edge of the top of the cake inwards.
Please can anyone tell me where I went went wrong? Should I have just stuck to the Culpit sugar paste rather than mixing it with the satin ice? Also any suggestions as to how I can decorate the top of the cake please? It’s for a family birthday tomorrow and I need to finish it tonight so if anyone is out there and can help I’d be really grateful.

Many thanks

Hi bellscake

Might be better to ice your cake in two sections as shown in this tutorial
http://www.cakeflix.com/fairy-castle-lesson-1-covering-the-cake
You’ll have better control on the tearing. If you still want to ice it in one go try adding a little tylose or CMC to the sugarpaste just to give it a little more strength. You’ll see comments on how much to use here http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/birdcage-cake
If icing as in the fairy castle tutorial the edge can be smoothed in with a damp finger or embellished with decorations to hide the join. Hope this helps.

Hi bellscake, could you cover it with a sugarpaste ribbon and bow? Or a drape of sugarpaste to look like material, a big flower or a cluster of small flowers, or a plaque with their name or happy birthday on it? You could even roll another circle of sugarpaste and re-cover the whole top either cutting it flush with the edge and smoothing it with your finger to blend the join or smooth it down over the sides and then cut round an inch down so it looks like a box with a lid. Hopefully you’ve already come up with something though!

Hi thanks very much for your suggestions. I actually got over the problem by arranging some stars over the offending rip. I didn’t think of wetting the icing as suggested as I always inderstoon that sugar paste and water just didn’t mix. But it’s great to pick these tips. I will take a look at icing the cake in two sections as I have not heard of that method before. However the cake went down really well today and had a lovely taste and the texture was perfect for cutting. I made the zingy lemon cake, one of Jane Hornby’s from Good Food website.

Thanks again

Hi bellscakes

Pleased you got over your problem. Wetting the icing should only be done with a moist finger, just enough to blend two edges together or small rips and tears. Over wetting will make a gooey mess and it also takes ages to dry.