SALON GLACÉ - Vintage Fan Cake Decoration

January 2012

How to make a vintage style fan cake decoration.

This little vintage inspired fan, is one of the easiest cake decorations that you will ever make

and so quick that it is instantly gratifying. I drew this design many years ago, but didn't use it,

because I couldn't quite fathom out a way to do it freehand, without resorting to using a

readymade mould.

It eventually evolved into the gorgeous and distinctive 'Belle Epoque Feather Fan' and this

particular version went back into the pile with all the other designs that I have yet to fathom out!

I used a Chinese carving tool, to impress the marks into the fan.

This gives the design a little more depth and movement. Now I don't expect you all to create a stampede round at your nearest Chinese convenience store, in search of these elusive little tools,

so I have come up with a practical alternative.

Take a large drinking straw, the type found in Starbucks or Mcdonalds. Cut in in half so that its

not as long. Now cut it open along its length . Once you've done that cut out a small section along

the length, so that the straw now resembles a half moon or semi circle shape (see below).

You may need to reinforce it being repeating the procedure with the other half and placing one

half in side the other.

We have included some notes at the bottom of the page regarding the ingredients.

You may find them useful before you begin.

Ingredients Equipment

100grm sugarpaste Rolling pin

Sugar glue Large round Scalloped cutter

Edible lustre approx 9.8cm

White alcohol (Gin/Vodka) Small plain cutter approx 5cm

Icing sugar/cornflour for dusting surface Large & small sharp knives

Thin piece ribbon/trim to finish Soft brush for dusting

Tool for mark paste (see above)

Knead the paste well and roll out onto a

surface lightly dusted with icing sugar or cornflour, to about 4mm in thickness.

Using the large cutter, cut out one round.

You can make two fans at the same

time if you wish.

Your fan is beginning to take shape.

Repeat every second scallop,

you should end on a single scallop.

Using you tool or straw in the shape

of a downturned mouth (frown).

Impress marks all the way down the

first section.

11)

Keep turning the tool at the beginning of each row, until you reach the final single row.

13)

Your fan should look like this. leave

to dry completely.

15)

Finish by moistening the inner semi circle

with a little of the sugar glue and sticking on

the edible pearls as shown.

Using a sharp knife, cut the round

down the middle into two equal halves.

Take the small cutter and impress a

semi circle in the centre of the half as

shown, taking care not to press too hard.

Using the back of a small knife,

carefully impress a mark into the paste

as shown, starting with the first scallop.

Your fan should look like this.

10)

Turn the tool over, like an upturned

mouth (smile) and repeat next to first

row. Don't worry if it overlaps a little.

12)

Accentuate, by going over the original

marks again with the back of the small

knife. Be careful not to press too hard.

14)

Once dry, you can either paint your

fan with the lustre dust mixed with a little alcohol or brush it on dry as shown here.

16)

Attach ribbon or trim by sticking a small

dot of sugarpaste to the centre bottom of the

fan, moisten it a little with the sugar glue and carefully press on the ribbon or trim.

We've finished our cake with an extra little Salon Glacé flourish, our signature rose on a

small black plaque and a simple black satin ribbon and pink trim. If you've got a steady hand,

you might like to pipe on a greeting or the recipients name.

Now that you've mastered that, the skys the limit. How about using the small cutter to create

these multi coloured cupcake decorations (below)). They are made in exactly the same way as

the larger version, only we've embossed the base of them with the back of a small knife and

painted them in different coloured lustres.

Mini vintage style fan cupcake decorations

Note: Ribbons/Trims, are for decorative purposes only- not edible.

Notes before you begin.

Sugarpaste.You can get plain white sugarpaste in any of the major supermarkets,

it can be found in the cake decorating aisle. We prefer to use a light modelling paste,

which is basically just the sugarpaste with a small amount of gum additive, such as

Gum Tragacanth or Tylo Powder ( tip of a teaspoon to 100grm).

This makes the paste a little more pliable and it also dries to a harder finish.

But be careful not to use more than stated as it will be too hard and inedible.

Gum Tragacanth or Tylo Powder can be found at specialist cake decorating suppliers

or online.

Edible Lustres.We absolutely adore edible lustres, they help to give our designs their

distinctive look. Our favourite is 'Mother Of Pearl' by 'Edable Art'. But you can get lots of similar shades by other brands such as 'Squires Kitchen' and 'Sugarflair'. They can be mixed with a small amount of white alcohol such as gin or vodka, for painting on or they can be brushed on to the

dry paste with a soft brush.

Available to buy from specialist cake decoratiung suppliers or online.

Edible Glue.You can buy this readymade, but we are using such a tiny amount that you can

just make something similar yourself.

Break off a couple of tiny pieces of the sugarpaste into a small cup and add a teaspoonful of cooled boiled water. After about 5 minutes you will have a light glue which is fine for sticking on the edible pearls.

Edible Pearls.You can find these online and from specialist suppliers, where they are available

in a multitude of colours. But you can also find them in 'Morrisons' supermarket, cake decorating section, where they are sold in 85g pots mixed with pink pearls. 'Sainsburys' also sell them in small bags in either pink or light blue.

Scalloped Cutters. Now, we have seen these online, by the time you pay for them, plus the additional the vat and the delivery charge you could be looking at £10.00, don't!!

Get yourself over to your nearest 'Morrisons' where you can pick up the set of six (by Tala) for £1.99.

We hope you enjoy making this gorgeous Salon Glacé cake decoration, whilst waiting for our

tutorials to begin.

Antoinette xxx